ADAPTING... hanging on (Part 97d)

It didn’t take long to get all the boats out of the water and up the beach to the storage area. However, our focus switched from our boats to the new Windmill sailboat that I’d seen turtled during our race. It had taken over an hour to get it shore and we all wanted to know what had happened. As it turned out the rescue boat found that the boat could not be towed upright when swamped unless two people stayed in the water and hung onto the back of it to keep it somewhat stable. I’ll only say that my negative thoughts about the boat had been added to.

By the time I got up to the club I saw Norma dressed in clothes that were obviously too large for her. She hadn’t been able to stop shivering and JR’s mother suggested that putting on dry clothes would help alleviate that so Denise had given Norma her clothes. Norma had brought dry clothes with her but, for some reason, had put them under the rear deck of my boat. With all the spray from the waves and chaos we’d experienced they’d gotten wet.

At that point I looked at my watch and saw that I was under some pressure to get the boat cleaned up and gear stowed away at my parents house. JR and his family had left so Norma bought her wet things over to my boat while I finished washing it. Normally I’d scrub it down but with the lateness of the hour I just sprayed it with water from the hose while Norma took the rudder and tiller to the car. It was obvious that Norma wanted to get home so I didn’t attach the tie down straps. I figured that I might be able to stop on my way home so we took off.

The trip home was the first time I’d really been able to speak to Norma where she appeared to be fairly calm since her ”incident“. I started by apologizing for yelling at her. Her response was somewhat funny because she didn’t remember being yelled at. That just proved she'd been in shock. I really wanted to ask if she’d sail with me again the following week but the look on her face told me to keep my mouth shut. I walked her into her house and tried to explain to her mother what had happened and promised to call later to check up on her.

It wasn’t until I was on my way down the driveway that my thoughts went back to, what else, panties. There were a few on the wash line behind her aunt Ali’s cottage but I’d gone too far to be able to focus on them without being obvious as to what I was doing. It reminded me that it would be a good idea to go and pick Norma up the next week rather that have her meet me at my parents house... if she was still willing to sail.

I wasn’t sure how I’d be received back at home having left that morning under less than ideal conditions. I was pleasantly surprised to find Elle relatively cordial. Taking advantage of that I asked if she’d decided what she wanted to do. Her answer was calm and firm and actually well thought out. She’d decided to wait and to take the kids and all their gear to her mother the next day. The main reason was that it’d give her another full day with them. I was happy to see her somewhat back to her normal self.

I told her about my day and while I was doing that Peggy, Norma’s mother, called to say that she appeared to be OK except for some bruises. I was still anxious to know how Norma felt about racing again but I could tell from the tone of Peggy’s voice that it was still not the time to do so. Before she hung up she asked if Norma had left her clothes in my car. I hadn’t remembered seeing anything like clothes when I unloaded my sailing gear at my parents but told her I’d go take a quick look. Finding nothing I told Peggy that I'd keep and eye out for them and that I’d check up on Norma during the week.

Even though I had to leave early for work because of the Clerk Typist exam I was able to get the heavy stuff loaded into the station wagon for Elle before leaving. I told her to make sure she was back and ready to leave for the hospital by 4:30pm, just to be sure. We’d both been in contact with Buddy and Carol (whose father was performing the procedure) and I’d been invited to stay with them that night. It was a nice gesture. That way I’d be close to the hospital the next morning.

Truthfully, I thought Elle would be a basket case on the trip to the hospital but she was still under control. We didn’t talk all that much while on the way and once she was settled into her room Buddy and Carol showed up which helped to ”lighten“ her mood. I was told that the operation was scheduled for 9am and I’d be able to see Elle in the morning prior to the operation but when I showed up she was already in the operating room as there had been a cancellation. I remember hoping that Elle didn’t think I forgot to come and see her.

She went into the recovery room around mid morning. The doctor came out to tell me that everything had gone well but more importantly to explain what Elle would be experiencing in the days to follow. She was to be released on Friday morning and other than being up to make the trip home she was to remain in bed until Monday and then she was to be limited in her walking about for another few days. He explained that a catheter had been inserted and it was to remain for a week and should be removed by her regular doctor. Then he got really serious. He explained that Elle would then experience incontinence just like it was prior to the operation for up to a week until she could get the muscle tone back to control her bladder. He wanted me to understand that so that I could support Elle's psyche if she started to get discouraged. He gave me some material with things in it that Elle could do to speed that process along. I thanked him and waited (impatiently) until they would let me see her.

”Out of it“ was a good description of her condition. She could barely stay awake but did recognize me. The nurse said she’d had a bit of a negative reaction to the anesthesia but that she was really OK. Back in those days (the 60’s) hospitals had very strict visiting hours and I had to leave until the next scheduled period. It was a long day! I’d planned on going to work on both Wednesday and Thursday returning at night for the evening visiting hours. I wanted to make sure Elle understood that before I left that night and when I finally did leave she appeared to comprehend.

When I arrived Wednesday night it was obvious that she hadn’t processed it. I ended up finding the nurse who had been on duty the night before to back me up and, even then, I wasn’t sure she believed it. In any case she was to be released around mid morning on Friday. The one thing that she was adamant about was that she wanted all the kids to be at home waiting for her. That became my next adventure.

To be continued...