ellen_datlow

We arrived at his room on the 3rd floor and he wasn't there--which was pretty scary, until we found out that he's been moved down to orthopedics, which means he's no longer being monitored specially for his heart.

He was sleeping when we arrived on the second floor and was told he hadn't eaten breakfast. He slept a lot today but I think that's a good thing, considering how active and relatively incoherent he was yesterday. When he was awake he spoke more clearly. He doesn't have the heard leads on his chest any more so we got him untied from the bed, which means he could drink  by himself, wipe his own face with a wet washcloth, and fold his arms across his stomach which is how he prefers to nap.  He had Occuptational therapy once and Physical therapy twice. He sat up on his bed and was able to keep upright by himself. Progress indeed.

Not as grumpy, although he was frustrated when we didn't comprehend his questions...we think he was asking about the mechanic for the second car (the battery died last week and had to be repaired. I'm sure he knows exactly what he's trying to make sure of but we can only get the bits and pieces of what he wants to check on.

He didn't eat much today and we had to leave before his dinner arrived because it was already dark (6:15) and my mom doesn't like driving in the dark. Hopefully he ate more at that meal.

I asked my mom if she was ok with me leaving Wednesday and she says she is. We were hoping to meet with caseworker today to discuss rehab options (we don't know how long my dad will remain in the hospital) but she didn't show up. We'll make sure we get hold of her tomorrow.

In other news (I've  been able to read on and off all day, every day and at night am reading too). I finished going over the galleys of both Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror and Tails of Wonder and Imagination. And continue to read and reread for The Best Horror of the Year, volume two. I've read two anthologies on my e-reader and I believe I can read some more tomorrow although the battery is low and will likely run down in the middle of the day. (good to learn how long it actually lasts without recharging--my playstation charger didn't arrive before I left for Florida).

He was wide awake all day (which is actually unusual for him because at home he naps a lot.

Ate breakfast and lunch and is getting solid foods now (no puree but he had baked cod and mashed potatoes for lunch--so soft consistency). The OT (occupational therapist came in to evaluate him--what he could do for himself before he fell and broke the hip) and the physical therapist came in twice to have him sit on the side of the bed.

He talked a lot all day, but my mom and I could only figure out occasionally what he was trying to say--which is very frustrating for him--it's been this way since the stroke, although some days he can communicate in whole, meaningful sentences. My mom worries that because he's missing his regular speech therapy his ability to speak is suffering  (maybe).

The deal with the catheter has nothing to do with the blood in his urine (which is still there) but until he can sit and stand up more (and presumably use the portopan or whatever himself. We were able to untie one hand for a few hours till he started fidgeting again and pulling out his heart monitor leads. He lost his temper a few times, cursed the OT (which I think shocked her) and cursed us (which he never did before the stroke, but has occasionally since--frustration with not being understood can do that).

Relatives from Miami didn't visit because my aunt isn't feeling well. Hopefully my cousin Peter did after doing his antiquing biz during the day. My mom and I left around 5:15. My dad was snoozing when we left and didn't eat dinner while we were there because he had a really had day (not to mention my mom and I being exhausted).

New roommate --a man who had a stroke --very mild it seems. He has aphasia but his language is much clearer, even if he's using  the wrong words. A lot younger than my dad. He was on coumedin, had to have heart surgery and was taken off the coumedin...had a stroke...

more tomorrow

This morning we called before we went over and were told he ate breakfast and that he talked in full sentences (he doesn't do this all the time pre-surgery,  because of his June stroke), so it's really good when he does.

When we got there he was looking  better--he's totally off the pain meds--ate a very wee bit of lunch. Verbalized a lot, although mostly we think to complain about being uncomfortable.

His wrists have been tied with restraints so that he doesn't pull out his catheter, which he'll  be until his urine no longer has  blood in it (a former problem that needs to be resolved). The nurse untied one arm totally and he seemed to be more comfortable like that but we had to watch him constantly.

He got some physical therapy (moving of his legs) and the therapist retied him because he was pulling a the tubes again.   But he apparently was cooperating with the therapist, which means he's understanding what the therapist was telling him to do. I took a break in the waiting room, so I wasn't watching.

He definitely made it clear when he did not want something. As my friend, the former physical therapist suggested, I've been repeating to him why he needs to leave the tubes alone and what's going on. And trying to communicate that once the catheter is out, he'll be more comfortable. He's a terrible patient. He hates hospitals and hadn't stayed in one for decades till last March when he was in for three days of observation of his atrial fibrillation.

We left at 5pm.

We think some of the family is visiting tomorrow.  My dad's sister and brother in law and one of his nephews (who has to drive them from Miami) and his brother's son, who lives a little north of them but who's in town for an antique show. Usually he's more communicative with my cousin Peter so this will be great, if he makes it to the hospital.

Hi everyone, my mom and I just got home from dinner, after leaving the hospital about 6pm. When we first got there 11:30am, he was still mostly sleeping, but as the day progressed, he started opening his eyes more and obviously recognized us, although he wasn't talking at all.

My mom was able to feed him (this was the first time he ate) some jello and soup but he wouldn't drink any water from a straw. We don't know if he didn't want it or didn't remember how to suck through it, but he didn't indicate he was thirsty.
And when he didn't want any more he said "forget it" which is the first he's spoken since the surgery. So that's all good. He also said a few other things during the day. Not much, but definitely progress.


He was was moved to the telemetry floor (heart) for monitoring after lunch because of his atrial fibrillation (uneven heartbeat, which is why he's been on coumadin). Also waiting to see the urologist and neurologist...slow but definitely some progress.

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and well-wishes.

In celebration of H.P. Lovecraft and the jolly Christmas season (because they go so well together), Tor is presenting blogs about the great old ones, including suggested Xmas gifts from several bloggers, including moi!

<a href="http://tinyurl.com/ykkvnbz">December Belongs to Cthulhu</a>

 

Thanks everyone for their kind words. I arrived at the hospital a little
after 4pm and by 4:30 he was out of surgery (the surgeon was an hour late
and it took 1 1/2 hours.) 

My mom and I waited in the surgery waiting room and at 6:30 went to his room and he was brought up around then--woozy,
half asleep, and very out of it. The surgery itself was successful (replacing the ball in the balljoint...or
something along those lines.)

He'll be in the hospital 3 days and then off to rehab. We're just hoping
the anesthesia hasn't affected him too much. I hope very much that
tomorrow he's more aware of his surroundings and responsive in general to
me and my mom.

It's been a long day.

Some good news first: Poe and Lovecraft Unbound are both nominees for the Dark Scribe's Black Quill Award..Congrats to all my contributors and congrats to all the other nominees...

<a href="http://www.darkscribemagazine.com/3rd-annual-bqa-nominees/">  Third annual Black Quill Award nominees</a>

Also, I'll be hosting and  Brian Evenson, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Michael Cisco, and Richard Bowes will be reading from Lovecraft Unbound at the Montauk Club in Brooklyn, Friday, January 15th. Books will be sold and there will be a tour afterward of this historic building....More details later.

I was going to be going to Maine Thursday for a long weekend, but instead because my dad fractured his hip Monday night and is having surgery tomorrow (Wed) morning, I'm flying down to Florida tomorrow for at least a week. Don't know how things will go as he's 93. I'll be online as time and interconnectivity allows.
 

A little something to cheer people up (well it cheered me up at least) someone gets tickled



thanks to jezebel

A good friend of mine died in London this morning at 4am. Aside from being a fantastic writer, he was kind, sweet, smart, and an all around great guy.

He'd been in intensive care since his collapse with E. coli infection on the 18th of November. I really have nothing else to say except my heart goes out to his life partner Sarah Biggs and to the rest of his family and to all his other friends. This should not have happened.

Catching up. I went to see Superior Donuts by Tracy Letts (author of August: Osage County) last week. Not at all bad, but as with his earlier play, the beginning is slow and annoying and it takes awhile to adjust to the slow pacing.

Older middle-aged widower (Michael McKean, who is terrific) owns a dying donut shop in Chicago that was opened by his father decades earlier. The play opens with two cops who frequent the shop there before it's open because it's been vandalized. Ambitious next-door neighbor wants to buy him out and expand his electronics biz. Young African American kid comes looking for a job and brings trouble. Female cop flirts with the owner, thugs threaten the kid, the owner is all angsty over being a draft dodger during Vietnam. I enjoyed it, although as my theater companions pointed out, a fight scene was utterly unconvincing and unnecessary. Definitely worth seeing before it closes in a few weeks.

Last weekend and this weekend I started watching the Buffy spinoff, Angel, with David Boreanaz. First disc with four episodes left me doubted I'd continue (jeez, I loathe Cordelia). But...since I had the second disc home I figured I'd give it one more chance, as I remember that Cordelia grew on me during Buffy. And yes, the next four episodes hooked me, especially with Buffy playing a prominent (and very moving) role in the 8th episode. Tears fell. ;-).

Last week I also watched the french film I've Loved you So Long, which features a brilliant performance by Kristin Scott Thomas that should have won her an Oscar, yet didn't even get her a damned nomination. Woman (Thomas) gets out of prison after serving 15 years for murder, and moves in temporarily with her sister and the sister's family. It's utterly riveting and moving as the viewer sees Thomas's character slowly move back into the world. Highly recommended.

Last night watched Sunshine Cleaning about two sisters who in desperation to earn a living, open a biohazard removal/cleaning service-ie. they clean up after violent and non-violent but messy deaths. I enjoyed watching Amy Adams and Emily Blunt and appreciate that the story is about the working poor trying to make a go of it (rather than the usual middle and upper middle classes) but it's only ok, not great. Worth a look.

And I finally saw Juno, which I liked quite a bit. It really is a smart, sassy little movie, just like its heroine. Good acting.

During the two movies, my DVD player started going weird. Power shut off and I had to replay fast forward to get to where I was--at first I thought it was the DVD but nope, it happened with both discs...and then the damned thing turned itself back on...uh oh. A DVD gremlin. I managed to watch both movies, with the interruptions but have just ordered a new DVD player. The old one lasted 6 1/2 years, which isn't too bad.

Here's a wonderful video of wonderful sf writer and critic talking about his favorite Astoundings


thanks to Eric Solstein

August Strindberg and helium

don't thank me, thank Rick Bowes...

Last night I had dinner at Planet Hollywood before the festivities with Gardner and Susan, Michael Swanwick, Gordon Van Gelder, Rick Bowes,and Ricky Kagan (who we picked up in the lobby since he was there early). The music was awful and loud, the food ok.

After going up and down several times trying to get to the fourth floor where the reception was all was well. Crowded, and weirdly enough I missed people I'd wanted to see but didn't--turns out that because my hair was up they didn't "see" me. (I don't know what my excuse was to have missed them). Met a few new people, introduced a few folks to each other, gossiped, drank, spilled most of a glass of red wine on poor Chris Lotts. Stayed till 11pm.

And for once, I did not take photos. I took out my camera, waved it around and realized that I had no interest in using it so put it away. You'll have to rely on others to see what we all looked like ;-)

and likes it. See it here Lovecraft Unbound

I did it I did it. Yesterday I went to Best Buy and bought the Sony e-reader (pocket edition). That's the one I bought because it's the only e-reader (so far) that will (I hope) download word files from my computer instantaneously. I knew that I wasn't ready to open the package yesterday, being a wee bit stressed about getting up at 3:30 am to appear on Hour of the Wolf. But once I got home after breakfast today and took a lovely long nap --awoke without an alarm at 1:30 pm--I felt ready to take my baby steps.

The reader is currently being charged on my "desk"--and should be ready for use in about three hours. The instruction manual isn't very detailed, so I hope the next steps are self-evident or I will be asking for help. As I just received two collections/anthologies I have to read as pdf files, those will be the first items I download. Stay tuned....

I think this came in as a google alert while I was in San Jose so I forgot to post it. It's a very nice review of Best Horror of the Year, volume one from Innsmouth Free Press.
Thanks Adam, for reminding me).

Rick Bowes will be reading from and I will be discussing Lovecraft Unbound and we'll talk about H.P. Lovecraft himself on Jim Freund's long-running radio show Hour of the Wolf on WBAI this morning (Saturday) 5-7 am.

Here's the archive of the radio show:
http://archive.wbai.org/files/mp3/091121_050001hotwolf.MP3

A friend of mine has two film projectors that her father had in his possession when he died a couple of years ago. She wants to get rid of them...Obviously, this offer is for anyone who can pick them up in Manhattan:

1. Revere--eight movie projector (I assume this means 8mm)
2. DeJur 1000B movie projector

If anyone is interested in either of these, just leave a comment and I'll put you in touch with my friend.