News
Saturday
Saturday had some fun, some stressful stuff. Dad was told he was going to be released Sunday because of his wheezing. Then he started having chest pain, so they moved him to the ICU and said he’d either get a stress test or an angiogram on Monday. If they find problems, they may need to put in a stent, which would be one more night in the hospital after Monday. I’m hoping he’s out by Thursday, because we have an appointment to get his MRI ordered.
In the evening, Aaron and I had a date. We went to a local tavern within walking distance from my house. We did exciting stuff like discuss whether to get a high or low deductible plan as well as everyone’s health issues
Sunday
Sunday I popped by to visit dad in the morning, before work. The doctor said he didn’t really belong in the ICU, which I agreed with. He said he figured dad may need some stents, but that we wouldn’t know till the angiogram or stress test Monday.
After work, we played Ticket to Ride as a family. Even IL4 played – he drew and discarded cards, and occasionally blocked a path by placing a train. It really stressed out D13 who wants to play PRECISELY by the rules. I figured he was just adding an extra level of complexity to the game and enjoyed being part of the family activity.
Monday
Monday was another busy day. After making croc pot stew for Aaron and my lunches, I sorted a month’s worth of 5 people’s laundry. Usually D13 does that once a week or so, but with her knee problem and being busy with every day rehearsal for the play (which is over now) laundry had accumulated. I still have to fold it and put it away, but it took me 1.5 hours to drag it all upstairs and sort it.
Dad’s hospitalist called. They couldn’t do a stress test or some other test that I can’t remember the name of because of his arm. They couldn’t do an angiogram because his hemoglobin was too low. They thought maybe he was losing blood, so they called ENT to see if it was his nose. That was in the works.
Orthopedic oncology called, too. Apparently my doctor who found my coccyx tumor by MRI decided to refer me without telling me. So that was a surprise. They triaged me to next day appointment, which stressed me out due to the apparent importance of getting me in quickly.
Then I took IL4 to school and went to the hospital to visit dad. In the evening, I decided not to take IL4 to swim because of a diaper rash that has been getting worse since a week ago. It even has blisters. He only wears diapers at night, so this is confusing. I took him to Urgent Care at the suggestion of the nurse line, and the doctor suggested that it was infected and gave us a cream. Insurance doesn’t cover the cream, and they couldn’t get it done that day because the pharmacist had to mix it.
Tuesday
Tuesday I rushed directly from work to feeding therapy for IL4. Because we’d had no luck the last two feeding appointments, I tried really easy foods and rewarded him with a cookie at the end. He was a superstar during this appointment.
After that, we went to IL4’s poop physical therapy. She’s going to use biofeedback – she’ll put stickers on him and make him do kegels. It’s hooked up to a game on the computer. When he’s clenched, the rocket takes off, and when he relaxes it docks. But we just did his biceps Tuesday, to demonstrate. Then we learned some exercises, where he stuck his belly out and hissed like a snake while sitting (which the therapist says helps you poop).
Then, I dropped IL4 off and picked up D13. I took her to her knee physical therapy intake. We learned she had hyper-mobile joints. He also told us to never sit on our feet because it’ll give us arthritis. I do that all the time. Anyway, he gave her some exercises to help with the knee strength.
Pretty closely on the heels of that appointment, I had my orthopedic oncology appointment. He said that my tumor was probably just a cyst formed after the tailbone trauma of our car accident last year. That sounds about right to me. Why would cancer form because I’d injured my tailbone?
I had been going to visit dad after that appointment, but I’d reached my capacity that day (considering I needed to go to work that night). So my friend came over and we had pizza and gossiped.
Wednesday
Dad was released from the hospital on Wednesday. We had instructions to pop by the equipment store and pick up an oxygen compressor, and get him appointments with ENT, cardiology, and his PCP. I also needed to get him an emergency dentist appointment (his fillings popped out), but had trouble finding a time at a place that takes medicare. So I made an appointment for Thursday for a check in (they don’t have enough time to put in the fillings right away). I had to move his Thursday orthopedic appointment to Friday and cancel IL4’s speech therapy that week.
Thursday
Thursday I took dad to the dentist. He claims that he hasn’t been to a dentist since the 70’s and that may be true. But some fillings fell out, and he needed to be seen. The dentist determined that he had to have his teeth pulled to get dentures. I understood that he was only getting the molars pulled, and he understood that he was getting them all pulled, so I need to call on Monday and find out. I also had a dentist appointment, but I’m keeping all my teeth. In the evening, we went to Red Lobster.
Friday
Friday I was supposed to take dad to an appointment with the orthopedic doctor to follow up on dad’s broken arm and get an MRI of the spot that could be cancer. But he wasn’t feeling well, so we had to cancel.
The rest of the day felt like it had been cancelled too. I kept trying to check my to-do list and prioritize things, but dad kept interrupting with health needs, and J19’s entertainment (he wanted to go to a concert and talked dad into buying the tickets, but then I had to make the purchase on Ticketmaster, which turned out to be more difficult than you’d expect). Then dad encouraged me to do Christmas and birthday shopping for him, which turned out to be experiences (shows) rather than physical gifts, for the most part. I still need Christmas and birthday for IL4.
Then M11 had to pack for Boy Scout camp, which took micromanaging on my part because he was reluctant to pack for some reason. He claimed he wanted to do homework.
By the time Aaron got home, I was gibbering about how I got nothing done, and felt so unaccomplished for the day. In reality, I got 20 items checked off my to-do list – they just weren’t the ones I’d had planned.
Week’s Photos
Letters Written
- 1 letter Alberta, Canada
- 1 letter Maryland
Reading to myself
- Leech, by Hiron Ennes
- Great Mythologies of the World, by various
Reading to IL4
- Llama Destroys the World by Jonathan Stutzman
- Llama Unleashes the Alpacalypse by Jonathan Stutzman
M10 reading
- A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, by T Kingfisher
D13 reading
- Outsiders, by S E Hinton
- Throne of Glass, by Sarah J Maas
Games Played
Hibernator's Library 