Wild Thing Has Nothing On Gugulethu

Wild Thing is the name of the biggest roller coaster at Valleyfair, the big amusement park near the Twin Cities. It has a great (size and fun) drop-off at the first hill. You go up and up and up, and then all of a sudden you're free falling. Or at least it feels that way. That's how my afternoon was today. And here I thought I'd have nothing to write about this week...

I saw Rosie twice this weekend. She's doing much better. She's not confused anymore, she can sit up now, and she's starting to walk with crutches. She also seems happier, even though she absolutely hates being the hospital. Of course, there are stories for both days:

Yesterday, I took her housemate Eric (I think he's the partner of Nokubonga, the other woman in the house) to visit. When we got to GF Jooste, they swore she wasn't there, but was still at Groote Schuur. Groote Schuur (pronounced Groot-es-kewer, with the G sounding like you have a phlegmy throat) is the major public-sector teaching hospital in Cape Town. It'd be like the pre-Fairview University of Minnesota hospital, where GF Jooste would be like Hennepin County Medical Center (but worse). Rosie went to GS to have a neurology consultation about her feet and legs. It wasn't clear when she went if she'd stay there or come back to Jooste. Well, it appeared like she went there and stayed. So, Eric and I drove to GS. After wandering the hallways for 30 minutes and asking for help about 6 times, the nurses swore she was back at Jooste. So, we went back to Jooste. Sure enough, she was there all along, one aisle over from where she was last week. We visited for about 30 minutes (now past visiting hours, but I didn't care) and then left. I promised to come back today with her kids.

As promised, I picked up Amanda and her baby sister, plus Nokubonga and her daughter, and we all headed for Jooste. When we were walking in, a woman I kind of recognized pulled me aside and told me that Nokuzola had just died. At least, that's what I thought she said. Nokuzola is Rosie's real name. I stood there dumbfounded. I said I had just talked to her yesterday and she seemed fine. After pausing for a few seconds, I continued to walk into the ward with Amanda and Nokubonga. I stopped us at the nurses desk and discreetly asked if it was true that Rosie had passed away. The nurse looked at me a little funny and said No, she's just sleeping. When we walked to the bed, she woke up.

It took me a few seconds to realize that the woman in the hallway was the sister of the woman I had taken to the Gugulethu day hospital last week. It was she who had passed away. I went over the bed, which was surrounded by the typical hospital-issue ugly beige curtain. Her mother was just coming out. I gave her a hug and she sobbed a couple times, then straightened up and walked out with the other family members. I will stop and see how they are doing tomorrow. (The mother also had a cast on her left arm, which is new since last week. I'll have to get the story on that another day.) I feel bad about the fact she was in hospital and I didn't know, especially because she was literally in the bed next to Rosie last week and I didn't even notice. I also never checked up on her after the day hospital trip, which I'm embarrassed about.

We had a good visit with Rosie, though. she got to hold and play with her baby (now 16 months old) and talk with Amanda and Nokubonga. Nokubonga also trimmed her fingernails and rubbed some cream on her feet. After about a half-hour we left and I took everyone back home.

Up, up, up with Rosie; crash-dive with the other woman; up, up, up again with Rosie. I think I prefer Wild Thing - at least you know it ends.