CAREGIVING: Today was Kathy’s birthday. At this point I am grateful that we could celebrate it together. Birthday’s have always been important to Kathy. I like them too but they sneak up on me. Sometimes I can’t even remember how old I am. I need to do the math. But Kathy always made sure they was some sort of celebration.
Today I gave her some roses and when I showed them to her I could hear her try to whisper “They’re beautiful.’ Whitney dressed her in a blouse instead of the usual cut up t-shirt or hospital gown. We put her in her chair, although it was too cold to leave the kitchen door open. Christina the visiting nurse came for a check-up to get things started up again and to make sure the nutritionist had been contacted. I had no clue. I told her again what had happened with the feeding tube. Everything else checked out well: her blood pressure, temperature, oxygen. She could hear some junk in her breathing but that goes with the territory. I explained about the new insurance and how her visits would end October 1st. She was going to look into that.
After Christina left I asked Kathy if she would like some wine. She grinned and said sure. I had planned a few different methods to get her to taste it without choking to death. I set up the suction machine next to her. She nodded at the glass with the wine in it. It was her favorite variety, chardonnay and the ideal accompaniment for tan feeding tube formula). But drinking out of a glass would be impossible and dangerous. I tried a cut-off straw. But she didn’t have enough wind to draw it in. So I gave her little tastes of it with a little sponge swab. She enjoyed it but I doubt she consumed more than a few tablespoons of it by the time she was done. I had planned to fill up the syringe and squirt it right in but it was too close to her med time. Toward the end I did do some suctioning but it wasn’t bad.
I changed her, but she wanted to get back into her chair. So, we both got a workout. Because our old house is so topsy-turvy I have to push the hoyer lift uphill to get Kathy back into the bed. And when we lift her up to put her in her chair the lift wants to roll away on its own. We sat in the living room. Our cable had gone out last night. Charter website support and voicemail tech support was an infuriating joke. But a technician is coming tomorrow. We did watch some shows on our Roku box: The Roosevelt’s and a Jane Austen drama called Emma.
In other updates, updating the updates: I called NaviCare, the new insurance and told them because of Kathy’s condition I was worried about any disruption in services while we switch. I asked if it was possible to get the “team” to meet with us on October 1st. I got a call right away by our “Navigator” named Miguel who was very accommodating. He will be coming with a nurse and our new social worker from Greater Springfield Seniors. I’m not sure where they will all park. Later Miguel called with a suggestion for a new primary care doctor for her.
Our aide schedule has been reworked also. In typical fashion I didn’t find out what was going to happen until they started happening. Betsy, the new aide will be coming at 8:30 am each Monday and Wednesday morning and stay until 11:30. Whitney will be here Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 am to 12:30 in the afternoon. Fridays she will be here 10 to 11:30. Pat comes Saturday and Sunday mornings and every evening. Her times vary. Wednesday and Friday she comes at 3:30 in the afternoon. Most other nights it is at 8:30 pm. So I feel like I’ve got some help.