Friday, September 14, 2012

Life, Death and Appliances

I realized yesterday that I am breathing better. I just began another reduction of the prednisone dose to 30mgs. as I continue the march back towards my former level of 17.5mgs.  It will take over another month to get there. I am planning to phone to schedule a CT Scan for next week then get permission from Dr. K. to return to rehab.

I spoke with both Sherman and Dick, my rehab boys. Sherman has also been struggling with bronchitis for the past two weeks. As he is 87-years old, I was worrying that he might never fully recover but he sounded terrific. He is feeling improvement and is looking forward to returning to rehab, possibly next week. Dick's wife did have her hip replacement a week ago and is in a rehab facility doing well. She is now walking and has no pain. He is so happy. So, I would suspect that within a week or so, the three of us will be back in the rehab class together. It must be awfully quiet there without us!

Yesterday, the electricians worked on the new stove/oven issues, Wayne arrived last evening to help with the installation but it is still not finished! Michael needs to tighten the gas connection - didn't have the right tool - and he also needs to install a stainless panel. When it is all finished, I will post photos, which will explain it all. We have a galley kitchen and we can't believe how the stainless appliances make the area appear so much larger than it looked with the old white ones. So, all fresh food is in the new refrig waiting to be cooked on the new stove or oven but it is going to have to wait until the weekend! Now the other problem is the dishwasher. We thought we could just buy stainless front panels, we looked it up online last night and they cost over $600.00 with shipping. Crazy. Might as well buy a new one!

This morning, I am going to the other rehab for a light workout to judge how I am breathing and to check my saturation levels. Afterwards, mom and I have plans. I am introducing my mom to the most amazing florist so she can send some flowers to Betty. My new stove/oven has a wok feature so we are going to a restaurant supply store to buy one along with the cooking tools then we are planning to return to where we bought the appliances to buy a small stainless counter microwave. Should be fun!

Betty has shown a sign towards improvement yesterday. Her bowels are beginning to make noises and she suddenly got hungry, a good sign. She was able to keep a grilled cheese sandwich down and that has been the first food in over a week. She is now in the dangerous period for infection and since she is allergic to most antibiotics, we are all just praying she is able to avoid any problems. Fingers crossed.

And finally, Michael's mom phoned to let us know that her old friend of 60-years had died suddenly. Eleanor and Dick scandalously lived together in the 1960s and married just before Dick died many years ago. As they had kept their monies separated through their relationship, she suddenly inherited Dick's money. It was a lot of money including income property and she kind of when crazy with the power of it all. She turned into a real jerk. Mary put up with it for years but the past few years, she refused to have anything to do with her. She was just plain abusive. But, she and Mary had been communicating for about a year and had really reconciled. Just a week ago, Eleanor and her granddaughter drove from Palm Springs to Las Vegas to visit Mary. They had a wonderful day together. A week later, she was discovered in her bed, having died of a heart attack. There is a lesson somewhere there for all of us. 

No comments: