Today we are being discharged. This morning started with a visit from Prof. Erdogru. He went over the instructions for the upcoming week. We will stay at our hotel the next two days (Sat. Sun.) and then come into the hospital Monday for a Physical Therapy appointment and a follow-up with Prof. Erdogru. We were kind of excited to be out of the hospital and be staying on our own.
Prof. Erdogru prescribed both anti-inflammatory and anti-biotic medicines for the next week. Shirlayne and I decided to take a walk together down the street (less than a block) to the pharmacy. We had to use the iPad to help us translate with the pharmacists, because the word "generic" doesn't translate well. After getting our medicine, Shirlayne grabbed some bananas from the fruit stand on our way back.
We chose a hotel that wasn't right next to the hospital, but is about 3 blocks away. The hospital helped us to arrange a car to take us and our bags to the hotel. When we got to the hotel Shirlayne was very tired. She laid on the bed, and suddenly she got really worried. The bed was very hard. In her situation, she is going to spending a lot of time laying down, and needs a comfortable bed. She started to think that maybe we would have to change hotels and a find a nicer bed. She decided to give it a try, so she took a very uncomfortable rest on the hard bed. That was enough for her to know, that this "was going to be a problem" After the rest it was time for us to find something to eat. Since neither of us is feeling adventurous we decided to go to the mall and get something to eat.
We asked the hotel to help us get a taxi. They made a call but there were no available taxis, and instructed us to go flag one down. So... okay, we will give it a shot. As we walked to the main street, I mentioned to Shirlayne that I forgot to write down the address of the hotel. Oh well, I am sure the taxi drivers will know where it is when we come back. Amazingly, the first taxi we saw, stopped when we raised our hand. Much easier than New York. So after a quick trip to the mall we ate at Arby's (yum) we walked around the mall for a while. Shirlayne thought that she would be able to look for a "mattress topper" that would make the bed softer. I had my doubts that she would be able to find such a thing in Turkey, even in a big mall, but I'm free tonight. I don't have anything else to do. In case you are wondering, "mattress topper" does not translate into Turkish well on the iPad. So it takes a lot of hand signals and misunderstandings, to find out they didn't have what we were looking for. Finally, after walking around for a while, we saw a Serta/Temperpedic store. Walking in there, we finally found a memory foam pad, on display. Shirlayne asked how much for one of these. After some funny looks, we got the answer back that the display model is the only one they have left and they would give us 10% off. Shirlayne was not in the mood to negotiate, and said how much. The lady wrote on a paper, $297 TL, so with the discount $266 TL ($146). Shirlayne said we will take it! She figured that it is cheaper to buy this, then to try and find a more expensive hotel that has much softer beds. So, after a quick stop at the supermarket in the mall, for some water, and snacks, we walked out of the mall with a big 'ole roll of mattress topper in our arms.
As we climbed in the taxi to take us home, I told the driver the name of our hotel. He said "okay", and we were off. About half way there he took a wrong turn (I don't know many streets, in Istanbul, but I knew this one). A minute later he pulled up to the wrong hotel. We said "uhhh, this isn't it." He took us to one with a similar name. After that he gave us a pretty big lecture in Turkish about always getting a hotel card when we leave. (At least I think that is what his lecture was about.) I directed him down the street, and was able to find our hotel without any more drama. We paid, and then took our big 'ole roll of mattress topper to our room. With my fingers crossed Shirlayne laid down, and she said it was much better. I think she is right, although, I won't get to use it because the size is only a single. So I will be sleeping on a rock tonight. :( Then, I started off on a quest to see how to watch the University of Utah football game on the computer. Found it on some streaming site (hope I don't have a virus now), and watched it. Needless to say, I was not pleased with the outcome. And just so everyone knows, I am pretty tired of the post-game phrase "we played our hearts out today." Strange how the winning team never says that.
That was pretty much our day...
Oh ya, on the home front we learned there was a fish tank catastrophe...our three year old thought the fish would like a whole bottle of antacids and a whole container of fish food. The outcome...only one casualty, a very panicked twelve year old (big sister, not sure what to do, she face timed us and with the help of grandma we helped them step by step to get the tank cleaned), one very sad seven year old (his fish and fish tank), and one very frustrated grandma (person in charge and was making lunch for the kids while the three year old, well, did what three year old's do best...made a mess)....poor grandma, what a mess!
Our hotel room. |
Our little kitchen. |
Connected the laptop to the TV to watch the game. |
Shirlayne's "big 'ole" mattress topper. |
Great posts. I feel like I'm right there with you two. Kris you are a great husband!
ReplyDeleteEntertaining post about the mattress topper and carrying around the i-pad to communicate. Sorry about the fish.
ReplyDeleteHoping the best for you on this journey of healing.
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