Monday, December 9th
’Crappy Essay’ is not a commentary on the quality of the writing, but a shortened version of the title. I have done small tweaks to the essay since I wrote it and created a shortened version of it to send to newspapers and other publications. The shortened version is concise, but the original has all of my flavor in it.(And that’s what makes it good, right?) The social worker here is helping me send it out to the newspaper and other places. I'm good at writing about things that mean a lot to me, and there is no better time to be a booster for Medicaid so I want to get it out there.
Mom and M had not read the essay, so I read it to them and then I read them the shorter version. Mom immediately said, “That's a political statement!” They also pointed out a critical part I had deleted that I added back into the shortened version. I will do what I can to help it ’go viral’. If you know anyone who works in a nursing home or similar institution, please show it to them!
Tuesday, December 10th
Right after dinner, I started to feel the way I do when I am beginning to get a UTI. I have had this catheter since July of 2019 and I have gotten good at detecting the signs. Because I now have a hole going directly into my bladder, I am prone to infections as bacteria have an open door into me. Someone cleans my stoma, that is where the catheter enters my body, twice a day, but that is just maintenance. I take D-mannose every day as that kills bacteria in my bladder. I also drink a lot of water, at least 3 L throughout the course of a day.
I built up to that amount and it's much easier to drink when I don't work and I mostly lay in bed writing this blog. Also, when you drink a lot of water regularly, your body gets used to it and will get thirsty sooner if you don't drink. I had finally noticed that I wasn't drinking like I should that day and I started to drink more but it wasn't soon enough.
I spent the next three hours or so going through waves of urgency, which would subside and then come back 10 minutes later. Not fun and I peed in my diaper a lot. I also drank one bag, about 1 1/2 L, in three hours. I finally was able to fall asleep about 130 a.m. Drinking all that water drowns the bacteria and doesn't allow the bad guys to get any purchase on me. Every other time I've done that, I wake up in the morning and feel much better. I was looking forward to that.
Wednesday, December 11th
I was supposed to go on an outing to Kahala Mall at 10 AM. I had not gotten much sleep on Monday night, and I was hoping to make up for that Tuesday night, but no such luck. I initially felt OK when I woke up at 6 AM, but about 20 minutes after that, the urgency started again. Argh! I forgot to mention that the urgency comes with pain and burning in my urethra, where the pee comes out. No outing for me! It didn't bother me too much. I think my sister was more excited than me that I was going to get to go out. Whatever.
Today was one of the days the doctor was around and the nurse was able to get him to approve an order for pyridium, the little red pill that numbs you when you pee and turns your pee red. And that order would last indefinitely, so whenever I needed it, I could get it. Yippee! This was not the first time I needed it and they finally understood I could not put a time limit on needing that medicine. I do not get a fever when I have this urgency, but I know I am getting sick. Drinking loads of water cures me, so let's go with that.
Thursday, December 12th
My therapist brought potential new kitty with her for our session. Instead of calling him ’potential new kitty’ which he really isn't anymore, let me tell you his name is Freddy. I was communicating with him when he first started getting bottle-fed. My therapist was convinced he was my next Humphrey, but there was no way I could actually adopt him. As it became clear that I could not take him, she fell in love with him and decided to keep him. She already has five cats, so what's one more? She and her husband live in a large house that was actually big enough, so it's not crowded.
So while I started a connection with him early on, it didn't feel right to continue it if I was not his mom. Now he is a cute, playful kitty who likes to explore and I am just a person he has visited. It's nice to have him visit me, but he walks all over the bed and jumps down to the ground so my therapist spends more time with him than with me. He is completely content sitting in the carrier, and I think that's where he will spend most of this time until he calms down or he gets big enough to use a harness.
Friday, December 13th
There's not a lot going on right now. I watched Donnie Darko as part of the Déjà Vu collection on Criterion. I have always really enjoyed that movie. It's fun to see the Gyllenhaal siblings in a movie together as teenagers. Other than that, the biggest thing happening with me is I was able to successfully install the New York Times Games app. They had a special of a year for $20, so I took them up on it. I like playing a lot of those games!
Saturday, December 14th
Mom came by at lunch instead of my sister. She will come tomorrow. I was playing one of the NYT Games and I showed her the ones I enjoyed and we played some of each of them. We had fun and we got along well so that was great! She ended up staying until 3 p.m. so it was a nice long visit. Wonderful!
Sunday, December 15th
Mom and I work with a lady who teaches Feldenkris and we are using that to help loosen my hand as it is becoming more and more cramped and tight as I get older. She is from Germany and returns there twice a year for a couple of months at a time. We have been getting instruction by Zoom at 10:30 a.m. my time. I was a tad bit nervous, as my sister has a reputation for not being on time with family members. But because she knew the lady from Germany was involved, she was here in perfect timing!
It was nice having her here, as she can deal with the minor computer problems that came up. The session went great and then my sister went to Whole Foods to get some sushi for lunch. Gosh darn it, do I love sushi from Whole Foods or what? Yes, yes, I do! And she got a marshmallow rice crispy treat for dessert. On top of the hospital dessert! An embarrassment of riches...
We watched two episodes of Lioness and unfortunately the episodes lost some of their suspense with Christmas music blaring from my neighbor. (But we know better than to say anything.) My sister got on my case about my budget and how I did not categorize my credit card or Amazon purchases. Then she sat down and got all of it done in a couple of hours. Great! All in all, a productive visit. Although we did not do some of the chores I wanted to get done. Next time.
I didn't really have a good picture of anything, so I took a picture of the Christmas cards I have received. Aren't you jealous? Don't you wish yours was here? It could be... Send cards, presents, and cash to:
Ellen Lundquist ℅ Leahi Hospital
3675 Kilauea Avenue, Rm 509B
Honolulu, HI 96816
Have a great week!
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