Snow!
Snow...
...And More Snow...So I intended to write a message by the end of February, but only having 28 days obviously messed me up!
The highlights for February was all the snow! It just kept coming and coming and, like a number of people, we were up on the roof clearing what we could. Thankfully there was no damage or leaks in the house so we're happy about that!
Ed up on the roof...
Me shoveling off the roof...Mid-February was Valentine's Day...a day to pause and tell those you care most about that you love them. Of course we sent a little package to Dan in Bristol (doesn't matter how old he gets). And Ed and I went out to dinner on Sunday. Nothing too fancy. Our Valentine's gift to each other, though, was an overnight to Foxwoods later in February.
A nice home cooked meal for Valentine's Day.And that's exactly what we did February 27-28. We headed down on Sunday and stopped by Misquamicut on the way. It was very windy and cold, so we didn't stay long on the beach.
At Foxwoods, we stayed at the MGM Grand in a director's suite which was certainly NOT worth the price. Several years ago we stayed in a suite at the Grand Pequot and that was lavish. This was more like a slightly larger deluxe room. I mean, it was nice...but not what you'd expect for the price or hype and I would recommend to others to go to the Grand Pequot instead.
MGM Grand. We were on floor 26 (four from the top) at the end.
The bedroom.
The sitting room.
The view looking straight down.
The panoramic view.Regardless, though, we had a great time. Ed would love to play Blackjack, but at $15 minimum per hand, he stuck with the slots. And me, I like the penny slots. There was a particular slot machine that I liked and we played on those for almost 2 hrs on Monday and the machines were good to us as well. So that was fun! It was really good to get away and just "play" for a bit.
Our low point came after we got home. During the weekend Ed has a slight sore throat, but nothing that slowed him down. By Tuesday, though, the sore throat was quite painful and he went to the doctor's where they ruled out strep. By Wednesday, though, the pain was worse (he could barely swallow or speak) and so he went to see Dr. Bowers (his oncologist) who immediately sent him down to the ER at Cooley because he had an abscess that they were afraid would end up blocking off the airway.
By 5 PM, Ed called me to let me know they were transferring him to Baystate since there was no Ears/Nose/Throat (ENT) doctor available at Cooley. So I rushed to Cooley from work and followed the ambulance to Baystate (yes, they transferred him via ambulance which was a good thing or we'd be sitting in triage for hours!). We ended up in the Baystate ER until around 9 PM when they decided they were going to admit him. The abscess wasn't big enough to drain (without taking risks) but was big enough not to send him home. They put him on antibiotics and would have an ENT assess him in the morning. It was about 11:30 PM by the time they got Ed admitted and I was finally on my way home.
Thursday I spent several hours at Baystate visiting with Ed. He was certainly improving and could talk and eat. It appeared the antibiotics were working. By Friday morning they gave him another dose of antibiotics and sent him home. He's certainly doing much better--still a slight sore throat, but he's eating and feeling MUCH better.
Dinner together Thursday night.
My $5 dinner.It's hard to believe that it was just a week ago that we were off to Foxwoods having fun and in this short week, we've been to the ER, admitted to Baystate, and then back home again. Can't wait to see the bills for this little adventure. Thank God we've got good health insurance. And I'll tell you, the Baystate ER was a trip. Thankfully, somehow, we got a "room" in the ER so we weren't in the hallway for 4 hours like 50% of the patients. Really crazy and they said it was nothing compared to a Friday or Saturday night!
And, I'm sure you're wondering...there is no change with Ed's cancer. He continues his chemo treatment every two weeks (although he missed his treatment last week). The tumors continue to remain at bay (not getting larger, but not shrinking either).
Just about a week and a half ago, a good friend of my mom's passed away suddenly--Peter Galante. He was 57 and it happened suddenly. Which is another reminder of how precious every day is. Ed got his diagnosis about 14 months ago and we didn't know how long we had. But here's Peter, who is a year younger than Ed, and dies totally unexpectedly. Just a reminder to live every day to the fullest and always tell your loved ones how much they mean to you since we do not know when our time on this earth is up.
So we're glad it's March and spring is coming. I noticed last nite at 5:30 that it was still light out. The days are getting longer!! And next weekend we change the clocks (spring forward!) and, even better, Dan is coming home for a few days during his spring break!! That's the best part. We haven't seen him since early January so I'm really looking forward to having him home for a few days.
May you have a meaningful Lent and a Happy St. Patty's Day! {{Hugs}} to all!
At the Beach (2/27)
