Persisiting

Song of the day: “I got you babe” by UB40, actually, with Chrissie Hynde. It’s not that I prefer this one over Sonny and Cher, it is just that I know it better, I think.

Well, from your point of view my past couple of days were incredibly boring. Considering that the flu is still persisting the days have been very, very slow. Regretfully no naps for me, even though I tried. Guess I’m not sick enough for that. Drat! Naps are so nicely healing.

Considering grandpa is still pretty sick, and since big brother lapsed back into full-fledged sickness since yesterday, I’ve been unable to take the liberty to lapse some myself. Hah. The important stuff still needs to be done, come rain or shine. The dogs need their food, the feeding as much as the preparations. Since I don’t feel all that grand, I do get a bit short with the lovely four-legged mutts when they keep trying to steal more than their fair share while I’m preparing, but I have managed to keep myself from strangling one or two of them. Clue, for instance, and Fortuyn, Chamea, Lieve, Tadaika and…well, heck, most of them if you’re not careful. The little bastards are fast, I tell ya.
Dax, on the other hand, will just stand on the table, his eyes tight on the food, and sneaking a bite whenever I chase the others away. *sigh*

There was the massive load of laundry of course. What with the rain it hasn’t been drying, but this morning I could finally take off at least half, creating some space, at least.

But okay, yesterday’s weather was absolutely miserable, this morning, however, I woke to glorious sunshine and it was wonderful, despite that fact that we ran around with the dog blankets, hanging them all over the fences in hopes that we’d have enough time to dry them all. We did. Including my blanket, which Tadaika had an “accident” on the other day, meaning I had to wash the dratted thing again. *double sigh*

Cooking involved French fries, yesterday, because no one felt like cooking, and mac&cheese today, mixed with onions and peppers so we’d get some veggies in at least. Luckily I’ve been eating quite a few of oranges lately, because I’m low on veggies at the moment.

Went into the yard, which was highly necessary. Gathered at least four pounds, maybe five, of broccoli, and harvested a rather gorgeous head of iceberg lettuce. Am totally going to make a broccoli soup tomorrow.

Had to fix a water main today, despite the fact that we had planned to edit for a couple of hours instead, darn it. But the main house was without water, so there really wasn’t a choice but to deal with it right away. Luckily it wasn’t too difficult.

Okay, tenant. Today was Cousin Ed’s turn to go to hospital. Tenant was doing well. She was coherent, cheerful enough, and happy with the company. She’s still on the drip, but she’s eating at least, and the meds are still working, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed.

Sally is keeping her distance a little due to our illnesses. It won’t do having her get ill as well, so that is definitely a good thing. Luckily she had visitors to keep her busy the other day. A nice American couple she used to work for before she was diagnosed.

Did a wee bit of cleaning in the upper yard today. With everyone being ill, we have been slacking in cleaning up behind us, so there were messes lying about everywhere. Only cleared the main path, so far, but it’s something at least.

Sent out another manuscript today, so keep your fingers crossed. It’s a category romance and a new publisher, so we’ll see how that goes, right? Wish me luck.
Edits have been nothing if not minimal, again due to illness. Big brother could hardly keep his eyes open yesterday, let alone thing. Hah. Did manage to rewrite two pages for "Trust Me" Said the Spy, while I sat with tenant in the hospital for several hours.

Well, I can’t think of anything anymore, I’m bound to have forgotten an event or two from today or yesterday, but this will just have to do. Gotta go.

Hospital toils 2

Song of the day: “Can’t get you outta my head” by Kylie Minogue. That’s a first, I think. Haven’t had this song as a earworm yet.

So let’s get right to it, and get to yesterday’s events. First off, I overslept by at least fifteen minutes. This flu is friggin’ persistent, I tell ya. No matter. I rushed through the morning rituals, did the laundry, fed the dogs, and then got ready to leave for the hospital. Since it had no use for both of us to lose our day on this, cousin Ed and I agreed that I would go on this day, and she the next. Besides, previous experiences had me suspect that they’d know very little on this first day, so there wasn’t much to ask about anyway.

I arrived at the hospital at one, on the dot, like they had told us the day before, so I would be able to speak with the doctor. Of course, when I arrived at the information desk, the computer wasn’t working, so they sent me to the waiting room next door, where they claimed I would be called just as soon as it was my turn. Half an hour passed, before I realized that the tinny mumbling that was audible, occasionally, was a voice, calling for names. So I thought, darn it, I haven’t been listening, and rushed back to the information desk to ask if tenant’s name had already been called. The guy (a different one from before) said that they hadn’t started calling names yet, but that if I gave him the name of my grandmother (I had to say she was my grandmother, otherwise they are even less likely to give out information) he would see what the computer said. Turns out she was already in a room and I could just go there…of course urgencias (ER) is on the other side of the main entrance, meaning that I have to go quite a distance because you are not allowed to go through the hospital. My friggin’ foot was really appreciative of that, I assure you. (At the end of the day I was about to ready to chop the darn thing off, thank you very much.)

But anyway, I found tenant’s room, talked with her first and discovered that she thought they told her she had pneumonia and that they were prepping her for an operation that she was pretty darn scared of. Yikes. Talk about startles, so I hopped back up and started looking for someone who knew what the heck was going on. Went to the nurse’s station where some intern refused to tell me anything because that was just the infirmary , so I searched on and asked for some help from this bunch of people in nurse’s uniforms, who deigned to inform me that they had called for an interpreter. That was fine with me, since I hoped that this person might be able to get some answers for us. So I went back to tenant, and we talked some more. She appeared more aware than the day before, but still not her old self, I’ll admit.

I went out, and asked if it would be at all possible for me to speak with a doctor. At first they were doubtful, but after enough nagging they did call and said that he’d be coming along shortly. Shortly turned out to be another fifteen minutes, but there he was, gesturing me to “come along, come along” to the office where he yanked out tenant’s file and started explaining the problem. Apparently they had been miffed that no one had been around that morning (we had been told to be there at one) because they had needed a quick decision on tenant’s treatment. Apparently she has sepsis, based on a urinary tract infection, which has been a problem with her for several years already. Too little drinking didn’t help much either. But he said that in the end the case was severe enough for the doctor to make the decision, and they put a drain in her stomach and started the medication.

I was explained that it was very severe (duh) and that there was a chance she would die. Which meant that I better inform her family, just in case. I visited with tenant a little longer, at which time she began to shiver. I got the nurse in, who checked her temp (no fever this time) and then supplied blanket. Finally I said my goodbyes with the promise that one of us would be there again the next day and returned home in the pouring rain.

Once home there were the usual chores, including cutting dog food, after which I wrote to tenant’s daughter with an update and worked on “Trust Me” Said the Spy for what was left of the afternoon, and later in the evening.

Mom is still not well, neither is grandpa, or Cousin Ed, or Big brother. Didn’t I tell you this bug is persistent.

For some strange reason, Knight II is incredibly hungry in the evening, so I’ve been giving him extra bread, which he LOVES. Seriously, he’ll be bouncing around until he gets it, and then runs off to eat on top of my bed (yeah, I really like THAT), only to return for the next piece, and the next, until finally he is stuffed. Hah. Sometimes I think that he likes getting the bread, while the others don’t, better than the actual eating.

But anyway, I hardly slept a wink during the night. I don’t know why, really, I just couldn’t turn of my brain, I guess. Today Cousin Ed went to hospital, leaving me free to do the usual morning chores, and to feed the dogs. Considering grandpa was still sick, I also had to cut the bread, which made it take a little longer. The dogs were mighty restless when feeding time finally arrived.

Barely had time to have breakfast when big brother and I departed for town where he had a dentist appointment (again). While he was seeing to that fun chore, I did some groceries, and before I knew it was rushing back to pick him back up again.

Once back home (grandpa still pretty miserably, and Cousin Ed already back with a full report on tenant) big brother and I worked some on the window frame for the kitchen, which was nice, since the clouds disappeared and we were in full sunshine for a change.

As to tenant, the doctor was pleased to inform Cousin Ed that despite the fact that tenant wasn’t out of danger yet, the medication was working, and most of the symptoms from sepsis were under control. She was most pleased to receive pictures her daughter had sent of herself and tenant’s granddaughter, oohed and aahed over them, and talked avidly during the time Cousin Ed was there.

Didn’t have too much time for carpentry though, since we had to head out again to the vegetable center to get veggies for the dogs, and afterward, to get a batch of rocks. The latter was excellent exercise after several weeks of inactivity. Got a good batch, too…and big brother had to unload it on his own, too, because I had to cook supper.

Well, that’s it for today. I’ve got to get up early tomorrow morning to be at the hospital at ten in an attempt to speak with the doctor once more. We’ll see how that works.

Back to hospital

Song of the day: “Beneath your beautiful” by Labrynth and Emeli Sandé. Gorgeous song still, and not a bad one at all to have in your head.

I couldn’t think of a single thing to celebrate the 10,000th visitor, so we’ll just have to postpone that ‘till 15,000 or something. Anyone who has a grand idea for that momentous occasion is welcome to make suggestions. Hah.

So, back at the hospital. Caregiver was already there with Sally, who had her doctor’s appointment, so I was home alone with tenant, who wasn’t doing well at all. Her refusal to drink and eat became worse over the past few days and this morning, when I tried to tempt her into taking something, she complained she couldn’t think, couldn’t choose, and just wanted to stay in bed. Not good. She’s been wanting the bed a lot lately, but seeing as she’d been in it for about twelve hours already, and had just come out thirty minutes earlier, it was clearly getting worse. I checked her skin for dehydration, didn’t like that either, and she wasn’t making much sense with the few words that she was expressing. So, big brother and I conversed for a moment, and then decided to pack her up in the car and call caregiver not to bother coming home, but meet us at the ER.

Thirty-five minutes later, rain pouring down, we arrived at the hospital and got her into a chair and to the back exam rooms…seriously, that ER is getting to be way too familiar if you ask me.
Caregiver and tenant were already off to the back by the time I got to the reception area. I adopted my usual “I don’t know what I’m doing here, will someone please help the poor foreigner who hardly speaks any Spanish?” and asked where my grandma was. The nurse started telling me that only one person was allowed into the back, but the young man behind the reception area took pity on me, and said I could go to the back and exchange places with caregiver. Of course, when I got to the back, tenant needed to be shifted in her seat and there was no nurse around to do the honors, and caregiver had to stick around because of her Spanish, so we both got to stay.

While tenant was being prepped for exams and observation, caregiver and I sat in the waiting room, both of us reading, and more or less oblivious of all the sick people around us. The waiting period was relatively short, at which point the male nurse who’d handled tenant, came to fetch us. She was on a stretcher by then, with breathing tubes in her nose (which she kept trying to remove, of course). She wasn’t really coherent there, while the doctor examined her and determined that she had an airway infection. Strange how those can develop in less than two days. I mean, she always has a lot of mucus, but apparently some sort of bacteria had “nestled” in it, meaning that they put some sort of breathing mask on her with a vaporizing liquid…that wafted right up my throat (I was stupid enough to try to talk with her while she was breathing it) and had it feel wonky for half the day. *sigh*

The stuff did seem to help her, allowing her to breathe deeply and quiet down. We explained the symptoms to the doctor, though as usually they don’t respond all that much to what friends and relatives have to say. We did point out that she’s be acting oddly of late, and that the eating and drinking was disastrous, but the first thing they wanted to focus on was the airway infection.

The was when we were basically sent off, with the promise that we could visit at eight in the morning, one in the afternoon (to talk with a doctor), or five in the afternoon for visiting. Same old same old. No answers until the tests are done, naturally. Well, at least she’ll be on the drip and no longer dehydrating.

As for the weekend. Well, Sunday was a bust, market wise. The weather has been disastrous for three days now. We’ve had wind, rain, and general nippiness, and I don’t like it one bit. I want spring, darn it.

Writing wise we’re done with the edit of V.L. The letter is done, too, so asap (probably tomorrow) we’re going to send it to the publisher. Then of course we’ll be right back to the “we’ll see” bit, but what the hey. I’m starting to really get used to this patience, and waiting bit when it concerns “the dream”.

We worked a little on the window frames for the future kitchen. Not much, due to the weather. It was darn cold up there, in the full wind, and of course we had to head out for a donation. Again a small one, but all the bits count in the end.

Knight II is driving me to drink. Seriously, every other day he wrecks his “sock” and ends up licking at his friggin’ foot until it bleeds. Soon, all our hard work will be for nothing when we have to start at square one. I better think of something, because denim is no longer working.

Grandpa is still pretty sick, sleeping often during the course of the day. Same thing goes for mom, for that matter. Cousin Ed, too, is still not feeling all that well. Sally’s cough is almost gone, though…which reminds me, she had her doctor’s appointment today, to hear about the results, and was scared out of her mind when the photos showed that the cancer had spread in her abdomen. The doc proceeded to examine her belly, and thankfully discovered that the supposed growths were only small bruises from the injections she is getting daily for her thrombosis. Phew. A big relief that. Regretfully her lung tumor didn’t get any smaller during the past few months, and what’s worse, because she’s been so tired, they don’t want to do another set of chemo until she’s become a little stronger. I do hope that I can get her to exercise a little, because she is losing all her muscle tone.
Gawd, all this sickness lately could drive a person bonkers, I tell ya. *sigh*

Walked the visiting dogs for the last time this morning. Their “mommy” came to pick them up today, so that means no more rushing through the morning rituals so there’s time to walk them.

Cooking wise, there were three meals. Veggies with rice, with broccoli on the side. Then yesterday mash potatoes and carrots, and then today pumpkin soup. All three meals worked rather well, and there’re leftovers, so with a little luck I won’t have to cook tomorrow.
Also managed to choke down another piece of meat, so that’s yay for me.
Of course there was also dog food to cut, and prepare, with little help from grandpa, who tends to do quite a bit of it, so we have time for other stuff.

Woke with a massive kink in my neck, Saturday morning. Felt like friggin' whiplash I tell ya, and I blame the dogs. It was so cold, they spent the entire night pressing up against me, ergo the kink. Grrr

I might have finally ended up lucky in the clothes department. Might be I found a store with designs and sizes that would actually work me while still being affordable. I'll get back to you on that.


Well, that’s it for me. Time to start getting ready for bed.