The Things That I Have Learned...

I love the book "All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten."

Alas, I  never attended kindergarten!

And so I shall spend the rest of my life learning.

Not in that book, but in one of Robert Fulghum's writings, 

a quote goes something like this,

There's a difference between a lump in the oatmeal, 

a lump in the throat,

and a lump in the breast.

We need to learn to know the difference.

The beauty and excitement of Italian design find themselves

equal to the lump in the oatmeal.

Today, I cannot focus on insignificant lumps.

The design blogs will have to wait.  

They will come but they will have to wait.

I have learned harsher realities this week.

#1 Never underestimate the value of insurance.

Yes, horror stories abound related to insurance.

Like most things in life, we don't know how to appreciate them

until we do not have them.

With travel insurance at a cost of under $500,  
my friend Sandy could find herself

on a private jet being flown to her home country.

That jet could fly at lower elevations as necessary for her condition and deliver her to the hospital of her choice.

Accessories would include room for a passenger, two registered nurses, a ventilator and an array of potentially needed drugs.

Cost:  $120,000 - $125,000

We never, never plan to need insurance.

But life does happen, not always to other people.

Sandy lies 24 hours a day in ICU in Bari, Italy with
'multiple, massive pulmonary embolisms in both arteries.'
Today words cannot describe my gratitude that Sandy breathed until she arrived into good care at a Universitario hospital
swarming with kind, handsome interns 
who love a chance to practice English.

Speaking of appreciation, I think most ICU rooms in the US are now private due to HIPAA regulations.  In privacy we enjoy company in the ultimate sterilized surroundings.
Here they allow one person at a time, one hour a day.
Yesterday, they crowded another bed into the once eight bed unit.  The had moved another patient out to make room for Sandy.
She still wears the shirt that she wore upon arrival Wednesday - no gowns - and has not had a cloth to wash her face.
Someone delivers a litre of bottled water each day at noon.
She arrived in the evening so we had to go buy her water!

We learned after a twelve hour visit to the emergency room that Italy has not given birth to HIPAA.
  One woman being stored for a few hours, two other ladies in a room for breathing treatment.  One rated a very well worn and taped up wheel chair.

This lady received a footrest for her wheelchair.
Note the rubber tubing tied to each side.

Apparently they could not find a storage area for
this poor, extremely miserable man.
The white filmy stuff separates him from germs left behind by hundreds of previous users.
Warm hospital blankets?  Do you think hospitals are rich?

I do believe that Sandy receives good care, especially due to the facility being a university hospital.
The director told us apologetically that Italy has 
good doctors but very poor infrastructure.


#2 While lamenting the poor hospital conditions, I googled to learn that the life expectancy in Italy is FOUR years LONGER
than that of sanitary Americans!


#3  Socialized medicine will amaze its highest proponents.
We shall rue its arrival.
The stories that I heard from the three Londoners who visited
continue to haunt me.


#4  Italy grows delicious pears.
They taste like a pear with a slightly different flavor than ours.
Mediterranean soil?  
Sandy will come home smelling like a pear!
She has enjoyed more than a few.

#5  Life at best is fragile.
An ancient scholar wrote Latin words with this meaning:

We think we are learning how to live when really, we live 
learning how to die.

#6  Listen and live by your intuition.
Everyone has that sixth sense, given to us to help us in our journey through life.
Develop it.

Everything about this trip fell into my hands.  I could not prevent it from happening.  I do not know all of the reasons.
Original plans and wants did not work, would not work.
Leaving that plan behind, I began to search in the Puglia area where we stay.  My first choice, this perfect location by the sea, was sold to us at a greatly reduced rate.

Had our first try succeeded, we'd have known no one and had no good medical facilities nearby.

Here, we have formed wonderful friendships.
Cristina has stayed at our side to translate throughout the goings on while Marco watched the children at home.
Anna Maria walks half an hour to the hospital daily.
She and Concentina have begged me stay in the city with them.
Instead I offer her a ride home, get very lost and take her on a 
real, Amerian wild goose chase!

What experiences it takes to appreciate our blessings
as Americans!