another rest day at the hotel

We're sorry that our blog has turned into a medical show.  A few other observations of our time here in Florida.  Today's medical report at the end.
First, Florida is very multi-cultural.  Our waitress here at the hotel for breakfast is from Peru.  She has been very kind to us.  Today she GAVE us 2 boxes of cereal, two servings of yogurt, and two bananas to take back to the room so Dorothy could have a little lunch.  In the hospital, Dorothy's main nurse was from Belize.  She was very thorough and called Dorothy "Miss Dorothy".  The chef at the restaurant here is a tall, tall black man who actually says things such as "what's happinin bro"" A very common accent one hears sounds more like New York than the south.  It is especially common among the other guests but also many of the staff.
U-turns are common, accepted and encouraged. When driving around, there are special lanes, traffic lights, etc. for u-turns.  Since many of the main thoroughfares have center medians, the special lanes make it possible to do a U-turn to get to a business on the opposite side of the road.  Even our GPS lady has gotten into the act.  When I went out today for some groceries and to fuel the van, she was encouraging me "when possible, make a U-turn".
There are very many considerably overweight people.  Tonight the restaurant at the hotel here had a prime rib buffet special for New Year's Eve.  When we went in, there was a fellow attacking a plate sized piece of bloody beef fringed with a few token vegetables.  When he finished it, and two large pitchers of "sweet tea" I thought, "how could anyone eat that much".  After a couple of scratches of his protruding belly he ambled over to the buffet table again and returned with an equally large plate-sized piece of bloody beef, this time with no annoying vegetables.  He proceeded to eat all of the second round with another large pitcher of sweet tea before shuffling off to his room. [Dorothy had a small bowl of mushroom soup and half a dinner roll for her meal - to help reduce the average intake to about 2 pounds of beef per person.]

There are many large billboard signs for hospitals and walk-in clinics advertising short wait times and expert care.  One claimed, "Wait time under 12 minutes." Some signs advertise specialties such as pediatrics or orthopedics - on a billboard sign.

Our daily medical report.  As mentioned yesterday, we felt the inundation of medications had thrown Dorothy's sensitive and unique systems (from her thyroid condition) out of whack.  We decided to stop all medications for a time and observe what happened.  This was a difficult decision knowing that Dorothy's life literally might hang in the balance.  Dorothy rested well during the night and kept up her intake of water like a real trooper.  She had a tiny bit more breakfast than yesterday.  We had some yogurt for lunch and tonight, Dorothy made her first foray to the restaurant for a meal other than breakfast.  She seems a little stronger tonight.  We went and sat in the hotel lobby for about 20 minutes after dinner.

Dorothy says there are too many photos of her
so she was able to take this one of me in the hotel lobby

Dorothy and I wish you and yours a Happy New Year
and a 2011 that is among your favorite years.
We thank all those who have sent prayers and e-mails of support.
We will lift a glass of yogurt to you to celebrate tonight.
May God Bless us All.