CAREGIVING: I haven’t had enough extra energy to write much lately. Too many projects and not enough time. Winter dragged on for so long that spring skipped us completely. Summer decided it couldn’t wait so every pollen producing plant in town bloomed on the same day. It is pretty though. The lilacs are out and the crab apple tree in front of the house bloomed the other day. (At least that’s what I call it.) A plum-tree I transplanted as a little twig has blossomed too.
Kathy seems to be doing well. She has an occasional temperature in the morning, but I think it is because the night-time aide puts so many covers on her. Since I measure it under her armpit it is probably not the best time to be checking it. I give her some Tylenol and that helps.
Kathy’s left eye still has goo in it. We haven’t figured out what it is or isn’t. Some mornings she can open it a little on her own. Other mornings I have to moisten it and use a few drops of saline solution to try to flush it a little. The hospice nurse keeps telling me, “Stop obsessing about the eye, Peter.” We are pretty certain that it isn’t an infection because she has been through a few courses of different antibiotics as well as antibiotic eye drops and it didn’t clear up. And it probably isn’t a virus either because I haven’t caught it.
Tuesday morning while an aide was getting Kathy ready I was able to mow the lawn. It has been close to 90°F in the afternoons so I putter around in the shade if I go out at all. I have had some design work to do so, after Kathy, that gets my attention. One thing that is frustrating is the lack of dependable health aides. The schedule varies by the day and the communications with the office are spotty. Some days I look out the window expecting an aide to show up.
You may remember that I was going to be getting more time allotted to Kathy. I was wondering what I was going to do with all that time. That was a month ago. I haven’t had to worry about it because the agency is having trouble filling the old hours. A lot of the recent issues came about because our favorite morning aide decided to quit the agency with no warning. We got along fine with her and Kathy liked her. She had a whole series of personal issues that will make a nice story later on. I’ll need to fictionalize it.
That afternoon I decided I better call and make sure someone was coming in the afternoon to change Kathy. Our regular scheduler was off and the office couldn’t figure out if; or when, anyone was coming. No one showed up, so I changed Kathy. As long as I have some warning I’m really okay. I just like to take my time getting her from her chair onto the hoyer lift and into bed. I am getting frustrated with the scheduling. They told me a different morning aide was coming at 10am Wednesday. I don’t like to leave Kathy in wet clothes much longer than that. The lack of consistency also prevents me from scheduling doctor and auto repair appointments and stuff like that. I heard that they were trying to hire some new workers. But, that was weeks ago.
I was going to fill this in a little more news this morning. But, since Kathy is sleeping and breathing okay, I better grab a shower while I can. 🙂