“A Quiet Place Part II” - 8/5-11/24

Monday, August 5th

Mom had already seen the first movie, so we all decided to watch part two. The first movie was really fabulous and perfect for our movie-watching circumstances since it is almost entirely silent. Part two is still pretty decent, and I love the way it ends with the brother and sister simultaneously destroying their own creatures. Great synchronicity. They were both perfect scary movies for Mom since there is no gore and it's a family movie. I'd love to watch IF as a Monday movie since that is John Krasinski's latest. We'll see.

Before we watched the movie, M and Mom had taken Humphrey to a vet visit. I had joined on FaceTime, and when I first called in, I took one look at Humphrey and asked if he could get out of the carrier. Mom thought she needed to wait until the vet came in and I later realized that she thought I wanted the door open when, in fact, I could tell Humphrey wanted to get out of the carrier. Even later, I thought about all the years I had taken Kula and Poki to my vet's office and had been in a room like they were in. If there's one place that has been specifically designed to deal with a cat that is loose and exploring, it is a vet exam room. Of course, you can let him out of the carrier!

The vet finally came in and I had a hard time following the conversation as I needed to be changed at the same time. They were talking about his kidney diet, and the vet said something about his kidney disease. "What is his prognosis?" I asked. She said it depends on how fast-moving the disease is, but she guessed it would be slower since he seems to be doing pretty well generally. Slower means maybe a year? Then I knew where my apprehension had come from. I knew this was the beginning of the end for Humphrey. I figure he will be around for at least another few months, but I didn't know if he would see next year. More on that as things progress, but he is fine for the moment.

Tuesday, August 6th

J came and I told her about my caregiver from years ago, who had called me days ago and really wanted to get together with me. He lived on Maui, had just finalized his divorce, and probably wanted to sow some oats. He had tried to see if I wanted to date him after we stopped working together,  and I had said no as politely as I could. He was trying to strike things up again and I was less interested now than I was then. I have had numerous times over my life when I had a guy like me way more than I liked them. I also realized I had not been clear with him about how I felt. I did not have his email so I texted him a polite but firm message that I was not interested.

Wednesday, August 7th

Mom had mentioned that the pastor of the church who had visited me when I first came to the hospital had mentioned coming to visit me, and today was the day he did his home visits. I had texted him last night to confirm his visit today, but I don't think the text went through as he did not reply, which he had always done before. I will text again from my phone, as I would love to catch up with him and talk about Humphrey. I definitely want his perspective on the bigger picture.

Thursday, August 8th

Mom visited me after lunch and I had a talk with her about Humphrey. I told her all the things I had been thinking about. He came to me because he picked me as someone he wanted to protect and take care of, and he had very visibly done that when we lived together. Over the last three years or so, he has been a stabilizing force for me while I spent my time at Hale Makua on Maui, moved to Honolulu and spent my first year and a half in the hospital. I was settled in now and I did not think I would be moving anytime soon. Humphrey was now mostly keeping Mom company, which was not his main purpose. I understood that he was old and wanted to move on, but he wanted to make sure me and Mom were both going to be OK. I did not explain this to mom as clearly as I just wrote it out so I will read this to her. He does not want to be a frail, sick cat, so waiting until he appears sick is far too long to accept that he is dying. Mom has gotten very attached to him, so I need to be extra gentle with her.

Friday, August 9th

I had not slept well Tuesday and Wednesday nights, so I had made a point to get to sleep early last night. I was almost asleep when my neighbor screamed for the CNA. She did this two more times, eventually screaming at the top of her lungs. Really not cool. I have had roommates who have done this before. Pressing the call button doesn't seem effective because people who are old, sick or not in their right mind do not have a lot of patience. Even with noise-canceling headphones, the screaming can wake me up and sometimes once I am awake, I can't get back to sleep. Luckily, last night was not one of those times. I will ask her not to do that. Although my neighbor is generally a nice person, her psychosis doesn't give a crap about anyone else. Anyway, I got a solid eight hours last night and woke up very refreshed. Yippee!

Saturday, August 10th

My sister brought Humphrey around 1 p.m. which was great. He looked a tiny bit better, not as horribly skinny in his hind areas. He mainly moved from sitting close to me to sitting by my legs on my comforter. When he left, I had a very strong feeling that he wouldn't be around much longer. I tried to talk to Mom about this, but the evening is never a good time to have a serious discussion with her as she is worn out from the day. I was proud of myself for not getting upset with her and overreacting. We will talk later. I also have to reconcile how I feel about him, and how great everyone else thinks he is doing.

My sister was able to write a job listing on Care.com, and I am crossing my fingers that we can find somebody to bring Humphrey to me one extra day a week on Wednesdays. That reminds me that I have to ask my friend if he can help me then too. My sister also brought me food from Whole Foods, and she divided it into three servings as they are now enforcing the refrigerator rules. I have gotten away with leaving food in the fridge for much longer than I should, but no more! They need to enforce infection control rules, which makes sense but is a bummer for me. Ah, well, I will live. They are making sure of it.

Sunday, August 11th

I was very good this week about writing stuff for each day of the week. Nothing much happened on Sunday except mom visited after church. She has been helping me do puzzles on my iPad which is great as it is sometimes difficult for me to move the pieces. My sister ordered me a pencil for the iPad so I hope that makes things easier. We shall see. We also looked at the Criterion Collection and I could easily spend every day watching movies on that channel, but I like the trash too much to do that. I don't want to miss the latest season of Love Is Blind UK. Ugh. I've graduated from The Bachelor, but it's not much of a step up, if at all. I guess I just like watching young, gorgeous people ‘fall in love’.

This weeks photo is again Humphrey lying on my comforter in a slightly different position than last week. Shoot me. He is too cute not to photograph. And you will forgive me if I take every opportunity I have to document him. What a cutie! Have a great week!