Sanibel Journal

Sunrise on January 31, as life was beginning to ease. February 20, 2016 -- We weathered yet another storm.  During Christmas weekend, Tom suffered from fevers; when Monday morning came, we went directly to the doctor's office, and from there Tom was sent by ambulance to the hospital near downtown Fort Myers. This time his stay was longer -- two weeks, altogether.  The hospital and its parking lot became very familiar.  I noted the mature, luxuriant coonties in the parking lot's "islands."  So these are what our baby coonties will grow up to resemble!  Cute little cycads, they are. The baby coonties I told Tom about the mature coonties in the parking lot, and a host of other outdoor sights that I witnessed during those two weeks.  He was not only indoors for that entire time, but he was in the ICU for four nights and five days of those two weeks.  The ICU is a wild and crazy place, with all the alarms sounding and people coming and going. ...

Sunrise on December 18 December 22, 2015 -- As the blank page stares me in the face, all I can think is that this is a "Sanibel Journal" and so much of what has been happening in our lives isn't about Sanibel at all.  You see, we've had medical adventures during the past month.  Tom had a bout of a rare, deadly hemolytic anemia, but he is better now that he spent five days in the hospital and is able to go through his regular chemotherapy for leukemia again.  His chemo makes him feel better, not worse, so long as he doesn't catch a cold while his immune system is suppressed by the drugs. After the hospital stay, this house on Dinkins Bayou was so nice to come home to.  Seeing the sunrise every morning instills a deep sense of well-being, and an acknowledgement that we weathered a storm.  We feel like we moved here in the nick of time.  Some of that feeling is because of practical matters like the elevator, which Tom uses frequently.  The res...