Tuesday, August 7, 2018

The Enforcer

Wow.  2:30 p.m. and I'm just starting this entry--and it's the one for today, not for tomorrow.  Usually if I'm writing FTW at 2:30 it's the one to be posted for tomorrow.

Last night was one of those insomnia-horrible nights.  Finally at 6 a.m., after a night of crying for being so sleepy and so unable to get to sleep I decided to go into the couch, even though I wasn't sure I could get off the couch, but figured it was late enough that if I got paralyzed on the couch, as I have before, it wasn't that long before Walt would be up.

So, Linus-like, I trailed my blanket along behind me so I could cocoon under it and finally sleep, sat on the couch, punched my pillow into a nice soft lump, laid my head on it, and realized there was no way I could lift my legs to the couch.  I tried several things, but they resolutely refused to budge.  I thought of sleeping with just half my body on the couch but realized my muscles would really rebel at that when I woke up, so I got up and went back to the recliner again and, finally, slept for about an hour.

When I woke up, though, I realized I had to finish a review and get it to the paper by noon.  Walt was going to take me to the lab to get my blood test, but I told him I would have to finish the review first.  It was a good review and I had fun writing it, but it was 11:30 before I got it sent off to the paper.

Ned was coming to pick Walt up to take him to his Urology appointment in Vacaville (we are all appointments, all the time around here!) and I had this feeling that the lab at Kaiser in Davis closed over lunch time so thought it was too late to go and I had it in my head that his appointment was at 2 and knew that if we waited until afternoon, he would not be home in time to meet Ned, so I suggested that we either went when he got home from his appointment or go tomorrow morning -- I just have to have a weekly blood test and a day or two late isn't going to make that much difference.

But back to yesterday, Ned, the enforcer, arrived around 10 or 11 or so.  He had been to the senior center where, we heard, you could borrow walkers.  Turns out this is where people take their equipment of old age when they are no longer needed and they have such a surplus that when Ned asked how long he could keep something, they told hi forever.  So I now have two free walkers, one the metal kind that you put tennis balls on and one the kind with a seat on it.

He informed me that he had brought my spa bag and that we would take the walker, go to Atria to visit my mother and to get me a shower.  He said that he would not take me to the side door, but to the front so that I would have to walk the entire hallway because I needed the exercise.

I found out that it was MUCH easier to walk the hall with the wheeled walker and I didn't have to stop at all.  My mother was in her room, sound asleep, flat on her back, which was unusual for her.  She usually sleeps under covers, curled up.  She looked like she was laid out, but she was breathing.  

While she slept, Ned set e up in the bathroom for a shower, and left me to my own devices.  more difficult this time than last time because last time my legs worked.  But the job got done and the aide who came in to empty the garbage was definitely surprised to find me there dressing.  It was good, though, because she was able to help me get my legs in my pants.  I swear, I'm going to move in with my mother any day now!

It was a relatively good day for her, meaning she woke up and was alert and talkative, if making no sense, but she smiled and reacted appropriately and we had a good time with her.


When we got home, Walt's brother was here visiting, but he and Ned left soon because we all hoped to catch Jeri's live streaming concert from Berklee College of Music.  I thought this was her personal concert, which she does with a pianist friend of hers, but it was her musical theater students doing a concert version of Jekyll and Hyde, with Jeri the orchestra conductor


Ever the mom, I sat at my computer hitting "print screen" from time to time when the conductor showed.  I was tickled to get this shot.


As a critic, I was mentally comparing the performances with the full show we had seen here in Davis recently.  The kids did a good job and one can certainly see how much emotion they put into their performances.

So the day ended.  As "night" arrives these days, I hate it, knowing that I have several hours of trying to sleep ahead of me.  Maybe tonight will be better....

In the meantime, The Enforcer is going to make sure that I get my exercises done, that I have the equipment to make life easier, and I hate him for it because I'm, at heart, lazy , but love him for it because if I'm ever going to get over this "whatever it is it will be because Ned is so diligent and so loving.

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