CAREGIVING: As expected our services from the VNA stopped this week. Melissa’s last visit came Tuesday morning when she gave Kathy her shower and Brooke came that afternoon. Next week I’ll call Greater Springfield Seniors to see if we can get more help. I’m just not sure what will help the most. I’ve been a little overwhelmed by everything lately, including the new year, and the snow storm. But duty calls. If Kathy needs to pee I jump — although there are lots of false alarms. First, I try to get her upright. Then I see if she can make forward progress on her own with tiny steps. She takes two or three tiny steps then her poor body is trying to move but nothing happens. It is like a car with a bad clutch. Then I get behind and put my arms around her and try to guide her gently forward. There’s a chance we will both go down one of these times.
Because of the storm, Dilcia came today instead of yesterday. It is ridiculously cold here today and tonight. It is supposed to be record cold tonight. Dilcia did all of her homemaking work; dusting and cleaning and folding laundry. After she left I started cooking dinner (faux Pad Thai) and brought the little electric heater into the kitchen while we ate. The thermometer on the heater was saying it was only 55 degrees in the kitchen. Then it said 53. I went down to the basement and, crap was it cold. I checked to see if my fly was down. I knew it was cold out but it was feeling like a furnace problem or frozen pipes.
Then I decided to check the thermostat. Dilcia had “dusted” the thermostat and turned it off. Mystery solved. I’ll give her a hard time next week.:-)