VETERANS HOSPITAL-JIM'S SURGERY

The drive to the Verterans Hospital in Palo Alto during traffic hours is horrendous. Thankfully they have an on base hostel called the Defenders Lodge for out of town people to stay. The drive home this second trip wasn’t so bad because we left at mid day and traffic was easy.


Jim had to report two hours early for surgery. They gave him a cute dress and a pair of booties to wear. He has never experienced surgery before, and he was fascinated by the process.


I waited around for an hour and a half. They came in with series of eye drops to keep his eye dilated. You can see the right iris his huge compared to the left eye. What amazed me is the IV, the pre-op prep, and the absolute professionalism of hospital personnel in every unit and every person we met who works there. It is an amazing and very modern place. I’m  impressed with their caring and efficiency.  For this procedure,  I had a comparison. My husband had double cataract surgery, probably 25 years ago. He was told to wear no creams or lotions, to shower and wash his hair and report to the clinic. I watched the surgery though a glass window.  They gave him a medication to relax him before he went in. They put stuff in his eyes, clamped the eye open. He could talk to them. They did the surgery and he wore an eye patch for a day and several nights and that was it. The difference in how it is handled is like night and day. Pretty undramatic. Jim was treated like he was going for major surgery.


After we ate dinner, which they supplied him; I bought mine in the canteen and we were able to eat together. We went to bed. Oh, oh!  Jim forgot to tell me that the instructions were to bring your own bedding. Well, thanks to my survival kit, I have pillows and blankets in my car. We would have been pretty miserable with out it and I’m once again, grateful for my survival kit. All they have on the beds is a bottom sheet, a light weight spread and some red throw pillows. We met a number of vets in various stages of the trek from pre-exam, prep, recovery, and the next day, post-op exam to know he is among those lucky people who, though he was in the Bay of Pigs debacle, was never physically endangered or fired upon during his service.


Dr. Pershing is his surgeon and she scheduled him for the next eye very soon. He is glad he can get it over quickly and have his vision back. It was scary to learn how impaired his vision was while driving home. It changed so quickly. But, his long distance glasses saved him, and having me available to drive, as an option, was also comforting-for him.


The hospital put him through all of his tests ordered by his regular doctor in Sonora.  I didn’t get her name, but she was wonderful. How nice is that? They actually communicate with each other. Repeat, I’m impressed by the Veterans Medical Care here in California. Far better than what I can expect in my community, though I’m not complaining.  They are just more organized and efficient. I can’t say enough about the system.

Now I have to add this little extra filip. We all know about networking, but at dinner in the defenders lodge we met a vet named Bobby Brown. Jim had been about to go to Jackson to get his muffler replaced after being quoted prices of $600 down to $400. Bobby Brown handed him a card and said:  “I guarantee you’ll get a better price from this guy and if you don’t I’ll pay your bill.”  Jim called, I believe it was Allied Muffler in Modesto, (he left before I could get the name of the place from him), the price?  $200 from Bobby Brown’s grandson.  He told us not to mention his name. Isn’t that a hoot?

FROM BOSTON TO REVERE TO DARTMOUTH.

I flew to Boston, arrived about peak commute time which is why we decided to get a hotel instead of crawling our way to our destination. As it was, it took over an hour to drive the seven miles from the airport to our hotel.

That last-minute decision landed us in the “Motel From Hell” from a supposedly decent chain, Econo Lodge. We had a great laugh about how horrible it was, the front door to the lobby handle came off in Jim’s hand when he opened the door and the problems piled up after that. A friend of mine once got drunk and slept all night in a hotel in Vegas with a dead body under his mattress. That was in the 1960′s.  I was reminded of that incident because of the smell. Well, we survived. I was tired and slept well even so.

In the morning, we met Jim’s high school friends, Bill and Loretta Gallagher. Bill and Jim like to tour their old neighborhood and remind themselves of all their teenage exploits.

Jim is pointing at Bill and telling Loretta how he had the hot date with Perry Como’s niece so Bill was tailgating Jim and following him so they couldn’t get to the favorite necking spot without witnesses. So Jim tries to shake him with a quick  U turn in the middle of the road and Bill T boned his car.

And then there was the time they got stopped by the DMV guys, who always hung out on this one corner and stopped cars to check for their licenses and registration. Bill was driving his Henry J.  Out piled 13 kids before Bill could get his registration out of the glove box.

And then, another time, they were headed for a “rumble” with their chains and chocks when the clutch burned out in the old Henry J and probably saved their lives.  Oh, yeah. These guys lived the life of Fonzie.

We cruised the old neighborhood, with the guys marveling that the old trailer park where Jim lived was still there. Jim lived in a 12 foot trailer from age 10 to 14 with his parents and younger brother.

When he was in Jr. High, he crawled under the fence to Suffolk Downs, lied his age, and got a job grooming horses.

We visited the track but the place was empty. The track was being groomed and no horses in sight.

We stopped at the oldest Cemetery in the area. Bill pointed out where there was a building from the 1600′s on this site, an old house.  The City of Revere didn’t have the money to fix it up, a fact that still annoys him that they would tear down this historic building instead of finding a way to preserve it through alternative financing.

The gates were closed and we couldn’t enter.

Then we met Dolly and Arthur at Demaino’s restaurant, where everyone went for Pizza in the 1950′s.  Arthur is 85 and didn’t attend high school with the rest of them.

Amazingly, Loretta and Dolly have known each other since they were three years old.

The only one missing is their other partner in crime, Al Penta who lives in the state of Washington. But, they always hoist a glass and remember him when they get together.

Our time was short and sweet and then we drove to Dartmouth to Jim’s cousin’s house, Donna and Bob Parker.  Donna and I are both foodies and she immediately brought us some home-made Portuguese cookies and zucchini bread.

Then we had dinner at one of their favorite restaurants, Antonio’s. There was a sign on the wall, Martha Stewart was here, with her picture. I guess they took over the whole restaurant with their entourage. Anyway, the food is well-known to everyone in the area. Jim and I shared what is supposed to be a single entree, the Chicken Algarvia with chicken breast, shrimp and little neck clams.

Bob and Donna shared their entree of Pork Ribatejana, with pork, shrimp, little neck clams in a broth with fried potatoes.

And, like the entrees, the beers are huge. Bob chugs down the last swallow.  We’ll be staying here for five days. I dieted before arriving. You can guess why.