30 October 2024–Nuova Ospedale di San Giovanni Battista, Foligno, Umbria, Italy: John is still in the hospital. He is feeling much better. The culture results are not yet all in, so we must wait in order to identify the proper treatment for his symptoms. However, we do know that it is not a virus and that it is not a common germ. We hope that tomorrow will be the day (day 3) when all results will be in and Dad will finally be able to come “home”—if not tomorrow, then, Friday, for sure. He does look so much better now, though, and he is feeling better. Some symptoms continue, and the doc gave me a script to pick up at the pharmacy for him to relieve those symptoms. White blood cell counts are still elevated but slightly decreased. Now, the kidney function values have to resolve. This morning, our Agriturismo host, Francesco, drove me to the hospital. Awesome because he didn’t have to go above and beyond for me. He was going to Foligno, anyway, he said, so I gratefullly accepted. I took a cab back home at night, though, and it turned out to be a miraculous event. Here’s why. We have to check out of our Agriturismo tomorrow morning at 10. The Agriturismo is full, expecting to fill all eight of the rooms this week-end. Francesco told me that if push came to shove, they would “prepare a small room for me” so I’d have a place to stay til John came out of the hospital. I did not want to do that if at all possible because I figured that it would likely be in their own private family dwelling and did not want to put them out. I tried to find a room at any hotel in Foligno. All sites were telling me that there was no availability for those dates. (We were supposed to go to Puglia tomorrow, but obviously we had to make some changes). I needed a place to stay, however, and I did not want to sleep in the hospital. John’s room has four beds, some with IVs running, and so on, and I did not want to be in anyone’s way. An 18-year-old patient sharing the room with John also made some calls for me. Such a kind gesture that was so very much appreciated, but…nothing. Everything was taken. I was prepared to sleep in the car parked in the hospital parking lot. My cab driver was the same person who had driven me back and forth since John was admitted. When I mentioned the dilemma briefly to him, he immediately dialed a number and asked if a room was available. He did not know the location but knew that it existed and that it was located right behind the hospital. Lo and behold, there was one room that the hosts were holding exactly for someone who needed it because a relative was in the hospital. Naturally, I took it! Sometimes, one meets a stranger who basically turns a seemingly hopeless situation on its head. This taxi driver, GianCarlo, was that person for me today! I believe in miracles, and this was definitely one! Why were no rooms available anywhere? It turns out that people in Italy celebrate the day of the dead and All Saints Day. All Saints Day, November 1, is a national holiday! Additionally, in Perugia, not far away from Foligno, there is a Fair and a young people’s concert this weekend. The concert especially has drawn a lot of young folks. Finally, the weather has been unseasonably phenomenal in this area lately. Combining all of these things with an upcoming long week-end, people were traveling about, taking up the various accommodations that were available. When I got back to the Agriturismo, Francesco and his wife, Ada, our hosts, greeted me with a vegetarian hot meal they knew I’d like; and they asked about my accommodations the following days. Because they had not replied to my What’sApp message about the situation earlier that day, I figured that they no longer had that one-room accommodation for me. But I found out that they never got that message because Ada had lost her phone! I told them about St. Anthony, who has never abandoned me at times when I needed help with finding something lost. Lo and behold, later that evening, I found Ada’s phone on the bed in our room. She must have put it down when she fixed the beds and forgotten it there! That was miracle #2 today!
Our Travels 