A stay at home day. I would have liked to go to Mass this afternoon, but I do not feel comfortable leaving Dick for any length of time.

He is still very weak and sometimes forgets that he cannot do what he was able to do even two weeks ago. Embrace Care Management had provided us with a method to make his transfers easier so hopefully, I will "last" as long as he needs me.

I had reserved seats at the Eileen Ivers concert in Milwaukee several weeks ago. Bobbie and Bill are coming over to stay with Dick while I am gone. There are not many people I would be comfortable with leaving him. I am so grateful for the break.

Monday we see Dr. Sharon and I hope he can coordinate the various Doctors reports and get some answers. I just can't believe that - as stable as his vital signs are - he is becoming so weak. Continue with prayers for him and for me to have the wisdom to care for him properly.

Dia Dhuit

Mary

We had our first gloomy rainy day in a week. It was a bit cooler, but still not at all cold. The rain was welcome.

We started off the day with pancakes. I have been hungry for pancakes for a week and Friday seemed a good day for them. Jody got here at 8AM to do the cleaning. Yvonne, the RN, came at 9AM to check Dick's vitals. He is just fine again. Even his sugar count was only 112 this morning. OK if everything is so wonderful, why is he getting weaker by the day.

After Yvonne left, I went and did a couple of quick errands as I knew that Jody would be her if an emergency came up. Jody is a wonder. She was late coming home from another job yesterday so was going over to Mother's when she left here today.

Than, at 12:30PM, Mary Pitch from Embrace Home Management came with an aide, Heidi. We reviewed the problems that we are having. Frankly, I could not get Dick up again today. His knees and legs are not working properly. I have been sitting on the floor and holding his knees steady and this is just too hard on my body. Mary and Heidi suggested a step lift that will allow us to strap Dick to the lift. Bring him up. Move the chair and then slide the commode under him. IT WORKS. With any luck at all, I will not have to be holding his legs up on the ground any longer. The next day or two will tell the tail. Tomorrow, I can call the Embrace Home Management to find out what help we can get for Bobbie on Sunday when I will be gone.

I am seeing some light for myself. Now if we can only figure out what is causing Dick to be getting weaker every day, we would have it made.

So Tomorrow I Will be home all day and we will work on the lift. I got a call from the Department of Aging and Disability and they will work with us and with Mary to do the best we can for us. As I heard from Mary first, we will start things with her but they all do work together.

So wish us luck. I have faith that nothing is given that I can't handle. I wish God thought that I was weaker.

Dia Dhuit

mary

The weather, again, was just gorgeous.    I see that my neighbor Jean's daffodils are blooming.  Mine are coming up but still I only see one lonely bud so far.

We had an appointment with Dr. Kream at the Plymouth Clinic.   I had called Tim from Custom Care and Transport to take us.  I have him coming on Monday also to take us to the Clinic to see Dr. Sharon.  It is just not safe for me to take him until he regains some strength.     He also had an INR - and his cumadin count is finally good.   2.2.   So we are happy about that.    Dr. Kream says that his lungs are OK.   He had sent him down for an xray and there is definitely an improvement.    The tests showed no infection or cancer.   So that is very good.   He too is baffled as to why Dick is getting so weak.   We are going to coordinate all of the doctors information with Dr. Sharon on Monday.   Hopefully we can come up with some answers.

The rest of the day was fairly quiet.   Dick is still very tired.  We are having trouble transferring him but we got him to bed tonight and are just taking one day at a time.

Tomorrow we will be interviewing with a care management company to see what they might have to offer for his care.   And I will be talking to the Department of Aging and Disability for the county after we see Dr. Sharon.

So tomorrow is Friday already.    Jody comes to clean and a couple of Dick's caregivers will be here.    I NEED to get to the bank and take Dick's glasses in to get the lens changed.   Hopefully, I will be able to do that while he is resting.

One day at a time, Sweet Jesus.

Dia Dhuit

Mary

Another absolutely gorgeous day.  Sunshine all day and temperatures in the upper 70s.   Wisconsin is kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop and hoping  that it won't.   We are finding it rather difficult to remember the old adage "Never plant until Memorial Day."   That is two months from now, for heaven's sake.

Otherwise, it was not a great day.    We had trouble with Dick transferring from chair to wherever.   He fell again.  He is just so weak.   So I have called Tim, from Comfort Care and Transport to take him to see Dr. Kream tomorrow.    I have calls in to several agencies that say they will set up consultations with me to see how we can get help in here.  The trouble is that there are no specific times, like in the morning from 7 to 9 or in the evening from 5 to 7  that we can specify.    It is just whenever he needs to transfer.   But we will keep working on it.    Monday we will see Dr. Sharon after all the specialists have their reports in and hopefully we can come up with a PLAN.

I had my mammogram today too.  So what else can I say.

Marty from the Wisconsin Prosthesis also came by today and worked on Dick's prosthesis.   We are trying new sleeves.   So far no good because he is so very weak.  But perhaps after a good night's sleep we can have some results in the morning.

Anyway,  pray for good sleep for both of us.   I am a bit concerned as my ribs and back are a bit sore after the past couple of days.    I know that we have to figure something out.

So, tomorrow, Dr. Kream and an antocoagulation check. 

Dia Dhuit

Mary

Dave Barry said "You can say any stupid thing to a dog and it will look at you as if to say: 'My God, that's
fascinating!  That never would've occurred to me' "

I miss my doggy.

Another day better forgotten.

It started out OK.  Dick was somewhat unsteady getting out of bed this morning, but we got him all settled and I headed to Sheboygan to have the emission test done on the car for my license renewal.  That went very well and the car passed the test with flying colors.    On the way home I had time to stop at Walgreens to pick up Dick's prescription and a couple of other necessities.

We had to leave at 10AM for Dick's appointment with Dr. Herman's nurses.   This is where things fell apart.   We did very well getting him into the car BUT when we got to the Sheboygan Clinic, he did not have the strength to stand up and get into a wheel chair.  With a lot of help, (would you believe that one of the nurses from the emergency room visit a couple of weeks ago came by and stepped in?  Angels are watching!) he finally DID get transferred and we got him up for his visit.  

That turned out to be a dud too.   It seems that the process that Dr. Herman wanted us to do will not work at this time, so we are back to square one.    They will be calling tomorrow to let us know plan 2.   Fortunately three members of Dr. Herman's staff helped us get him back into the car so that we could go home.

We stopped for Dairy Queen on the way home.  It seemed only right.  We split a bacon cheeseburger meal.

Nice and dedadent.

Nancy from VNA came to give Dick his bath and was there to help me in transferring him twice.    I was so grateful.   He is all sparkly clean too.

We spent a very quiet afternoon.    I napped for a bit and Dick did too.   We removed and replaced his prostheses in mid afternoon to give the legs a chance to rest and be sure they were on right.   They are definitely slipping.  Marty HAS to fix that.   Along with Dick's weakness, this is a disaster waiting to happen.

Anyway.   I, for one, am glad today is over.   Tomorrow is not much better, but at least Dick does not have to go anywhere.  Home is much safer these days.

I made a couple of calls today to see about getting help in here.   It is so hard to determine WHAT help will be practical, but we have to keep Dick safe at all costs.

So.  Until tomorrow.

Dia Dhuit

Mary

Let's remember that each day is a new beginning.   And the good old saying  One day at a time.

A quick post tonight.  

I left for Bible Study after getting us up, dressed and fed.  It was about 9AM.  I stopped at the post office to send our present for little Marcus to him.  

There were just 4 of us at the Bible study and we had some really nice discussions.   We have now finished the group of Royal Psalms that we have been studying and are moving on into the Laments.   We are looking forward to them.   I have read and heard some of them at Mass and they are a good way to vent feeling lost, afraid or sorry for oneself.   I think it is probably God's way of telling us that is OK to feel that way sometimes.

Then Peggy Feider joined me to go to see Mom.   Peggy and Mom knew each other by sight and reputation, but have never really talked.    Nora and Leif were there when we got there so the five of us had a nice visit before Peggy had to leave.  Then I got to visit a bit with Nora before they had to leave to go see Aunt Kathleen.  Which left enough time for me to help Mom with the bills and fill the pill box for her.

Home again, we had our lunch and then took off for the Sheboygan Clinic.   Dick's coagulation count is coming up but is not perfect yet.   At least I don't have to give him any more shots.    Then we had an appointment with Dr. Herman, the urologist.     He had a test which shows that there are no cysts which is good news.   There is a diabetes related problem that we will be working on.  Hopefully - no more infections.

I wish that there had been more time with Nora, but we are really so blessed that in our age, travel is so much easier and that they were able to be here at all.    In our younger years, this was not an option.

Dancing with the Stars is on and I am enjoying it despite the interruptions.    There is a really good cast of Stars this time.   It is going to be really hard not to vote for them all.

Tomorrow is already full in the morning. Hopefully, I will be able to take a nap in the afternoon though.   That was impossible today.

We had a bit of rain today.  A welcome rain, not too cold and not really heavy.  Just soft and steady.  Some people have daffodils already.   Mine are coming up but no blooms yet.  But as I said, I have crocuses and they are beautiful.

Dia Dhuit

Mary

It was a very uneventful day.   Thank God!  We got up at about 7AM and just moved apace.

As we had NO appointments and N0 body coming over the day just kind of moved.    I had a terrible night last night.   Just could not get to sleep.   I  tried naps twice today but Dick needed me before if was able to really get into either one.   I am hoping to go to bed and just zone out for 10 hours.

I prepared my homemade corned beef for our lunch and it was delicious.    We can enjoy sandwiches and hash and another whole dinner this week with that.   I need to take some to Mother too.

In the middle of the day, the Internet and the phone service stopped working.  I called Time Warner, and thank heavens, they sent somebody out right away.   He found a unconnected wire.   Someday I will tell you about it.   So we are all fixed up an off and running.

We were laughing at how dependent we are on the computers.   Even, maybe even more so, us retired people.   I am LOST without it.   I have my calendar and my finances and everything on it.

I got to talk to Nora today.   If Dick feels OK, I will go to Bible Study and mother's house and get to see her a bit tomorrow.   She is only here until Tuesday and the Irish Party was supposed to be the big get together.  I am just so grateful that Dick was not hurt.    I believe this gives me ammunition to push for a medic alert system.

We have been enjoying dessert today.   I made an Irish Cream cake that is really good.   It also has chocolate pudding and chocolate chips in the mix.   How can you go wrong.

So.  a quiet Sunday.   Pray for a quiet week.   Tomorrow is my Bart's birthday.   He is 41 years old.   I remember with such joy, his birth.   He was the only of my boys that I got to actually see come into this world.    It was a beautiful sight.    That was one of the happiest delivery rooms in the world.   The nurses were even excited.  An now I have a new great grandson,  little Marcus, who has nice round cheeks like his Uncle Bart did when he was born.

So blessings on the week

Dia Dhuit

Mary