Tag: health

Random Stuff

It’s Sunday. My thumb hurts, and the rash on my arm is bigger than it was yesterday. I’m falling apart completely. Quarantine is finally breaking me, it seems. So what’s a red head to do? How about some reflection on the state of his world? Also known as a post full of random stuff? Sounds good to me!

Today is kind of a big day. Symbolically, if not literally. Today is the last weekend day that the kids are at our house before Bellana goes back to school. We’re going all out. Jen is making her favorite dinner tonight. Harry is making her favorite dessert right now. I’m so worried about the future. I want her to go and have a great second year at college, but I don’t want her to go and be at risk of catching the plague. I want her to stay here and be safe. Basically all the same arguments I made last August, with a few pandemical twists. Mostly I just don’t want to miss her again. Selfish, yes, but it’s still true. At the same time, if they can keep the Covid bubble closed and stop her and the rest of the students from being exposed, then I want her to have a great semester. I want her to have a ball. She doesn’t leave for a little over a week, but her last weekend is a dad weekend so we’re giving her a send off a little early.

I feel a little better about my step son’s school plans now that I know he’s only going in person half of the time instead of all the time. I guess you could say I feel half better than full bad? Get it? I would feel full better if he was going full remote, but that’s probably going to require an outbreak in the high school and I don’t want that either. I want him home and safe.

Sports: The Bruins won their first Tuukka Rask free game. They are up two games to one in their first round series against the Whale. I have confidence in Jaroslav Halak, that’s not the issue. I just had more confidence in Rask. A Cup win seems less likely with Halak carrying them, but really given the way they played in the first few games into the return to play, I had lost most of my Cup confidence anyway. We’ll see how far they can go. I’d like to at least beat the friggin’ Whale.

The Red Sox are utterly atrocious. They are very close to being on pace for the lowest win/loss percentage in franchise history, and the franchise has been around for about 120 years or so…. that means they are really, really bad. We all knew it was coming though. They have one major league starter in their pitching rotation and he’s probably a #4 on a real staff. Maybe a #3. Chris Sale, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Nathan Eovaldi together is a nice start for a rotation, but with Sale out getting Tommy John surgery, and E-Rod out with Covid-19 related heart issues, that just leaves Eovaldi and a bunch of minor leaguers and that is a recipe for complete disaster. Add a few hitters having epically bad seasons so far and you have a team that has a good shot at the #1 overall draft pick next year.

Music… 50/90 is 42% complete. I just added songs #20 and 21. I’ve got seven songs with rhythm guitars down that are waiting for lyrics and vocals. That’s it. 28 songs total so far. I need to get to 34 by the end of the month (50/90 takes place over three months and 50/3=16.67). I also want to have a 10 song (at least) album in a month for August. Five of the completed songs were started and finished this month, and three of the unfinished songs were started this month too. Those three are the top of the priority list right now, and I have to keep the new stuff coming so I don’t fall behind. I feel like I am way behind on things, even though I’m really just at the halfway point.

A bird just flew into the window, about two feet away from me. I hope he’s okay. It looked like it might have been a glancing blow. More like he bounced off than crashed.

We applied for vote by mail ballots recently, and our 9/1 Primary election ballots were delivered a couple of days ago. Will there still be a functioning USPS for us to mail them back? The shit stain of a president admitted publicly that he’s hamstringing the post office to tamper with the November election, and the response from those who stand as a check and balance against him? They went on vacation. Also, there is a global pandemic that is killing a thousand Americans a day so they went on vacation. If you still think your government represents you, then that should show you the truth.

That’s kinda a bummer note to end on. Here, let me make it worse by adding a couple of new songs. That should push us all off the ledge, right?

Dad’s Home

Dad’s home from the hospital. It’s kidney stones and major dehydration. It took a while to handle hydrating him. It’s okay now. I stayed overnight Saturday into Sunday so that my mother wouldn’t be alone. My sister took last night. My brother is there now, but everyone is home and this ordeal is over, we hope.

I am pleased-ish to announce that I can still pull an all nighter like a boss. I woke up at about 6:00am or so on Saturday. The next time I slept was about 4:30am on Sunday morning, but I woke up again at about 5:15am. At noon, I sat down to watch the Bruins game while my mother napped. I saw the start of the Canadian National Anthem. Next thing I knew, Oshe was picking Chara’s pocket and scoring with six seconds left in the first. I was out for another 40-50 minutes, I think. Later, as we were getting ready for a shift change, I packed up all my stuff and sat down at the dining room table. Next thing I knew, Dad was coming in the door. I have no idea how long I was out, but it couldn’t have been more than 15-30 minutes. After I got home, I stayed up for a little while. I gave up the fight at a little past 8:30pm. That’s 38 hours, with only a couple of very short, less than an hour each, naps.

Like a boss.

I woke up for a few minutes around 10:00pm, then again for a few minutes at about 3:45am, and then again for good a little after 7:00am. I checked SleepWatch on Sunday and there was never enough data available to track. This morning, it tracked nine hours and 45 minutes of sleep. I needed it. I’m still a little sleepy, and my head isn’t quite straight. I think it’ll be another early to bed night tonight and then I should be okay.

Like a boss.

Back to School?

This just popped up in my iPhone’s news widget. We’ve spent a lot of time over the last few days stressing over back to school. The entire discussion is insulting. If the pandemic was bad enough to shut down schools in March, how is it not bad enough to stop a re-open in August? It’s absurd. The situation would need to be better now than it was in March and it is most definitely not better. It is worse. So very much worse. FIVE MILLION infections worse.

To quote the great Will Ferrell in Zoolander, I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.

Dad’s Turn

Dad went into the hospital last night at around 11:30 or so. It’s kidney stones. It’s just about noon now and he’s still there. They aren’t going to release him until he urinates without catheterized assistance. Yikes.

I got to their house as he was leaving. I’m just supposed to be here in case my mother needs help. I’m social distancing like a mutha for my mother. I’ve used more hand sanitizer in the last 14 hours than in the previous 49 years combined.

I fell asleep at about 4:30am. I woke up at about 5:15am. Yeah. Like… yeah.

I Solemnly Swear

I solemnly swear that I am up to no good… at my parents house at 1:37am.

It’s dad this time. Back pain. Bad enough to go to the ER. The going theory is kidney stones. I’m hanging out with my mother. I’m in the dining room pretending to write song lyrics. She’s in the living room watching reruns of Married with Children. It’s going on 2:00am and she’s wide awake.

Maskless

I left the house today! WOOHOO! Suck it, Coronavirus!

I went to my parents house today for something that was not an emergency. What a nice feeling that was, let me tell you. They are having a bit of an issue with vines and invasive plant over growth. They are kinda taking over. I took a trusty, heavy duty hedge clipper over there and went at it. They can now get through the front door without anything pulling any Little Shop of Horror shit on them.

The downside. Thorns. I didn’t realize it. They didn’t realize it. Some of those vines had the biggest, ugliest, razor sharpiest thorns I’ve ever seen. My father chucked a pair of heavy gloves out the door for me, which helped, but I half expected my second favorite Bruins t-shirt was going to go home in rags. Luckily I avoided that.

I stayed until my back pain convinced me that it was time to go. I got to talk to my parents through the door for a few minutes. Mom had a bad day yesterday, pain wise. Today seems a little better. She’s definitely a little more together cognitively, which is great. She had blood work yesterday, and a nurse visit the day before (I think?) and a chemo treatment this coming Monday. It’s not going to get easier for a long time.

On the way home I had to do something that I hadn’t done in months. I had to put gas in the Mazda. I’ve written about it before, but I haven’t put gas in that car since early March. Five months. If there’s a plus side to lock down, it’s the huge reduction in carbon emissions coming from our family. I’ve now put gas into each car once since the lock down started.

Unfortunately, the visit to the gas station was a clear demonstration of why our country has gone to shit. There were four customers. Me, a driver on the island next to mine, and a couple on a motor cycle on the next island over. There was also a youngish guy putting air in his tires. Of the five people, there was one mask. Mine. I had latex gloves on too. The rest of the group? Nothing. My skin didn’t touch anything that isn’t a part of the bubble we live in. Inside the car? Yes. Outside the car? No. I kept waiting for some smart ass nazi-friendly remark from one of the other customers. It never came. Good. Screw them.

My Flickr photo-a-day thing is up to day 343 today. Just a few more weeks to go. I tried to take a picture out the car window while stopped at a stop light. There’s a farm on the State Hospital grounds (technically I don’t think it’s on the grounds anymore, I think the land changed hands? Something like that? It used to be State Hospital property, but who knows, whatever) and I tried to get a picture of some corn.

That was my second attempt. The first attempt also caught the control box for the traffic signal. I didn’t want that though, so I took another.

When I got home I noticed the image on the box. I thought it was a reflection of one of the State Hospital buildings, but the angle is all wrong. I zoomed in and saw it’s a painting! How cool is that? A little cropping and now this photo 343/365:

343/365

Pretty Good Mom News, for a Change

It’s been a week and three days since the awful hospital experience started. Over the last couple of days there have been definite signs of improvement.

My brother and sister have been taking turns staying at my parents’ house each night just in case something happened.

Today, my mother and my father both agreed that they don’t really need anyone to stay over tonight. Oh, what a huge relief. We’ll still keep our phones on just in case they need us in the night, but this is a huge change for the better.

I’m really happy.

Regular PT

My mother had a physical therapy appointment today and an occupational therapy appointment. It was the first of each. They both made some suggestions on things we could do to make things easier on her. Good. More important, the PT is going to come by twice a week. We won’t know which days until the last minute, which seems odd, but it’s happening. There’s no way that can’t help.

They are going to work on some of her pain spots, back and legs. Her hip was diagnosed as bursitis while she was in the hospital. She’s supposed to be getting some treatment for that too, but we don’t have an appointment yet.

Oh, and did I mention that today is my parents’ 53 wedding anniversary?

Progress. Still about a million miles to go though. Keep your fingers crossed.

A Little Taste

My sister and brother have been spending as much time as possible with my mother over the last seven days. They have experienced the full force of her behavioral changes directly. Due to quarantining, I have not been there. I’ve only been able to pitch in with a little bit of housework at my parents house while everyone else was at the hospital.

I got a tiny taste of it today. My father called me. He said my mother wanted to talk to me and he asked me if I remembered the Boy Scout Motto. I did… Be Prepared.

She said she wanted to see me but understood why I couldn’t come over. I was very thankful for that. She also said she didn’t know what was wrong with her. I said we were working to figure it out and the medication would help. She was on the verge of tears the whole time.

Yeah, that sucked. Hard. My thanks and appreciation toward my brother and sister cannot be overstated. They are dealing with it all. My father too. He’s been dealing with everything for years.

I feel so useless. It’s necessary, but still… damn it.