Monday, March 24th
I felt like I had been choosing the movies recently, so I was happy when Mom and M showed up with a movie already picked out. This movie is the sequel to Dirty Harry and, as far as M was concerned, the best of that collection of movies. I can't speak to that as I am only familiar with the first movie, but M had a good time naming all the San Francisco and surrounding area locations. At one point during a car chase, they drove up Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the city (the world?), and then continued outside the city. Ah, movie incongruities…
Tuesday, March 25th
R was finally able to come as I had been taking the pills for close to a week now and felt just fine. She noticed my feet, which are always wrapped in blankets but are still always cold, were warm! Yay! Good nutrition also helps your circulation! I'm so glad!
I had not slept well Monday night, so I was looking forward to getting a decent night’s sleep tonight. One of my favorite podcasts that I listen to for fun is called Beautiful/Anonymous. It's hosted by comedian Chris Gethard, and it is simply him talking to an anonymous stranger for an hour. It started in 2016 and I have been listening to it since 2017.
At the end of last year I became a subscriber at the middle level and as such, they do a call every month just for people at that tier. That call was happening tomorrow and I was going to try to call in. The calls are done from New Jersey so there is a teeny-tiny six-hour time difference. Unfortunately, that kept my mind working too hard and I didn't fall asleep until late. One of the problems was, I was going to have a suppository in the morning and I don't usually finish getting cleaned up until 8 or 8:30, and I needed to call in at 7:45. Oh well, we will see how that works out.
Wednesday, March 26th
I was woken from a sound sleep at 5:15 AM by the nurse who gave me my early morning pills and told me the CNA who helps her position me for the suppository had to leave at 6 AM and asked if it would be OK if I had the suppository now. Yes! I said, thinking this was another example of things falling into place without me having to work at it. So I was ready to be cleaned up at 7 AM and I told my CNA, M, that I wanted to make a call at 7:45. I would not take a shower as the call would last about two hours. She got me cleaned up and I dialed the phone.
Reception in my hospital is not good, but I got through immediately and listened to the recording that prepares people for the call. And then the producer picked up the phone! Yikes! I burst into tears and I am obviously not the first person to have that reaction, as she gave me a few seconds to gather myself and I started to try to talk. ”The line isn't clear,” she said. ”Call back!” And we got disconnected. She was not being rude; she just needed someone with a good connection and I wasn't it.
I did call back and listened to the message once again. Then, about 15 minutes later, the phone hung up. I had been telling myself that if it was meant to be, it would happen. I had also been reassuring myself that it was OK if it didn't happen today. I knew I would get on the show at some point. The fact that I got as far as I did was confirmation that it would happen when everything was right. Chris and his family were vacationing in Hawaii and I am hoping that we can talk when he is in my time zone.
Thursday, March 27th
Freddie’s back! Dr. R brought Freddie into my bed in the stroller and he crawled on me and immediately settled where I could scratch him. Wonderful! We opened the curtain so my neighbor could say hi to him. When that was done we closed the curtain again and my neighbor adjusted her bed, which is very loud. Apparently, the noise greatly bothered Freddie and he jumped back in the open stroller. Cats don't usually like being in their carrier, but the stroller is nice and big and obviously a safe place for Freddie to hang out. He didn't come out the rest of the time. I really don't like to force a cat to do something he doesn't want to do so I guess we were done for the day. I was also preoccupied telling my therapist about my coincidences yesterday.
Friday, March 28th
I was starting to have some problems with my urethra being bothered. Later in the day, I peed in my diaper a few times. This is a sign I am not doing well. I was really glad I made the call Wednesday morning, but not getting my shower is never fun. Sometimes I get my Sunday shower on Saturday. Maybe that will happen tomorrow? I am crossing my fingers…
My sister called to say she was taking a writing workshop that a friend of hers could not attend tomorrow and she would visit me on Sunday. Mom would visit me tomorrow instead. Great! I am getting better at writing down the things I need my sister to help me with, so we have a checklist to go through whenever she visits. I toyed with the idea of getting sushi, but I'm going to be good about sticking with outside food every other week.
Saturday, March 29th
Mom showed up after lunch and we hung out doing a little bit of everything. I tried watching an episode of Shorsey on Hulu but quickly found it was too crude and inappropriate to watch with Mom. Better to stick with NYT Games and Connections. Somehow, we got to talking about the movie Brazil, a movie I saw at a special screening at UCLA when I was a freshman and got to hear Terry Gilliam talk afterwards. Love that movie! She thought it would be a good movie to watch on Monday.
The other thing I did on and off all day was pee into my diaper. Something was very wrong, although I did not have a fever or any other outward signs of illness. I thought about it all day and finally came to the conclusion that not taking a shower on Wednesday was really not good for the bacteria that live in or on me. Twice a week, the bacteria get completely washed away and have to restart from scratch. Not this week. In addition to that, I was overdue for my suprapubic catheter to be changed. Yet another way for bacteria to collect and grow and cause problems in me. Yikes! I'm a mess right now.
Sunday, March 30th
I finally got a shower this morning, but it was a little torturous for me. My CNAs don't like it when I fuss so much, but there was a certain amount of pain involved in turning and moving every which way. And then there was a new shower gurney, which I really did not like. Luckily, my helpers hated it as much as I did, so I hope that is the last time I see that gurney.
My sister showed up just after they started feeding me lunch, so she took over. After lunch, she wanted to go over the budget again, but I was able to head that off before we drowned in that mire. My sister had canceled her Prime account, which meant I no longer had access to Prime. My mom had sent me an invitation to join her Prime account, but when my sister tried to accept it for me, we found out she was connected to my account. When we deleted that connection, we found out I had to wait six months before I joined any other Prime account. Personally, I think this is Jeff Bezos way of saying FU back to everyone who canceled their Prime.
We got some other stuff done and left a note for Mom to do tomorrow. I mentioned I was a little perturbed that Mom helped herself to one of my snacks and then forgot that she had tasted it at least once or twice before. My sister reminded me that my mom’s memory was not very good anymore and I really do need to remember that and have patience with her. She gets worried like her mom before her did. I really wish I could wave a wand and erase worry from my mom's brain. She has nothing to worry about!
My cover photo this week is the cutie pie where he settled with me before he got scared and left. I'm glad he's getting comfortable with me. He is a stinker! I hope everyone has a fabulous week!
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