Monday, June 17th
I am not sick anymore, and the fever is gone, but I am left with a lot of congestion. I like to lay in a mostly prone position most of the time and the rattling of the phlegm in my chest gets more and more pronounced as the day goes on. Then I will sit up for a meal, and that change of position will allow me to cough up a nice big ball of yuck. This seems to be a fairly effective way of eliminating the congestion. So I guess it all works out. Quite literally, in fact!
Tuesday, June 18th
I am getting the telltale (for me) signs of a UTI. My urethra is on fire and I have waves of urgency. I told the nurse and asked if I could get my pee tested. The fact is my bladder has been colonized so there will always be bacteria present in it. They need something concrete other than my word to justify a UA. My body insists on staying a normal temperature. Oh well, I just need to drown my bacteria in water. It is amazing to me how much drinking a crap load of water can solve.
Wednesday, June 19th
I have been alternately dreading and looking forward to today. It is my shower day, but because we have been in lockdown, no one can leave their room. So whoever gets a gurney shower, like me, has not had a shower in 10 days. Additionally, because there are so many extra regulations the staff has to follow, it takes exponentially longer to do any one thing. So I have gotten one bed bath in that time. Will I get a shower or will I wait till Sunday?
My regular morning helper M has been gone, I thought on vacation. And then there she was! Telling me I would get a shower before I ate breakfast! Turns out she was most definitely not on vacation but attending a funeral service. But she's back now and going to give me my first shower in 10 days. Wow! Was that fabulous! She gave me a nice, thorough shower and even washed my hair twice.
Thursday, June 20th
Since we still can't leave our room, my therapist came to me, like she has before. I didn't feel like I had much to discuss. We even tried talking about death, but I didn't have any strong feelings about the topic. I feel very ambivalent about it all, even regarding Humphrey.
Friday, June 21st
Mom came at lunchtime. It's always wonderful to see her, and at the same time, I feel a little bad that she has to walk around doing everything for me. I know she is happy to do things for me and happy to be with me, so I guess I don't need to feel too bad. I often think my mom is lucky both of her children live so close to her. I don't necessarily think she pictured her life the way it is now. Not that it's bad, it's just not very relaxing.
Saturday, June 22nd
There wasn't time to bring Humphrey over today as my sister has to go straight to a dentist appointment after me. She got me food but we are not allowed to keep food in the refrigerator because of possible cross-contamination. So I had a nice lunch and that's it. She also made me some gluten-free vanilla mini cupcakes with butterscotch chips because, why not? My sister knows I tend to err on the ‘let's make it a little sweeter’ side. She helped me get some things done, though we didn't have time to watch anything together.
Sunday, June 23rd
I was really looking forward to my shower when my CNA, M, came by and told me she couldn't give me a shower today because there was no water. There was water, but basically no water pressure and since it is Sunday, we get to wait a day until anyone can fix anything. So instead of a shower, I get a wipe down with wet wipes. Not equivalent at all. As if to emphasize the lack of water, the fire alarms started sounding off, saying "low water pressure’’ just to let us know that if there was a fire, the sprinklers would not be able to do anything. Gee, thanks! I hope everyone reading this is having a better week than I am!
My photo this week is the wall I have been staring at for two weeks straight. The new feature on it is the canvas print of Humphrey on the narrow shelf near the window. I will be interested to see how long it lasts before it starts to fade from the sunlight. Mom also brought me back a small Japanese good-luck cat from Maui. If you zoom in on the small shelf next to Supergirl, you can see my little collection. Fun!
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