Trying Not to Think of Haiti

As I sat there with Dr. G this afternoon, I told him more than once that I was really trying very hard not to think of the people of Haiti.

It's time for another major overhaul of Dr. G's web site. I cannot tell you how often I've told him I'd rather have someone else do this and that I really don't want to continue to manage his web site, but he has this irritating way of ignoring me and acting as if I've not spoken...and I have this wimpy way of not telling him more forcefully that I really. do. not. want. to. do. this. any. more.

But there I was, notebook in hand, ready to find out what the next thing in the world of gynecology was going to be.

Well, for one thing there is the radiowave frequency wave wrinkle removal system, which is a new procedure which apparently liquifies the collagen in your face and thus smooths out the wrinkles. It has apparently been approved by the FDA for the face, but some doctors are experimentally using it on the neck and Dr. G says that eventually he expects it to be available for the pelvic area. Now aren't you just panting after something that will smooth out those wrinkles in your pelvic area?

(Try not to think of people in Haiti living in the open with no water or food)

And then there is the "vaginal spa" which will include all sorts of things centered on the pelvis from evaluation for pelvic plastic surgery to sex therapists. But the one that got me was that there is a device that can be installed which will emit low grade electric stimuli to the pelvic area and will act as a kind of mechanical Kegel.

C'mon. Are we THAT lazy in this country that we can't do our own Kegels and are willing to pay for a machine to do it for us??

Again, try not to think of children in Haiti who have lost their parents and people who have no homes because they were destroyed in the earthquake.

So I'm going to be doing the web site again. Reluctantly, most reluctantly. I wish I had someone I could suggest to him to take it over, but he'd never find anybody to work as cheaply as I do. He needs to find another semi-talented, self-esteemless person who can't say no to him. I think that will be difficult to find. All I can do is charge him what, to me seems like big bucks, but which big web designers laugh at tell me I'm cheating myself.

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All the activity in the family seems to be taking place in Santa Barbara this week. First there is Tom and Laurel, who have bought a new house and are in the process of trying to rent their old one (which involves a lot of cleaning up and doing last minute projects).

Then Walt's sister and her husband had a major flood in their house, which ruined the year-old carpet in their bedroom. Right now the water is cut off to the sinks in both bathrooms and she and Joe have moved into a motel. This comes in the middle of tax season, when Joe, a tax attorney, is at his most stressed and Alice Nan is trying to keep things as calm as possible for him.

Then on Friday, around 11 p.m., their mother was rushed to the Emergency Room with a temp of 104. They finally admitted her to Critical Care around 2 a.m., trying to stabilize her blood pressure which they were having a difficult time getting above 70.

Walt got plane tickets the next morning and his brother started driving down there so that they were both there by Friday night. Their mother has stabilized, the fever is gone, her oxygen level is up as is her blood pressure, but they aren't sure what the next step is and are waiting until her regular doctor can see her (an emergency on a Friday guarantees that you won't see your regular doctor until Monday).

In addition to that, Alice Nan, understandably distracted, ran into the back of a truck. Nobody was hurt and the truck had no damage, though Alice Nan's car has been pronounced "totaled."

At this point we don't know when Walt will come home, or how long he will be here before going back to Santa Barbara, since he wants to be there when she gets back to her regular apartment to help her readjust at the beginning.

I have to say that it just warms the cockles of my heart to see how Walt and his siblings take care of their mother. I'm sure it makes her feel good. I hope she realizes that how they care for her shows that she certainly did a good job of raising them to be warm, caring children. I can't begin to count the number of trips Walt has taken to Santa Barbara in the past 3 years, when his mother has had some sort of crisis or other and how good all three of them are with helping to feed her, monitor her nebulizer treatments, and get her to the bathroom or to the dining room, if she's able to eat there. Alice Nan is known as "Dr. Alice" around the place because she stays on top of things and makes sure that her mother gets the care she needs.

But the up-side to all Walt's travel to Santa Barbara is that he racks up mileage that allows him to then fly to Boston to spend time with Jeri, which he loves.