Author: alohawild

I am rushed a bit today so sorry if I left any typos.

Monday is my second Monday back to work. Next week Nike has given us the holiday week off. I started a bit early, still waking a few times, and forgot to set my radio to wake me. So I still was up at 6ish.

I started a rushed morning as I have Zoom status meetings all morning.

Susie was tired and did not want to get going in the early morning.

I finished all my meetings and got Susie her meds.

I finally got Susie going about 10:00ish, a bit late, and she is clearly not a morning person.

Susie was cleaned up and dressed. She still cannot get out of the bed without my help, and her initial steps are stiff and unsteady. Once she connects to her walker (the one with wheels and a seat) and gets around the old sharp and massive bed frame (thus the need for a hospital bed), she can walk. Susie leans to one side and sometimes puts too much weight on the walker, but I guard her the whole time.

Susie can dress herself this time. I do not have to hold her up and somehow dress her simultaneously (I need Spiderman powers for this new role). Susie can use her walker to get to her chair and sits down safely. This makes me hopeful.

Susie needs me to pull her out of the lovely leather chairs that are deep and comfy. Previously, she could get out of them. I will wait for a PT person to solve this, or Susie remembers how or gains the strength to do this.

I make Susie her fav, scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese (medium sharp) and toast. A glass of milk is also welcome. I had a banana and coffee, so I slipped in a bit of egg and toast too.

Aside: Someday, I will have a non-stick pan for eggs. Corwin cleaned the kitchen last night for me, but the pan I used for the egg is soaking in cold water overnight.

I did put on the Bloomberg News for Susie, which interested her a bit (she did nod off in the afternoon). News is always good as it provides some exciting subjects here and there.

Susie watched TV for the afternoon. She also started back her usual meds and vitamins. The message in MyChart from the doc said to return to them. One med overlaps the other, so I will ask about that at Tuesday’s meeting with the doc.

For dinner was a fav, McDonald’s Happy meal (with apples), for Susie, and for me, a taco salad and a potato from Wendy’s. I like their chili, and a salad just works for me.

I managed a nap during the afternoon, and Susie and Corwin let me sleep part of the early evening as I was pretty tired.

Susie managed to stay up to 10:30ish and managed to change her clothing with me just guarding her. The PT folks in New York City said that Susie must be guarded, so I stayed with her.

Susie needs more Tylenol as the pain in her shoulder bothers her most when she tries to sleep. I have the other painkiller ready; it needs food and causes sleepiness if Susie gets more pain and Tylenol is not enough.

I did more laundry and have 1800GotJunk scheduled to help clear out well junk.

I ordered the groceries (forgetting to order bananas) and will have them delivered Tuesday night.

Pain in my right leg has returned. I suspected it was a reaction to the chair sitting and Zoom meetings at Nike. In NYC, the pain and stiffness went away. However, Monday night, it was pretty painful. I finally had to take some aspirin for it to stop hurting enough to sleep again at 4:30ish.

I am hopeful as it was not a great day, but there were slight improvements.

Sorry, I forgot to take some photos.

I started Sunday a bit later and was happy to get the extra hours of sleep. I seldom sleep until 8ish and never straight through, but I did get more sleep on Sunday. Despite having to lift Susie a few times, I also did not have any new pains that did not work themselves out in a few minutes. So it was a nice start. I wrote the blog in the morning.

Susie frustratingly was unable to walk this morning. She managed, with much help, to get out of bed and sit in her rolling seat walker. We then did everything needed, and I had to pick her up and place her in the chair in the living room.

Thusly, I was online for the church meeting, Zoom, that covers “Joys and Concerns.” Most of the time in the meeting was used to discuss the unexpected resignation of our Pastor Jefferson. I had to pop off to help Susie.

Susie needed some help, so I was late for the next church Zoom group meeting hosted by Joan. Our church is in conflict with the district, and there is a committee for that. Much of the time was used to discuss that. I resigned my membership in the Methodist Church after the anti-gay policy called The Traditional Plan was accepted by the General Conference. I give no money except for a few outreach programs, but I help cook and be helpful. Not being in church leadership anymore or a member prevents me, so far, from even reading the report. Sunday, I heard in the meeting that my work in the past had been called out as faulty, but later I was told that I misunderstood the discussion. It is frustrating.

Susie continued to need help all morning and into the afternoon, almost every 90 minutes. I turned down a quick chance to step out and have a beer. Today, I just continued on with laundry and a little housework.

I ordered the same lunch again from Red Robin. A small burger for Susie and a chicken breast plate for me. Before it arrived, I finally managed to get dressed. I had to help Susie a few more times.

Ice skating was on at 1PM, so we had that on. I rested a few times as my muscles are complaining a bit.

Susie did manage to get out of her chair without help once and did walk to the bathroom with her walker twice and even to the bedroom. That gave me hope and reduced my frustration.

Seeing our new limited, I did cancel Susie’s appointment with Zerida on Mondays as she cannot walk well enough to be safe with Zeriada and her driver. So I will wait until we have PT and other folks helping. That new help should be at least ordered on Monday.

I made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Mariah and her little dog Ramone came by, and we watched Sunday Night Football. Kansas City crushed Las Vegas. Susie is always delighted to have visitors with pets.

Returning to dinner, the sauce was from a jar, and I baked all the meatballs left in the freezer in the oven. It was still a bit of a homey meal. Something to lessen the stress for me, something I can control. Corwin cleaned up the kitchen for me later.

I ended the night watching the new chaotic next Doctor Who episode. I liked it as it is the next chapter in a story. Doctor Who has returned to its original model of telling a story over multiple showings.

Susie went to bed after that at 9ish. Still a bit early, but it was a challenging workout for her getting up and down so many times on Sunday. I followed her to bed at 10:30ish.

 

I was up around 6ish again and slept better. I find that it takes a week sometimes to get the time change to change one hour. I was waking at 4 for a while and finally now at 5. Now, I can go back to sleep at 5, so the re-aliment to West Coast time has finally started. The fall-back clock change shortens the jetlag too.

I had a banana and coffee that I made. I did the usual thing of reading my emails, and I put the Nike computer away for the weekend. If I leave the Nike laptop open, I will start reading and doing work stuff instead of having a weekend. So I close it and move it off the table.

Susie was going about 8:45, which meant my shower and getting ready for a 9:30 haircut would not happen. I then helped Susie get going. She still could not get out of the bed. Her speech was better than the day before, but she still struggled to get words out and communicate.

Once Susie is moving, she can do things again. I asked Susie to say her numbers, and they were hard to understand, and she slurred over the number five.

With Susie dressed and having breakfast, I got dressed. Susie was much better after some food and water. However, she is still struggling to get words out.

Evan came over after some pickle-ball games. He helped me clean up the recycling and trash bags that had accumulated by the kitchen. Things look much better now.

Evan hung out with Susie while I folded the laundry. A mass of laundry had accumulated even before the trip to NYC, and, sadly, I had planned to finish it when I got back from NYC after a short trip. I managed to get it folded and at least ready to be put away in a laundry basket.

Evan and I popped off to get take-out lunch at the local teriyaki place just minutes away. Susie had a chicken bowl, Evan some noodles and shrimp, and me some shrimp and beef teriyaki.

Leta called to remind me that ice skating was on the Italy Grand Prix. Susie watched that with an intensity that made me happy.

Evan fell asleep in the chair and then borrowed the spare bedroom for a bit. I had emptied the suitcases and moved them off the bed. Yeah! Finally, not living still out of a suitcase. Which meant there was more laundry to do. So I continued on with the laundry battles.

I also managed a 30 min nap. Then, back to the laundry and helping Susie to get to the restroom. Each time she is more capable. I am hopeful.

I found my Phantom mask in the luggage while finally unpacking!

I found a fav movie we have not seen in a while, The 13th Warrior, which was made before The Game of Thrones or before Vikings were sexy on HBO. Seeing it again, it is clear that this movie, mostly forgotten, hints at the future styles. Evan and Susie watch that while I cook.

I get out some bone-in pork chops from the freezer–the best item I think Schwann’s sells. They are thin and do not need extra salt. I fry them in butter in the big metal pan. I add Herbs de Provence to the chops before I fry them. I like the herbs to be pressed into the side when they fry in butter.

Before starting the chops, I wash six large-ish carrots and place them in a glass dish. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle olive oil on them. Then, I bake them for 40 minutes (I think–I was not watching the clock), often turning to keep the caramelization from not happening on one side (meaning: don’t let them burn). This makes a more fall flavor instead of the regular steaming carrots.

I make stuffing out of a box; Stovetop Cornbread, using 1/4 stick of butter, I melt and get hot in a saucepan and set aside. Next, I use an electric teapot to get the hot water for the stuffing. Then, I dumped the packet into the butter, added the boiling water, stirred, and covered it.

We paused the movie, an old DVD we have had for years, and enjoyed dinner. We finished the film, and I always enjoy the show’s cheerful ending. I recommend The 13th Warrior.

Evan left as we put on the Svengoolie show, it was getting late. Today the show was presenting a genuinely awful movie this time, The Indestructible Man with Lon Cheny, Jr., I mainly looked at the hats, suits, and insanely revealing dresses used in the 1950s. The movie is like a telescope back into the 1950s moviemaking.

Susie decided it was time to head to bed, and so, I, not having any issue missing parts of the movie, helped Susie get to bed. She was able to do most of it on her own now. She also could say her numbers without slurring them. While still difficult, more words and sentences were working for her. I am hopeful.

I finally went to bed at 10:30ish, trying to get over the time change.

 

I was too tired last night to write the blog. This often means the blog is more of a list than observations as I find the distance of even one night of sleep has the day fading from memory. First, however, I will try to retell the story.

A working morning started with me waking suddenly and putting on my shoes while wearing my robe in the wet and rain. Yup, it is Friday, and the trash is not out. So I managed the puddles and added the trash bags in the kitchen to the trash bin while the trash truck was turning around to do our side of the street. Just made it.

I start the coffee, read emails, work and home, and try to get my day going.

Then I see it everywhere. Corwin has tracked in some oily muddy grime all over the carpet and floors. I got him up, 6:45ish and was very direct with him about not caring for the house. He got on his hands and knees and cleaned up the mess. Scrubbing the carpet and the floors. Whatever he stepped in also nearly ruined his brand new shoes.

My anger was not that he tracked stuff in but that he ignored it or did not see it. The house needs to be respected, and you need to see these things. I also asked him to stop throwing his stuff anywhere. In fact, I told him to have respect for the house. Corwin said he would try to do better.

Susie was sort of awake, and I got her some Tylenol and a bit later her pills.

I had a few more meetings, and with the chaos, this was no video Zoom meetings for me. I was not dressed or cleaned up. I managed the first meetings and then went to get dressed.

I went to get Susie up, and she was unable to speak or use words. I asked her to explain a skating jump, a good test for her, and she could not get the words out. I had her sitting up on the edge of the bed, and she could not speak clearly or tell me the month of the year or count to ten. I called Leta, and after some discussion, we were headed to 911 for help. I gave the phone to Susie and had Leta Facetime with Susie, and Leta thought it was not a stroke but a medication issue.

After some soul searching, and since we were in the ER the day before, I decided that hours in the ER would not improve our day and got Susie walking and moving.

I got a call from the doc office, and we had an even earlier appointment with the backup doctor. I learned later that the doc was up last night reading all of our records and getting ready for our appointment. He was prepared for us when we got there. Susie is a special case.

Food, water, and getting dressed transformed Susie, but speech is still halting, even for Susie.

I am also logged on to the shoe company while this is going on and following along with my job. A practice data conversion is running for the next two weeks, stopping for the holiday week and then resuming in December. I have no critical path work, but I am the architect for much of the process, so I am always on call: Always Available. AA (Always Available) is a type of product at Nike that is always in stock, and thus the joke is that certain IT people are also AA products.

We manage the transfer from the house using the rolling walker with the chair to the wheelchair outside and to Air Volvo. The rain, which always happens here, is slowing traffic (!), and folks are braking for greenlights to prepare for them changing. Nevertheless, I manage to be on time for Susie’s appointment, and we manage the Air Volvo to wheelchair transfer without incident.

The doc stops a med and orders a good pain killer that is low risk but better than Tylenol. He also will order this coming Monday help for us with PT and other services. This includes ordering a hospital bed for Susie. He agrees with me that the one med is likely causing the confusion we are seeing. Doc also thinks pain is muscular and can be managed in the typical ways. He read our charts last night, and we also grant access, I thought we had already, access to Mount Sinia West records. All of this is done online.

Aside: Obama care included a massive cost for medical providers to create all medical data in digital form and be able to share it. This was fought hard by providers as too expensive and not worth the investment. I am so happy that this change went through as I read the information, and I have one portal to see all the records from four different providers.

Reassured and was happy that the doc, even the backup, had read all the charts and was ordering stuff to help us make it a better day.

I got Susie back and got her the rest of her Happy Meal. I had ordered lunch delivered, even McDonald’s, just before we had to leave. I had finished mine, but Susie had 1/2 a lunch left.

I then popped out to Beaverton Pharmacy to get a fix to the walker. Some kind of skid plate for carpet. I got help from the same man who sold me the commode. I bought both sets, one did not fit, so it was wise to buy both, and returned home.

Susie was asleep in bed having, without any help, got out of her chair, walker’d over to the bed, and got in. Yes, she was feeling better.

I ordered dinner delivered, burgers from Red Robin, and a seasoned chicken breast for me with salad and let Susie sleep. Then, I had my dinner and re-watched the newest Doctor Who episode. After that, Mariah stopped in to pick up her laundry.

Aside: The new season for Doctor Who has gone a different direction. The star and the showrunner are leaving after this season, and it appears they want to try something different as their exit. This new season seems to be just one story, with each viewing being a literal episode in the story. This is really old-school Doctor Who and is the tradition abandoned when the show was relaunched. Instead of using an episodic account, the showrunner would hide some unexplained items and events in many episodes that would resolve at the end of the season: A reward for watching the whole season. Also, this new series includes historical figures and events retold with a Doctor spin to them that seem more styled like the classic show of the 1980s and earlier. I like the return to an older formula and the mysteries not being solved in 50 minutes. Often, the previous one-hour shows seemed rushed, and the attempt to hide an underlying theme that would resolve in the last season appeared clumsy to me. I look forward, again, to new episodes to continue the story; a slow build is good.

I went to bed early. Susie slept the whole night. I woke a lot, but mainly to check on her.

 

This day was hard as Susie was too weak to get out of bed or use a walker. I contacted the medical folks, finally, and they have an appointment for Susie on Friday afternoon. She is in terrible pain in her shoulder, likely from pushing the walker.

The day starts with me sleeping until about 4ish and then rolling over and getting going 6ish and making coffee. Once I have coffee, I write the blog while managing anything happening early at the shoe company. The big project missed its deadlines and is in the middle of a reset to new dates, and much of the pressure to run 7/24 is gone now; we are not going live in two weeks.

This lack of pressure and the fact I am still ramping up after having been on sabbatical means that the issues with Susie can be my focus.

I managed my first meetings, and then it was time to get Susie dressed. Susie could not get out of bed. I had to help her do that and carefully guard her as she moved on her feet. This is a change as Susie was able to get up and move without fear of falling.

We managed together to do the morning things and get Susie to her chair.

Susie was in terrible pain. So I popped out and got all those pads for muscle issues and a heating pad for her. I got her more painkillers (keeping to the safe use of Tylenol). This sort of helped.

I messaged the doctor, calls are useless as our doctor is out on vacation, and they called back; Susie is a special case, and we have a backup doctor appointment. I am hoping for some pain management as this appears to be more related to muscle and skeletal. It should have obvious answers.

Lunch and dinner I had delivered. I could not find the time or energy to make dinner or make some sandwiches. Pizza tonight included white pizza with chicken and bacon. Excellent.

I am out of my emergency inhalent. I called the RiteAid, and they told me their computers had been down for two days and could not fill my prescription. I did not have time to get back to another RiteAid with working systems to fill my medicine. It is not as scary as it sounds; the inhalent is not critical, but it was strange to hear that a RiteAid cannot get running in a day.

I switched Susie to the rolling seat walker, and she was going too fast in that one–kind of funny to see her zooming on the carpet. I could also see it was not as painful. I used it to move Susie to the bathroom all day. It is much more stable than the regular walker and more manageable for both of us. I think that helped.

We got to bed safely about 10:30ish, and Susie took her meds and went right to sleep. I am worried that the meds are also impacting her. Often these sleep meds have a hang-over for her. I will chat with the doc about them.

In the middle of this, I received an email that our pastor had resigned. Our church has been in conflict with the district and the pastor for some time. We were still surprised as all the reports were done, and a list of actions was being created. I wrote back a note expressing my grief.

I also managed to attend Theology Pub in which we agreed not to discuss the pastor’s resignation or other related issues. However, we did pray for the church and our now-former pastor. We talked in the Zoom meeting about Collin Powell’s funeral in which his son said there are two ways to describe people the Resume and the Eulogy. Collin Powell, his son said, did many great things, but he was also a great person, and he taught others to be good people (this is the eulogy list). Like was said at the funeral, we discussed how the resume contains the great things you did or things you hope to accomplish. Your eulogy is the list of human acts that people say made you a good person to know. We talked a lot about the tension between lists of accomplishments and things like helping the neighbors with their trash. The meeting being full of Methodists, we also slipped into a discussion on cooking and how we should all meet for a potluck. Methodist = Food.

In the morning, I put Ben Guild’s picture on Facebook to remember 11Nov1918. My grandfather’s brother fought in the Great War. After the war, my family (the other side) was also over-there to entertain the troops (YMCA did this before the USO). I have their photos from the first celebration of the end of the War in France, 1919 or 1920. The snaps are more than 100 years old now. I will try to find time to scan them and organize them some weekend.

Sorry if the blog writing is a bit chaotic. It was a chaotic day.

Sorry I did not get any pictures.

It is raining, even for Oregon, a lot. The water is everywhere and getting a bit deep in places.

It is good to be home, but home is not a ward in a hospital, and I could have used the nurses, aids, and docs on Thursday. So I will just keep going.

Stay safe and dry out there.

Here is my father’s favorite song he used to sing on a hard day: Good Times.