Story 28April2022: Closing out April

Today I will try to list the day’s events instead of writing a narrative. Just something new to try out.

As planned, April is the last month of my medical leave. I have a return-to-work day of 2May2022, the first Monday in May. So I added a week to my leave, and that was wise as I am now feeling much better, and the signs of anemia are mostly gone. I also had a glass of wine with dinner last night and had no side effects from the alcohol. So while I still tire easily, I can do more and more each day. I have lived with anemia for almost a year, and I cannot express how pleased I am to have it finally end.

Aside *a slight rant*: The insurance company that runs my leave request, Sedgwick, sent me a demand to have a doctor’s approval for my return to work. I had already spoken to an agent and was told I did not need that, and now it would be difficult to get one in time as I would have to have my doctor rush one out. So I called Sedgwick again and was told that the form they were requesting to have the doctor fill out was for my employer, Nike, and was needed only if my boss needed it. As I am not working in manufacturing or warehouse, I do not need this according to my last time talking to them. I decided to ignore their request. I was informed that I must call them on my first actual return to workday so they can close my case. Growl.

The other side effects have also ended. But, I still have some issues with chemo-head with picking words and drifting off and just thinking of something unrelated–some of this may be Covid-19 isolation based. The nausea is gone. The muscles moving in unexpected combinations are gone. My imagination is back, including the return of nightmares, and I can do more than write narrations again. I believe my sharp thinking is back, which is good for me returning to work.

I was glad to get a note from my boss at Nike, Inc., that he will meet with me on Monday and give me some direction. I have to get my Nike laptop running, and I have set Saturday for that event.

This takes me to the next interesting item on Thursday; Glenda is leaving on Friday, so Thursday was her last full day with us. Glenda, you might recall, is Susie’s Aunt who lives in Ashland, North Carolina, and came to help get the house organized and find a solution to Susie’s next place to live. I took Glenda to dinner at Nonna Emilia’s in Aloha, Oregon–one of our oldest family-centered food joints. They have been serving home-style Italian food for more than fifty years. Glenda enjoyed the atmosphere and the food.

Also, Susie is planned to move to an adult foster care, Allegiance Senior Care, in May, another thing we are now changing after April closes. But, we will wait for the rehab to finish at Forest Grove. Glenda and I picked the new place from a recommendation list from Bristol Hospice and really liked Allegiance. I will pay about $7000 a month for the room plus some add-ons for services. Susie needs level three support, and this costs more. Allegiance Senior Care needs to get Susie a hospital bed and various other information for her to live there. This transition is already in progress and will complete in May. So, again, ending Susie’s nursing home stay (at $12,000 and more a month) in April.

Next, we visited Susie at Forest Grove Rehab and Care Center at 3900 Pacific Highway, Room 44A. Susie was finishing dinner, and Glenda helped feed Susie. Unfortunately, Susie cannot hold the spoon and manage it. She also had to take small bites of pureed food and honey think liquids. I was told by the nurses that Susie did NOT pass the swallowing test, but they have another one planned soon. Later, Glenda pushed Susie around the facility, and we had a longish visit with her, including calling her mom, Leta, on Glenda’s phone; I forgot my phone.

We brought Susie a new t-shirt from Glenda and a new sweatshirt from me. Both from the arboretum in Portland. Glenda picked mushrooms for Susie; Susan’s father wrote a famous book on mushrooms from Alaska, so mushrooms are a thing. I brought a more generic sweatshirt with trees on it.

Susie was sad to have us leave that day as she was not tired. However, we reassured her we would be back on Friday.

One of the next big moments was a small fire. Glenda was using the old vacuum to clean up the house and mainly remove the dust from my Turkish rug. I told her I was surprised that our vacuum was still working as all the previous ones died after a few years of use.

We started to smell a burning smell that I thought was from the rug; the friction of vacuuming a wool rug often creates an odor, but the smoke rising from the vacuum suggested a more severe issue. Glenda got the burning vacuum out of the house. Later that day, we bought a new vacuum at best buy (running into a fellow Nike IT guy who was happy to see me). So we dubbed Glenda Vacuum slayer and took a pic with the new vacuum.

As described, we went to Best Buy for a new vacuum. The selection of over-priced devices was surprising. After looking for just a few moments, I moved to the bottom of the collection and picked a $299 model that was a step up from the cheaper ones and hoped I would get at least four years out of it. It is still a canister model; Glenda likes bags, as with those you don’t have the filters to clean. But I want to see that it is full, and Corwin seems to remember to dump the canister when he can see it is full.

Lunch was leftovers and the morning was full of the usual blog writing, and Glenda was cleaning until the fire slowed her down.

Sleep was easy last night. I also received a pre-order of a Portland-based writer’s latest book and read it until I started to nod off. Emmeline Duncan writes murder mysteries set in Portland with the storyteller in the book, Sage, starting a new coffee cart business and then stumbling into murder. I like the mix of Portland, coffee, and crime, and it reminds me of Nero Wolf’s books that mixed New York City with Orchids and what we would call now foodie stuff. This is her second book, Double Shot Death.