Campus Interruptus!

We were having a great time. The camper was set up in a lovely setting. Birds were chirping, bunny rabbits and squirrels hopping but unfortunatly, so was Theresa’s gut. It seems an unlucky combination of antibiotics and prednasone allowed a germ, Clostridium difficile, often called C. difficile or "C. diff, to run wild in her bowels. To say this bacterium is wild is an understatement. In fact it strives to escape it’s containment in a very embarrassing way if you stray more than a few yards from the bathroom. Its unpredictability caused us to pack up the camper and move into a cabin with a real bathroom only three steps from her bed. Even this however, proved to be a step too far so we checked her into a lovely small hospital in Navasota, Texas.

Theresa is being fed by IV while I’m enjoying the hospitality of the staff here.
Texans seem to be a slightly different breed of American. Manners, unlike some northern locations, are still used here. People still open doors for ladies, say please and thank you, no sir, yes mam, and jump to help you out of difficulty. It’s very, very nice.

At the campground, when people learned Theresa was feeling bad, Carmen and Jennifer, delivered yogurt, crackers, and comfort food. Larry, the park owner, insisted that I call him at any hour of day or night if there was anything he could do to help. He even loaned me his Town Car to take Theresa to the hospital when we decided that was appropriate.

They have a small cafeteria here, but it was closed today. I went there looking for lunch and was disappointed to find it was covered dish day for employees only. I must have looked hungry or sad or both because one of the very nice ladies stopped me and said, “Come get something to eat. It won’t cost you nuthin’”. I dined on fried chicken, taco salad, a variety of casserole dishes and soda. One of the nice ladies fixed me a couple of pieces of cake. I was stuffed! We feel like we are surrounded by family.

The medical attention seems to be first rate too. Dr. Scamardo, Theresa’s attending physician, reminds me of Bones in Star Trek. He is empathic, a great listener, and thorough. He explains things clearly and has great bedside manner. The same can be said of the nursing staff. We like everyone we’ve met here. It’s almost like being in Naples where Dr. Scafuri and his wife Fara nurture us.

It’s 8:20PM and Dr. Scamardo just visited. It looks like Theresa may have a few more days until everything gets back to “normal”.

That can’t happen too soon for us.