Catching up: July 22-29

I drifted away from recording the goings on for a few days. I have continued to take my temperature daily. I am cautious with my  time online on social media still; even the news can be very triggering.

Maybe especially the news.

I am working on appreciating the present moment, and the good that is in my life, while continuing to work for the betterment of our world in the ways that I can. I continue to educate myself, to make donations toward a better future, to practice self care and to care for those around me.

July 22 Wednesday
97.2 F
On Wednesdays, my DH (Dear Husband) and I are enjoying a half hour Zoom visit/ lesson with our granddaughter E, who is almost 300 miles away. We are delighted by these visits. We miss E, her parents (our favorite firstborn daughter B and our SIL D), as well as our other kids and grandkids. In addition to our daughter B, SIL D, and granddaughter E, our favorite youngest son A and his SO (Significant Other) JJ and our favorite youngest daughter CM and her SO KG also live in the same distant-from-us metro area.

Our favorite firstborn son, JE, lives with his wife JP and our other two grandchildren about an hour away. We have seen them once, so far, since all this began in March, for a socially distanced visit in a park. We've had a few Zoom calls.

For the July 22 Zoom visit we read Dr. Seuss' One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish and The Cat in the Hat, and William Kotzwinkle and Glenn Murray's Walter the Farting Dog.  It was a lot of fun. We promised we would read The Cat in the Hat Comes Back next week.

I put a note in the mail with a red "fortune telling fish" so that E would get mail from us in between. NOTE: the mail is very slow!



July 23 Thursday
97.1 F
This was a busy day. I had my own much delayed* annual physical with my primary care doc at 7:20 am. They had good protocols in place and were timely. All my stats were good. My weight was the same, which isn't great, but I am forgiving of myself because not gaining is pretty good during this crisis.

Then, I went to pick up my mom for her IV hydration. Because she was feeling well enough, and the weather was not oppressive, I took her to a restaurant, with the same stipulations as when my DH and I went out: outdoor dining, not near any other diners, wearing mask to the table, hand sanitizer between everything, wait staff masked. My mom was thrilled and revitalized. It was a long walk for her, from the bench outside the restaurant, through the patio gate to the table, and then back afterward.

She commented it felt so great to  be out- to feel like she was not a "leper." She has been only in her home, my van, or medical establishments since March.

Then, once home, DH and I had a Zoom yoga session with son A and his SO JJ. JJ is a yoga instructor. We do chair yoga, very gentle.

*originally scheduled for March, then May, finally July

July 24 Friday
97.1 F

Not much news to report. I had to check on my mom's health insurance payment, to make sure it was made- we are trying to shift it to automatic payments and nothing is every simple and straightforward!

We "attended" services with our congregation via Zoom.

July 25 Saturday
97.5 F

It was HOT and humid, so we were pretty lazy. I gave my dog her heartworm meds.

July 26 Sunday
97.4 F

A busy day. DH Ken started mowing the lawn EARLY so that it was before it got REALLY HOT. He only did the front before the mower started smoking. We eventually discovered it was a massive oil leak, so we just put that aside for the moment and prepared for granddaughter E's 4th birthday party, which was of course on Zoom.

Then we prepared to drive half way to meet our favorite youngest daughter C and her SO KG - we drove 2 hours, and they ended up driving much more than that, unfortunately, due to city traffic on their way out, and needing to stop to cool themselves and their dog since their van has no working air conditioning!

You see, daughter C and granddaughter E were both born on the same day- although a few years apart :-)

We had a socially distanced visit at a park. I had packed camp chairs and tables, and assorted foods and cold beverages. It was great to see them, even if it was at a distance. They had brought their dog, and we had brought ours :-)

July 27 Monday
97.8 F

I went to my mom's, because she was going to have her first in home physical therapy session and we didn't know for sure when the PT was coming. On Mondays, I take my mom's garbage out for Tuesday pick up (or my sister does, if it's not a day when I would be going to see my mom). So I did that.

I set up for my every-other-week Zoom chat with a group of women - we all worked together with my teen youth theater troupe years ago- about half of the women were the youths, and the other half are my age group, and parents of the youths. It was a first in doing a Zoom chat in mask :-) but since I am with my mom, I am very cautious.

It was a good Zoom for those of us who could show up.

The PT came after the Zoom. The PT is a pleasant, professional man. It's the first time my mom has had a male PT. She and I both felt comfortable with him.

He set up a schedule for twice a week, giving her exercises to work on in the meantime.

I went home just in time for a "Town Hall" meeting for the theatre and dance department of the university where I work. The meeting was of course a Zoom. I was impressed with the strategies that have been devised to keep the department up and running safely within a predominantly digital environment. 

I will be teaching two classes this fall, asynchronous online.

July 28 Tuesday
98.3 F

This was a day that had been planned to be busy, and ended up even busier but not at all according to plan.

I drove to my mom's to pick her up for IV hydration. Usually, we do this on Mondays, but we had decided to wait until Tuesday because of the PT arriving at an undetermined time on Monday.

We were going to do a few things together on Mom's computer after her hydration, because we had some time between the morning hydration and a 2 hour phone call planned for 1:00 with the Council on Aging in Mom's area, to see what services she might be eligible for.

When I arrived, my mom was not feeling well. It was hard for her to get from one chair near her back door to the chair closer to the front. She had to rest before making it to her front door.

At the clinic, when moving from van to wheel chair, she said she felt she was going to fall. She was positioned and able to fall mostly into the chair.

However, she was unresponsive and couldn't speak for about 10 seconds. She was moaning. After those seconds, she was responsive and able - with help- to scoot into a more secure seated position.

We went up to the office, and when the nurse came out we described to her Mom's episode. Mom also had another incident of shaking/tremors of her hands and arms while we were talking to the nurse.

The nurse got Dr. P, Mom's oncologist. While talking to Dr. P, Mom became nauseous and threw up a bit.

Dr P had the nurses take her across the street to the ER (this ER is not in a hospital, it is part of a medical complex). She was evaluated and sent on to the hospital, where she was admitted. Her heart rate was very low (40s, sometimes dipping to 30s). Her blood pressure was very low. She was put on an IV at the ER, and this helped both heart rate and blood pressure.

She was transported to the hospital. There are NO visitors allowed in the hospital admitting procedures, and only ONE visitor allowed once the patient is admitted to a room- and the ONE visitor is per 24 hours. 

I cancelled the appointment for the 2 hour phone call; I contacted the PT and cancelled my Mom's Wednesday appointment for PT at her home because, well, she probably wouldn't be there. 

I contacted my brother and my sister and updated them.

My mom stayed in contact with me by phone. She was feeling better after having the IVs. 

July 29 Wednesday

97.8 F

My mom texted me her room number at 6:00 am. She later reported that she was admitted to the room the previous night, but it was too late to text then- hence the early a.m. text.

She was feeling pretty well. Lots of doctors and lots of tests. 

She thought she would be coming home that day (I doubted this) so she had me tell my sibs "just visit on the phone, don't come in". So they did that. Only ONE visitor is allowed any given day, and once that visitor is in the room, they can't leave the room and then return- once out, you're out, and nobody in until the next day.

DH K came home for our lunch session with E. We had our Zoom with E. As promised, we read The Cat in the Hat Comes Back. We also read Dr. Seuss's A-B-C. E loves the rhymes, and was excited that she was wearing a Cat in the Hat alphabet shirt! So she matched!

I put two letters in the mail for her- one with alphabet stickers and rhyming words, and one HOPEFULLY for next week with activities about bugs. I mailed them both from the Post Office weighing them for correct postage.

 

While I was out at the Post Office, I then stopped by the grocery store for kitty litter to soak up the oil spill in the garage from the lawn mower.

The repair company for the lawn mower came to pick it up. I was thrilled to see that the driver was wearing a mask! We talked a bit, and he was quite chatty, and so supportive of wearing masks- come on, he said, it's no big deal! 

My DH Ken had a board meeting, on Zoom, but from his office at work. So he wasn't home to debrief until later.

As anticipated, my mom was not able to check out of the hospital on Wednesday. She was happy with the food, though :-)