Story 8Jan2021: No Sleep with Cough

I did not sleep most of the night with a cough and asthma issues. I got up early, wrote the blog, and got caught up on email. I took my pills at 10AM and then headed back to bed. I napped for a few hours. The coughing slowed when I had something to eat and get some rest.

I recognize the cough; I am tired and reacting to pollen and have a runny nose. My usual for overdoing it. This is not often caused for just living, but I did not rest much the day before. I will be more careful in the future!

I finally managed to get going in the early afternoon and dressed and showered.

The doc at the Forest Grove Rehab and Care Center called. Adam is the nurse practitioner that works with the doc, and he told me that Susie has a thrush infection in her mouth, and they will treat it. We also chatted about keeping Susie out of the ER and no needles for her. Adam believes my plan to get Susie into hospice and/or at-home care is an “excellent” plan. So I will start that plan on Monday. Again, this is running on the schedule I had worked out in December.

Changing subjects, the plan included three weeks of care for Susie and then paying for the room until we get her home. Thus I also wrote a check for over $4500 for two weeks for Susie to remain there. I will also be billed for therapy. Yes, it is expensive, but this is what it costs in the USA. I do not believe Americans should pay this, but that is our present way of caring for people. Pay over 10,000 a month for primary care.

I manage to get to the nursing home about 2ish, and Susie is sleepy and in bed. She was dressed and had some food and water before I got there. I water the plants and sit with Susie for about an hour. The fatigue returns. I do manage to get Susie to chat with her mother on FaceTime.

I tried to get Susie to smile wide.

The nurses were happy to see me; they were worried as I was late and rehashed the changes in Susie’s care. We are all happy to see each other, and they know about my surgery and that we are going on private pay, but care is not to change.

The staff at home love Susie and are happy to have someone in their care where the family and friends visit. It makes a difference for them too. They worry about me and my recovery. It is nice to see so many caring people.

The facility is challenged right now. Seven of the staff are down with Covid-19 and are out for at least five days (according to CDC guidelines). I am seeing right-wing memes about the mandating of vaccines as the cause of the staffing issues, but no, it is the spread of the variant caused mainly by the unvaccinated (20% in our county) that are causing the problem. I have evidence in front of my eyes.

I wish Susie goodbye, no kiss as I am coughing (I clean my hands often), and she falls asleep again. She can only get out a few clear words now. The thrush infection is one of the speech issues.

I manage to get home without issue. I had clam chowder from a can for lunch before I headed out to see Susie. I rest some more.

I watch videos on my Apple. I am newly fascinated by one channel that is a first-time build of a wooden ship from a very skilled plastic model builder, AlexModels. Again, another Patreon-supported person. I watched all six videos released in Nov-Dec 2021. I have four unfinished wood models and have already learned some important details.

I ask a question as I see he uses super glue differently than I have done. He answers in a few hours! I also order his coffee cup to support his work. I ordered the same item on Amazon and also ordered from MicroMark an OcCre workbench for this tiny scale work. He even has a video on putting it together.

I was going to head to the Smiths and play a board game, but it was unwise to risk exposure with the cough and Kat flying home to New York City. Not to mention David and Michelle did not need a cough either. So instead, David stops by, and we exchange a few late Christmas gifts.

I get a book on the incredible miniature work done for the holidays at the gardens in NYC. I send Kat a glass ornament of the Eiffel Tower. Kat’s animation project at college was set in Paris with a singing and dancing suitcase, which seemed perfect. Kay is a 3D animation artist.

We watch Thor 2 together using the groups on Disney+ after some fiddling to get it to work. It is late when we all say good night.

I manage to sleep almost immediately, but 7AM comes too soon.