Rentree

Tuesday 24 April late evening

By the time Lara was delivered back home, at around 11:00AM, a lot of preparatory work had taken place. A nurse was i place plus two home care workers, the new bedlinens were back from the laundry, medications were in place and several more oxygen bottles had been delivered, plus a wonderful bouquet of roses from an association called "The Red Rose" in The Hague, of which I am a member.

Lara was put rightawy from the chair in which she was brought up from te ambulance, into her new hospital bed and all the familiar contraptions were put into place around her. She was clearly exhausted but delighted at the same time.

By now seven cannisters of liquid oxygen were pile up behind Lara's bed, each containing enough gas to keep Lara afloat fro about seven hours. The logistics of continual supplementation of cannisters were staggering. So the compqany itself suggested we swith to a oxygen concentrator (such as the one we already have in the house as from last year, but with a higher debit). The machine, the size of a large carry-on, sucks oxygen out ambiant air, filters it and pumps it back through the nozzle, continuously, without replenishment. The only thing to do is fill up the humidifier every few days or so. 

Gradually, the most care takers went their separate ways, while friends and siblings started to file in: Jeff, Elisbaetta, Janis and Liliana. The were all very huggy and close to Lara, and she was probably heartened by the outpoor of so much love and affection.

At Lara's initiative, the party started turning into a spoils distribution, covering jewelry, clothong, shoes and handbags. Books were kept as to who got what. The process is not over yet, but Lara was too exhausted to continue.

Toninght, at Lara's insistence I will push the couch up against her bed, crank the bed to the lowest position and sleep side by side, like we ought to for thirty years more...