By Elaine Rassel

Hip replacement was Friday May 28 and Monday June 14 I was on my way to Heartland Care in Marcus for a short stay. I was surprised to see Teresa picking me up in a very comfortable vehicle. I had expected Joe to arrive with Heartland’s vehicle. It seems that Heartland was busy on Monday. Joe had two trips to be going on so Teresa came.
When the dismissal papers were sent we thought every thing was taken care of. I had asked one of the doctors if the two-week check was going to have before I went to Heartland. The answer was, “He is on vacation.”
Lack of communication! Teresa got a call form the doctor that I had missed my appointment with him on Monday. We weren’t told anything but “vacation.” Now I have to go back on Thursday afternoon for this appointment.
When Zachary came after 2 p.m., he had had his walk in for the day as I’m in 309—the furthest one of the new additions. Coming in from the front door and all the way down to 309 was exercise!
These welcome additions are beautiful! If you haven’t seen them, make arrangements to town. They really are good sized rooms with a bathroom and a shower. I’m looking out and see the rooms on the East side of Heartland. I think Bernice McIntosh was in one of these. I really do miss her. When Heartland was quarantined, I would pick up her column after it was slid under the front doors.
I’m hoping to get the rest of the history of the Farmers Co-Op Elevator in this week’s paper. I am wondering if the first elevator (the one torn down in 1915) could have been the elevator that Sherie Ruden painted a mural of. I miss Marcus’ history man, Fred Wilkens. I enjoyed visiting with him and learning about more of Marcus’ history that hadn’t been written down.
After Monday night’s City Council meeting, we will have a new drive-through bank, United Bank of Iowa! It will be located on the lot across form post office and supposedly the first house south of this lot.
June 15 was Zachary’s birthday. Someone asked me if he was my son or grandson. I almost said he was adopted and was neither! I was hoping we could celebrate in my room but he had accepted an offer from someone else to go for supper.
Thursday night is “Supper Club” at Heartland. The Panhead and Pizza Ranch will bring at 5:30 what a resident would like, or, the resident can eat what Heartland offers for supper that night. Zachary and Bethany ordered from Panhead for the three of us and we ate in my room.
Thursday, Joe and I were on our way to Floyd Valley Hospital for a doctor’s appointment. I saw Jennifer and Scott as she was going for her speech therapy. Scott told me his mother, Lois Allen, has decided to live at Bavarian Meadows.
I had to go through the whole lot of X-rays. When only one leg cooperates, it makes it hard to have a table x-ray.
Doctor let me know I was to see him on Monday June 21. I was not to have anymore therapy and take rider to meals. When Friday morning arrived, so did the therapist. No doctor instructions about what I was told. They put a call into doctor. I had my therapy no matter what. I think they thought I had heard the doctor wrong. After 2:30 his office called and said they had forgot to put “no therapy” or walking. Meanwhile a woman came, after therapy, and asked me some questions about memory. I still think no one believed me. She hasn’t returned so probably heard my memory hadn’t failed me!
Friday June 18 was my Wedding Anniversary. I didn’t have time to go back over memories when my day started out like that!
That night at about 10:15 p.m., the lights and TV went off but lights in hall came back on instantly. Someone walked past my room and told me a transformer at Meriden was out so was the town of Meriden, Paullina, Cleghorn, and all of Marcus. They thought service would be restored at 1:15. It was 5:45 a.m. when lights came back on.
Meanwhile I was in the recliner chair and soon found out that it ran by electricity. I couldn’t get out of it to go to the bathroom. This was like being stuck on a ferris wheel when people are getting off or on. I tried everything I could think of to get out of it. (It was on the last notch, so I was up in the air!) A nurse came in and said if I wanted, she could get someone to come and help her but she was sure power would be restored soon.
I got my walker over to the chair but the wrong side was “to me”. I knew if I took my 3 blankets and tried to make a mountain to climb down on, that wouldn’t work as they probably would slide. I had asked the nurse if her “call” button was working. “It should be or else throw something out into the hall or yell.” Well, it wasn’t working and finally I yelled twice that 309 needed help.
Soon 3 of them came! I suppose they knew it would be like getting an elephant out of quicksand! One of the girls suggested they plug the chair into another outlet. Evidently they have a generator back-up switch and the chair could be gotten out of. This was 2:30 A.M. A generator needs the hall lights and keeps going for those that need it. I read Friday’s SC Journal cover to cover by flashlight.
Monday nights City Council meeting was attended by a citizen who wasn’t happy about many things. I only wish more people would come and express their feelings. If we were a Sioux City meeting, there would be a lot of people who attend their meetings.
Remember to include in your prayers and thoughts people who have lost loved ones recently to death, are struggling with health problems, trying to survive on the rising goal of everything, and hopefully finding ways to bring families back together. You never know when the Lord is going to blow his trumpet and call you home.
I will close with this quote from Anne Sexton (1928-1974) American poet, “It doesn’t matter who my father was, it matters who I remember he was.” Happy Father’s Day!