An Unexpected Journey

A week ago, I never dreamed I'd be writing a post from Costa Rica.   And the picture I wish I could show you but am not yet able to, would be of my mother sitting up in bed, smiling and only needing a oxygen through a nasal cannula, and of her arriving safely home in Colorado.Hospital Cima landscaping
Instead, I am showing you a photo of the beautiful landscaping outside the front of Hospital Cima in San Jose, Costa Rica.  My mother had traveled to Costa Rica on a Birding trip, which she had been eagerly anticipating for some time.  The majority of the trip went very well and she was able to see many new birds and said that it was beautiful.  Then, just a few days before the end of the trip, she contracted Influenza B and a secondary bacterial infection which has for all practical purposes given her pneumonia on top of the Influenza.  She is in the ICU here at Cima Hospital.  I flew down on Wednesday to be with her and oversee her care and to deal with all the paperwork involved in someone being hospitalized outside of their home country.  It is extensive!  Every two hours, I walk into the hospital past these beautiful plantings and am amazed that the plants I have meagerly grown in my home in the past, can be such glorious plants here in Costa Rica.  They are truly beautiful and lift my spirits daily.

View from my room
The view from my hotel room looks across the construction of a new hotel to the hospital (the yellowish tan buildings).  It is reassuring to be so close that I can walk in less than 5 minutes.  To the right of this, I have a view of the wooded hillsides behind the hospital.  It is lovely.  Truthfully, this is about as much of the city as I have seen so far, and if not for the fact that Spanish is the primary language spoken, it could be almost any American city.

Wall Hanging of Paper pulp
The hotel I am staying in is very modern and has lovely contemporary artworks hung throughout, including this magnificent wall sculpture made of paper pulp!  I am fascinated by it and how organic it is.  I will try to take a close up shot of it at a later time.

Lobby Draperies
My first day here at the hotel, I had to wait for a couple of hours for my room to be ready.  Each time the doors would open and the breeze blew through, these enormous draperies moved in the loveliest manner ~ gently dancing fabric.  It was beautiful.  These are small things, but they have given a lift to my heart.

So many people have gone out of their way to assist me in caring for my mother, and the hospital here is providing excellent care, for which I am deeply grateful.  There have been more headaches of paperwork than I care to expound on here, but the details are coming together now and I am hopeful that as my Mother is able to fight off the infections that are ravaging her at this time, soon we will be able to make the journey home.

Comments

Suztats said…
Sure hope your Mother is all better soon! Take care.
I'm so glad you were able to be with your mother through all this. Hopefully she is feeling much better soon.
Terri said…
I hope all goeswell and that you both are on your way home soon!
My wish for you is that your Mom will be well enough to travel soon and you can both go home and she can finish her recovery there. What a lovely place you are in - it says a lot about you that you can find such points of beauty and charm while under such stressful conditions. All the best!
Julie said…
So sorry to hear about your Mum Lisa. I hope she is soon on the mend and you can both go home.
Joyce said…
I found your blog last fall when I was searching for crazy quilt ideas, and have been inspired by all your lovely art/craft project posts.

I hope your mother is better soon.
Cherrell said…
Godspeed on a quick recovery for your Mother. Prayers going up that she will be well very quickly and soon you both will be on your way home.

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