Setback

Our salmon-colored Thanksgiving cactus has finally put out a successful flower. This is the first one of the year, and probably the last, from the looks of things. It had a healthy bud earlier in the season but somehow it got eaten -- which is concerning since the plant is indoors! I later found a snail in one of our gardening shoes by the back door -- God knows how it got inside -- so I'm guessing that was the culprit. Anyway, at least we got one flower.

The white-flowering cacti don't have any buds this year, but the plants still look healthy, at least.

Speaking of health, we've had a setback here. Dave was experiencing some swelling and redness at the site of his surgery, and the doctor was concerned that the hernia had re-emerged. So right after I arrived at the hospital yesterday, we all went down to get a CT scan, and found that, indeed, that's what happened. The mesh repair had torn on the upper edge and Dave's intestines were once again coming through his abdominal wall.

He didn't feel any of this, by the way -- but then, he's on oxycodone, so he probably can't feel much.

He went back to surgery yesterday evening. They reopened the incision, and the doctor took out the old mesh -- which he described as "hanging by a thread" -- and put a new piece of mesh overtop the old repair. He expects this one to hold, at least in the short term, but he said there's a chance the hernia will reappear in coming years. Apparently the tissues of Dave's abdominal wall are very weak, which the doctor said relates to the drugs he's taking for Crohn's.

All of this means Dave's hospital stay is likely to be extended by a few more days, so I'm guessing he won't be home before Thursday at the earliest. We've been texting and I hope to get in to see him after lunch today.

As we went down to the imaging department we passed these paintings in an elevator lobby. They show some of the old Victorian gas works that are still visible in parts of London, and that I've photographed several times. The paintings are called "Endangered Species" by Marilyn Southey.

The hospital has lots of artworks hanging in all its hallways, which brightens the place up. (Oh, and Elevator B has been thoroughly cleaned, you'll be glad to know!)

After Dave's drama, I feel small and ridiculous complaining about my own medical test, which I did indeed complete yesterday morning. I packed up my tubes of exhaled breath and thought I'd mail them on the way to the hospital, but the mail slot in the priority mailbox was too small to accommodate the package. Argh! I wound up carrying my air (ridiculous, right?) all the way to the hospital and then walking home with it. Along the way, I passed another mailbox with a bigger slot, so in went the package. I'm relieved to be done with it now, and eating normally.

I'm planning to go to work this morning but I may have a shorter workday than usual so I can get to the hospital. We shall see.