A Long Long Month

It;s been more than a month since I Blogged.  It's been a very hard time.  My father ended up in the hospital once again.  This time it was very serious and I spent a couple of very bad days worrying.  Thankfully things have worked out much better.  My father recovered, the doctors came through and the nurses were great!  After the hospital there was a two week stay in a nursing facility and my father is home and stronger and much improved.  Who could figure?  Things are much better.

This is the short version of the story.  Also I have been to my vascular surgeon and he is very pleased.  I have a CAT scan scheduled as a routine follow-up later this week.  The only thing about a CAT scan is the fact that I am allergic to the Contrast Dye they use.  I have to pre-medicate because of this and that causes some anxiety.
I have been through this all too often and I has become routine.

I miss my old life.  I was just beginning to feel useful and the things I was doing were fulfilling.  Caring for my father is fulfilling and useful, but it is quite different.  I am more of a house keeper/nurse right now.  I do laundry, cook the food, dispense medicine and even give shots.  This is a very new role for me.  I am adjusting.

Love,
Shel

Two weeks

It has been a tough two weeks.  My father was in the hospital for a week for an infection and a reaction to an antibiotic.  He came home for a day and I had to send him back because he was so dehydrated and depleted he could only nod his head to questions.  He came home yesterday and already things are much better.  Though he could drink more he is doing better and he had a pretty good day eating.  He doesn't do much, but rest is important.  He likes the baseball games and there were a lot on today.

There is a lot for me to do for him, so I have been and will be very busy.  He is not out of the woods yet because there is still an infection in his urinary tract.  They think they know what it is, but the organism takes a long course of treatment so they want to be positive.  We will hear about that in 4 to 6 weeks. In the mean time hopefully my father will get stronger all the time.

I am trying to get established here in Rhode Island.  I slowly move what I need here.  Do I have a life?  I have put all normal things on hold.  There is much more to this story, but some is about Doctors (good and bad) and a day of shooting photos and I may do some of that another time.

I hope your day was a good one and that tomorrow will be better.

Peace and Love,
Shel

Tea and Crumpets (Jonah's Lament)

I don't often comment on politics in this blog, but what is going on with this so-called "Tea Party?" I ask this because many of them profess to be Christian. The following headline caught my attention "Audience at tea party debate cheers leaving uninsured to die."  Apparently, my understanding of Christian is quite different from theirs. It is so clear that these people have no understanding of Jesus at all!   To read more about this follow this link.   I'd like to quote Cher "If you're black in this country, if you're a woman in this country, if you are any minority in this country at all, what could possibly possess you to vote Republican?" I might extend this by saying, if you care at all about others why would you vote Tea Party Republican?

I really hate being so negative, not so much that I am negative, but the topic is negative. "When God saw what the people of Nineveh did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it. " (Jonah 3:10)  How will God judge our society?

Love,
Shel 

A Better Day

Yesterday I was very concerned for my father.  He had an infection and he had stopped eating.  He was shaking a lot and was in a lot of distress.  This morning things were a bit better.  My father ate a better breakfast and wasn't shaking so much.  I took him to his Dr and his vitals were basically OK.  The Dr ordered a blood test. We'll see on that one.

The good thing is not much was found that was wrong but the bad thing is that my father has lost 18 lbs and there doesn't seem much of an explanation. I continue to try to be creative in cooking to get him to eat.  It is a great worry.

You all stay well,
Love, Shell

End of the Summer

Most of the Summer is gone.  Kids are back to school, nights are cooler and the leaves are beginning to turn.  The Summer is gone and I missed it.  Between the necessary surgery at the beginning of the Summer and then my father's illness I have had no summer.  I am mostly living with my father now.  He can't manage on his own like he could at the beginning of the Summer.  He realizes it and I am just wondering about what effect it will have on my life.  It is clear to me that I cannot abandon him and that he needs my support.  My life will change though.  I am rather far away from my life and my friends, not extremely far, but far enough to be difficult.

Today is the 10th anniversary of 9/1/01.  For many people that event changed their lives for ever so my situation isn't unique.  Things happen in life all the time that change the course of events.  In the scale of things my changes are small, but they are important to me.

Remember those whose lives changed so much 10 years ago, those who lost their lives then and since and their families.  I will live through my changes and make the best.

Love,
Shel

The Birthday

My father turned 100 today!  It was a very long day for both of us.  There were a lot of nice visits and phone calls.  My father held up pretty well through it, but at the end of the day he was very tired.  I am not really sure what to make of a 100 year old parent.  I love him dearly and I am very glad he is still with me.  I have to wonder what it is like for him though.  Most of the people he has known who were his age are gone and he is surrounded by a world that is much younger than he is.  The world he knew and grew up in has long gone.

This fact was emphasized to me when my granddaughter had a school assignment for my father and me.  She asked us to write her a letter about our young experiences going to school.  I helped my father and learned a lot.  He was raised by his great grand mother (his mother worked and his father was very sick.)  The school had no electricity and was heated by a wood stove, nicknamed "old Smokey." They had a horse and buggy.  That was a different world!

Happy Birthday, Pappy!

Love,
Shel

Irene

I am in the midst of what's left of Irene.  It's still pretty nasty out with fairly high winds and blowing rain/spray.  the blowing water could well be from the river or ocean.  Here in town my father and I have been safe, snug and dry.  We even have electricity.  I understand the beaches have been hit hard though.  Down the street a tree fell across Main St.  Otherwise from my very narrow view this has been an easy ride.

I know that isn't the case for everyone.  I feel sorry for those who died in the storm.  Though it is pretty easy here, that isn't the case in many places.  This storm has been extremely large and destructive over several days and across the Carribean and all up the East Coast.  It still isn't finished.

Though I am mostly house-bound today, maybe I can get some pictures later this week.

God's Peace and my Love, Shel