Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #25 – Isolation

Thursday, Mar 26^th, 2020……  Not much going on around here. I’m sure the rest of the nation and the world is the same. Folks up here are still trying to be friendly and there is no panic and we still have stuff on the grocery shelves. It looks to be a long wait until we can get this all behind us. But we will all get through it. Lydia has heard from her doctor. They are still processing the request for in-home care. Things are slow moving because of all of the other priorities and the precautions in getting this service activated. She has two upcoming teleconferences with doctors the first of the week. Funny, they have both asked to apply the co-pay for an office visit to these calls! 

I made us diced cubed steak and mushroom gravy over mashed potatoes with green beans. That’s the first meal she asked for when she came home last week but I needed to gather up all of the ingredients. It was good and we have some left over for another meal.     

  

Friday, Mar 27^th, 2020……  Today is another dialysis day. But we are now on the M-W-F schedule for 1:00pm which means she doesn’t have to get up super early any more. After walking Rylee, and making her tea and my coffee, I headed off to McDonalds to get us breakfast. Lydia has been getting stronger every day. Most dialysis days all she wants to do is rest, which is expected, but she is trying hard to work on her core as well as arm and leg strength. She is using the walker to go from the bedroom to her office or the living room. I just wish she would eat more although I understand the many reasons why she is not hungry and/or food doesn’t taste good.  We continue to have enough taped tv shows and movies to keep us occupied during our time at home. The weather here had been perfect and I was outside whenever I could the last week or so, but now it’s supposed to be gloomy and rainy for the next week, but hey, this is Oregon so we have green everything! 

After driving to Albany and picking her up, we headed back home. Like everywhere else, most of our local businesses are closed. I did stop at the IGA in Albany earlier today, and got a few things but I will have to go out again next week for groceries. Lydia wasn’t hungry and only wanted soup and only ate a small portion of that. Later, we watched tv until bedtime.    

     

Saturday, Mar 28^th, 2020……  Except for walking Rylee, we didn’t leave the house today. Very quiet day just relaxing and watching tv. As I was instructed, I added a flavor packet to the crockpot roast that sis had assembled yesterday and left in our fridge. I got that going at 8:00am for slow cooking all day. She came over later and we ate and spent a nice evening just relaxing and talking and watching tv.    

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #24 – Back in a Routine

 

Monday, Mar 23^rd, 2020……  Another early day. We were up around 5:00am and, with Penny’s help when she came over, we got ready pretty quickly and got Lydia out the door. Lydia had a slight accident last night. Right before bedtime when we were moving from the bed to the toilet, she went weak-kneed and I tried to catch her but had to let her down to the floor and re-grip. Problem was when I had hold of her arm, I moved across a large really purple bruise on her bicep that she got when in the hospital. We found later that it broke loose and was bleeding. I found a few items to clean and bandage her up but had to do it again later in the night. I will need to make a run tomorrow to the health/beauty section in Walmart to get more substantial bandages and tape. Anyway, we got her moved out and made it to dialysis with time to spare. Once we left and came home, I walked and fed Rylee and then headed off to Walmart to get some things to help stock up the house. Yes, I got those bandages!

I had a few minutes to work on my last post before Sis came back and we left to go pick her up. No issues and she feels pretty good today. Only cold but that’s not unusual.  We had stopped at McDonalds for fish sandwiches for lunch and then it was just kick back time for the rest of the day. When it was time for dinner, I fixed bbq chicken wings and she ate one or two. I changed out her bandage, then it was bedtime. Both of us were tired and I know I went right to sleep.

  

Tuesday, Mar 24^th, 2020……  HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANIE!  We are now one of the 21 states.  Our governor Kate Brown – yes, we have a governor Brown here in Oregon! – has followed suit with other states and we now have a stay-in-place order. The dialysis center gave us a letter which authorizes our right to be on public streets going to and from dialysis. I don’t hope to ever have to use it. The grocery stores and drive-up businesses are open. Most of the smaller stores/coffee shops, etc. have set up parking stations out in front for drive-thru pickups. We still have stocked shelves in Walmart although some items are missing. Hey – the health food is still there!

Lydia is doing ok. She walked unassisted (with backup front and rear) from the bedroom to her living room recliner using her walker. It’s good exercise but wears her out at this stage.      

We have enough tv programs to watch and I can still go out to the shop and work on projects but for now I have been hanging around the house, playing nurse, butler, maid, cook, and everything else so I am staying pretty busy. In my spare time, Rylee keeps me alert and we still can play and have some fun together inside and out in the yard. The sprinkles came back yesterday so I was sure glad we got the lawn done. I still need to go get some lumber so I can start on the wheelchair ramp that we need right now. I have studied up a bit and watched videos so I think I am ready to start that project. I’m just waiting for the rains to dry out the walkway so I can get started.  Tonight, she sent me off to Taco Bell for dinner. She’s still not had much of an appetite so she’s not eating much but it is slowly getting better, especially when she comes up with an idea for dinner. We finished up the night watching tv and relaxing until bedtime.         

Wednesday, Mar 25^th, 2020……  Another dialysis day so we were up at 5:00am and got ready to leave around 6:00am to be there by 6:45am check-in. Today, when we checked in, Joan told us that since she is a 3.5 hr. patient, there is a better time slot for her. So, effective on Friday she will have to be there at 12:45pm for 1:00pm dialysis. Since she has trouble waking up in the morning, this will work out better for now. Of course, we are still on the list for transfer to the Lebanon facility should a chair open up there at whatever time is available. We’ll take it!  After I dropped her off and came home, sis went back home and I left to go get the oil changed on the truck. Once that was done, we got back together and headed back to get her. Once home, I fixed her some soup for lunch and she went to bed for a few hours than got up for dinner and tv until bedtime. Tonight is Survivor and The Masked Singer. She has gotten caught up on both shows and we continue to enjoy both of these season’s episodes. Tonight we didn’t have a clue for The T Rex on The Masked Singer. It’s probably because they are newer artists and we don’t keep up with the new music genre today. But it’s still fun to watch!

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #23 – Living at Home and Hunkering Down but Making Medico Trips

 

Friday, Mar 20^th, 2020……  If you are new to this blog, you will see that I post every 3-4 days or so.

Lydia is doing well at home, adjusting to a routine again. They have her going to dialysis in the Albany facility. But her time today was 7:00am so that will take some getting used to. Hopefully, it will change. Sis stayed the night so we could be sure to get up and going. We got her into the wheelchair and out to the car. I know I will now have to begin plans on building a wheelchair ramp for the front porch. We got her there with no issues and they had her fill out all of the necessary first-timer forms. They said to come back around 11:00am. We left and got Starbucks and came back to Lebanon to rest and get chores done. On the way, I stopped at the Lebanon sister facility and introduced myself and made sure that she was on ‘the list’ to get transferred there if/when a chair opens up.  They already had her name in the system and they were really nice there and when we said she could come at whatever time opening is available, they said she just got moved up the list as others want specific times and days.   

When we went back to pick Lydia up, they were a little behind schedule so we had to wait a bit.  She said it was a nice facility and she can rest or read or watch tv and it’s nice and quiet. BUT she is still on the early-bird schedule! She has to be there by 6:45am on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  It’s only 18.1 miles door to door and it’s an easy 20-min. drive, but the one here in town is only about 4 miles from us.  

Once we got her home and tucked in bed to rest for the day, I fed her lunch and Penny went home, and then I rested a bit myself. I still need to get to the store for every day groceries but we are ok for now. I have asked her to make a list of anything she wants me to get.         

  

Saturday, Mar 21^st, 2020……  Today was an easy day for her. She got to sleep late and rest for the day. I have a list of exercises for her to do but all I can do is remind her that we need to keep them up. She does them from her bed or chair. We have a porta potty next to the bed and that has worked out well for us in the night, even though she needs my help to maneuver into it and then to clean up after her.  But no worries.

Since we are still in the midst of a nice dry sunny period, I was able to get the mower out and I got the whole lawn mowed in a few hours. Kirk has the other mower and was using it today so I did everything here by myself. Sis came by to help but, with only one mower, I chose to have her stick around by Lydia and I just kept mowing. Tomorrow I will pick up the grass and she can help bag it.  After I came in and rested, I took off and got us Jack in the Box hamburgers for dinner and later, I threw some clothes in the laundry and we hung around watching tv until bedtime. Lydia has some catching up to do on all of her taped shows!   

Sunday, Mar 22^nd, 2020……  After taking Rylee out for our walk, I checked out the wet grass for later. With the forecast for sunny skies today, I guessed that the sun will dry everything out enough by 1:00pm so I asked my sister to come by then. It only takes a few minutes to ‘rake’ up the grass with the catcher I have for the tractor.

I raked and Sis bagged and we got everything done and put away before 1:45pm. Lydia was doing well and was spending the day in her office watching tv in there. I fixed us some Banquet chicken pot pies for dinner. Lesson learned.  Yuck!  I will stick to Marie Callender’s from now on!  

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #22 – Making Progress, Making Plans, & Making Our Escape!

Monday, Mar 16^th, 2020……  Things remain much the same as Lydia progresses. They have her on dialysis on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Her nephrologist is in the room most days and last time she told me she was getting good urine levels.  Back in her room, the physical therapy continues and she is doing better each day. Still can’t walk but she has a little more control of her legs and can stand on her feet now and can shuffle her weight a bit. The goal is to get released from the hospital and go to rehab to work on her strength so she can move around well enough to go to off-site dialysis from there as well as from home. Meanwhile, I continue to do the two-a-days back and forth to Corvallis. I’m good with that but it will be nice to get her moved to another facility soon. 

  

Tuesday, Mar 17^th, 2020……  We had been working with Dynette, the case worker assigned to the oncology floor. Unfortunately, she is out sick right now and Georgia is now filling in. I liked Dynette and don’t care too much for the fill-in. But we worked together and now have a plan – she has told us about short-term home care, which is covered by insurance, and includes home health, occupational therapy, and physical therapy.  Since there is no medical need to be in a rehab facility (other than physical therapy) Lydia would be a good candidate for this in-home care. So, we set that up. Georgia was tasked with finding a service for all of those needs. She will also be working to get all of the necessary medical supplies/equipment authorized by insurance. I have a wheelchair and a toilet assist bar and a shower chair, but we will need a walker and I will probably have to buy a bedside commode (which they said is likely not covered). No worries.  Later, after I left, the doctors cleared her for release so, after dialysis tomorrow, she can come home. That’s perfect since I had already hired Linda, my sister’s housekeeper, to come start cleaning our house. She starts tomorrow.         

Wednesday, Mar 18^th, 2020……  Sis called me to let me know that our Costco did not get their shipment of toilet paper last night. We were planning on being there this morning to shop and that was an added bonus. No rush - maybe tomorrow.  I will wait until Lydia gets home and then she can help me with a shopping list for there and for the grocery store. We have heard about shortages in Calif. but we seem to be ok here. I was in Walmart yesterday and they have most everything (except sanitizer, tp, cleaning supplies, etc.). I will stock up on whatever we need. We are lucky to have egg ranches around here so we can always get farm fresh eggs when we want, which we like.

I straightened up the house a bit – mostly to get all of Rylee’s trip hazard toys off the floor!  We are ready for Linda. I have to go get a battery for the tractor so I can get it ready to mow the yard. We have had several nice sunny days and the forecast is for no rain until next Monday, so I want to get everything ready for our first-of-the-year mowing party, hopefully on Saturday.  Kirk has our other mower but he will be bringing it back here in the next day or two so sis can help get the job done.

We headed off to the hospital and met with the physical therapy guy. The doctor came in and told us that if she didn’t feel that well and wasn't up to going home today since she had dialysis, that she could certainly wait until tomorrow. She chose that option which is actually better for me as well. We still didn’t know what services was going to authorize in the way of home medical equipment and I only have the wheelchair and the shower chair right now. What she needed to come home today was a portable commode for next to the bed. Anyway, we left and headed off in search of a lead about an organization that you can contact and pick up what you need. When you no longer need the equipment, you take it back for reissue to someone else. Problem was they are only a volunteer group and have shortened hours and may be closed due to the coronavirus. We drove by and they were not open, so we checked in at St. Vincent de Paul’s to see what they had. We found one, with the tags still on it, and it was only $15.  So we are set for tomorrow.   

Thursday, Mar 19^th, 2020……  FIRST DAY OF SPRING!   Yaaay!  First thing planned this morning was my labs prior to my Reclast infusion (for my osteoporosis). I needed to go to the hospital for that. But I got a call from my sister that our Costco had toilet paper so we headed over to stand in line to get in. I was really appreciative of the way they set up the store entry. No one way in any big hurry – they had us get in line with 6 feet between us to wait till they opened. Once that happened, they moved a cart out for each one of us and we all pretty much walked back to the back of the store where there was a guy handing us each one package. Then we were free to go get whatever else we needed. I stocked up and totally forgot to use my gift card and reward certificate at check out!  Oh well, next time!  Meanwhile, Lydia had called and said it would be later in the day when she would be released. They did labs and said everything was good but she needed another bag of platelets before release. So, I went out and found my tractor battery (didn’t find it yesterday) while I was waiting. We went through the check-in process again but found that the hospital was in full lockdown. So, we had to wait until they got her prepped and into a wheelchair so they could bring her out to us. We maneuvered her into the car and we came home!  Lydia was happy to see the sun again!  Rylee was a happy girl!  Grammy is home!! Grammy is home!!

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #21 – More Family and Maybe Some New Rules

 

Friday, Mar 13^th, 2020……  This morning we got up and going and had our coffee. Penny came over with the Quince and walked and fed her and then left her here to go home and shower. We headed over to the hospital after breakfast. Today is dialysis day so we don’t plan to stay long on these days. They have her in the chair this time. The dialysis room is normally set up with three areas for the patient’s beds to be wheeled in to. They normally do not use a chair and they wanted to try it today. Problem was they had her scheduled for an afternoon exchange and the morning spaces were full and they didn’t want to bring in the chair so it will wait until next week. Maryanne thought she looked tired. We thought she looked ok but found out she had had an upset stomach early this morning. She left her and later she went into dialysis, this session was only 3-3 ½ hours long instead of four. She said she felt better and was ready for the Friday night tv shows!  

   

Saturday, Mar 14^th, 2020……  Today was more nausea in the morning and then better in the afternoon/evening. She hasn’t been eating normal hours but manages to get the food in as she needs to. They have her on a renal diet to help keep the salt down which helps in dialysis. The doctors are in and out and the last one told us she is medically cleared to leave the hospital now. What is keeping her here is a couple of things: she needs to be able to walk a bit and get from the bed to a chair/wheelchair, and they do not yet have a nursing facility for her. She has physical therapy every day now and is slowly getting stronger. But remember, she hasn’t walked much since she had her foot issue and not at all since before chemo. So the muscles need time to get stronger.  

Sunday, Mar 15^th, 2020……  Again, more nausea this morning. No dialysis on the weekends so, except for our two visits each day, she has it pretty quiet and watches tv and sleeps. She says she’s not interested in knitting or reading or much else right now and we don’t push. I took Maryanne in this morning and after a nice visit, she said her goodbyes and then we headed off to the Eugene airport so she could catch her flight home.  Cherrelyn is here but came down with something and was sick so we all agreed that it would be better if she stayed with her son this weekend and skipped her visit to see Lydia. While we were in there with her, the nurse told us they are instituting a new policy tomorrow with only the same two visitors allowed. That isn’t going to work for large families so we don’t expect it to be followed but we have to wait and see. More tomorrow…..

    

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #20 – Bad News / Good News

 

Monday, Mar 9^th, 2020……  Same routine, another day. Sis came by and drove us for the morning visit. We knew she would be in dialysis and went straight there and only stayed a few minutes because she is relaxed and sleepy while they do exchange. She is feeling good but has slowed down on her food intake. She still struggles with swallowing plus some of the food still tastes terrible. She said she threw up yesterday after they squirted a tube of something or other in her mouth and she had trouble with that, probably just too much volume, but is ok now.  We headed back and stopped at Lois’s apt. to pick up a piece of furniture to take to Habitat for Humanity for her before she moves. I came back home and rested and played with Rylee a bit before going back in the afternoon for a few hours. I have the routine down now so Rylee and I don’t miss dinner at home. Plus, on the dialysis days, the visits are shorter so she can catch up on her rest. The physical therapy that she is getting is on Tuesdays and Thursdays and has been going well. She is standing with assistance and hopes to be walking in place in a day or two. 

   

Tuesday, Mar 10^th, 2020…… This morning we had our meeting with my favorite doctor NOT, to discuss next steps. Dr. Steele has a way of taking waay too long to get her point across. It drives me crazy! Anyway, she told us that Lydia was at around 24% of her goal in consuming her calories. No one had told us anything up to this point and Lydia thought she was doing pretty good with meals, so she was very disappointed and started crying. I lost it and was rather rude to the doctor. She strongly recommended that Lydia be put on a stomach feeding tube. I knew she didn’t want that and said so and we were told, “It’s her decision!”. Yeah, that’s true but no reason to be snotty about it.   Now that we know what’s ahead, so later, with the nutritionist, we came up with a plan for the immediate future and the tube would be put off for now. Today was not a dialysis day so she was hungry and did eat a good meal.  

    

Wednesday, Mar 11^th, 2020…… Maryanne is here and Lydia was glad to see her. This was a typical dialysis day and she was pooped and wanted to rest so we made today’s visits a bit shorter.  

Thursday, Mar 12^th, 2020……  Today was a really good day! She has been working with the physical therapists and today was her first time sitting in her chair!

They say she needs to be able to sit in a chair for 4 hours at a time when she does her dialysis offsite in another facility, so this is a good start. She also needs to be ambulatory and they are working on building up her atrophied muscles so she can get to the wheelchair and to the bathroom. She has been medically cleared, which means she is off all iv meds and the doctors can release her when she gets the strength she needs.

Today I went by myself early to see her. I then headed north to Cabela’s. They had a sale that started today and I wanted some things. It was the first time I had for me and I enjoyed it, just taking the backroads and cruising the countryside driving the 55 miles to Tualatin. I got what I wanted and made my way back for the afternoon visit. Penny and Maryanne had been there and would be coming back after I left. She has been at 95% on her meals so that’s a great sign!  They told us they have a dialysis chair and she will ‘test drive’ it tomorrow to see how she does.        

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #19 – Last of the Family Leaves & News We Didn't Want

 

Thursday, Mar 5^th, 2020……  Ed and Tia said their goodbyes and headed out about 8:40am for their drive back home to Wausau WI. It was a busy week but Lydia was so glad to see everyone!  She says thanks to all!!!

After they drove out, I left by myself to go see Lydia. We had a few things to do today. But first up, the nurses had come in to take out her feeding tube! What a relief!  She said that it was very uncomfortable with that thing in. Ya think! She is now on a 5-day trial of a regular oral diet to see if she can sustain food by mouth.  If not, she will get the more permanent peg (stomach inserted) feeding tube.

One of our goals today was for me to get some Credit Union banking details from her. These are the ones that she handles monthly. The other was to sit down and work on our advance directives. She’s never done one before. I did one and it was filed in California. Turns out that directive is good in 42 states and Oregon is not one of them. I think it has to do with Oregon being a right-to-die state. Anyway, we worked on that and got it done. Just need witness signatures tomorrow.

Next up is a meeting with oncology doctors. They will be talking to us about future chemo. That’s going to be a significant and pivotal meeting. Fingers crossed!  

   

Friday, Mar 6^th, 2020…… I got up and showered and got ready. Lydia thought we had a 10:00am meeting time but was not sure. No one on the nursing staff could tell us. They made calls to try to find out.  Anyway, I headed over early in case they did early rounds.

Today we got our next round of news. Not so good. The oncology doctor confirmed that she cannot take the same level of chemo as round one.  While that is not good news, he did say that there is another type of treatment that she might be able to tolerate but she needs to be much stronger than she is now for that to happen. It can’t be put off too long because the cancer is very aggressive. That’s the bad news. Next phase is to get her well enough in the next week or two to get moved to a skilled nursing facility (aka snf) for rehab to help get her ambulatory again. From the snf, she will be going to and from dialysis. The goal is to be strong enough to go home and then back and forth from home to dialysis and then later for whatever chemo they can try. It’s a tightrope and we are plenty scared! Lydia understands and we are both dealing with it and have accepted whatever comes from here. She has had some times of weakness and, at times. wanted to give up, but with everyone here for her, she became a fighter once more and is determined to go another round!  

    

Saturday, Mar 7^th, 2020…… Today was a really good day. She is eating good and finishing her meals. They want her eating several light snacks/meals rather than 1 or 2 big meals which will upset her stomach. She says everything tastes like cardboard but they are finding foods that have some taste that she likes. Yesterday, she ate an entire taco salad!  A really good positive spirited day!  

Sunday, Mar 8^th, 2020……  We heard from Maryanne and Cherrelyn that they have travel arrangements made and will be coming up this week. Lydia is looking forward to seeing both of them.  Sis and I spent a few hours with Lydia a couple of times today. They do her dialysis Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so she is in her room and relaxed on the weekends and ready for visitors. She has complained about her nails which haven’t been cut, only painted when the family was here.  Penny cut and used the dremel on them this morning because she was having trouble texting. I think she is happy now that she can go back to Facebook and read emails and such. She is taking calls but sometimes she will turn the phone off or on vibrate when she needs to rest – so don’t get discouraged – just call back another time.

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #18 – More Visits & Good Solid Progress

Monday, Mar 2^nd, 2020……  This morning we left for the hospital in groups. Jeff has been hit with a cold or allergies so he went by himself early this morning.  He masked up and stayed well away from his mom so she wouldn’t get any germs. Eddie stayed home this morning. He’s recently been in the hospital and had a collapsed lung on top of that so he needed some rest. He is in the motorhome, with all the amenities so he hung around there for the day. Randy and I met the girls at Jack in The Box and had breakfast. We had to go there for Tia, who was super excited because they don’t have JITBs in Wisconsin. Lydia was in dialysis when we got there. Doctors have told her that she will be on scheduled dialysis from now on because the chemo has shut down the kidney. We have a meeting tomorrow morning with the oncology doctor regarding future care.    

   

Tuesday, Mar 3^rd, 2020…… We all got up and got going. The girls came over and we set up a roast in the crockpot for dinner tonight. Then we left and went to Shari’s for breakfast before going to the hospital for our meeting. Jeff had left way earlier. Ed didn’t make breakfast and went later to the hospital on his own.

Now for the reality check. The doctors told us they don’t think, with her compromised system, that she can take another round of chemo now. Her oncology team will have more to say about that but they wanted all of us to be aware of it for the immediate future. That’s tough because she needs that to fight the cancer. Right now she is doing physical therapy and when she gets to a stronger level they will be able to transfer her from the hospital to a rehab center for more therapy. She will also be transported to dialysis from there 2-3 times a week.

They also went over her advance directive. It went as expected. She doesn’t want any help with devices to prolong life and has a dnr in place. I understand and respect that - we have talked about it many times and I am of the same opinion when my time comes.  While it is not something anyone wants to talk about, it has to be done so that is over with now. We left her to rest and went back home and rested as well.  Later, we headed over to Pizza Schmizza for dinner. Most everyone now has travel plans made. Jeff leaves early tomorrow morning, Frances leaves tomorrow evening, Ed and Tia plan on leaving Thursday, Randy has made his flight arrangements for early Thursday as well.

Ed went home and the rest of us went back to see her after dinner. The girls had a surprise for her. They each did purple streaks in their hair! They did Lydia's hair too!

Wednesday, Mar 4^th, 2020……  Today was another good day. The feeding tube is still in but the speech therapist who tests her vocals and swallow ability says she can go on to a more solid food diet now.  She had part of a sandwich today and some fruit and yogurt. The goal is to get to a full menu soon because the feeding tube does have a shelf life.  If she can’t get enough calories/proteins/carbs, etc., then she will need to have a more permanent feeding tube going in a port on her side directly to the stomach. There are no timeframes for anything yet. Jeff left this morning. Frances leaves this evening. Randy flies out early tomorrow. Ed and Tia said they are planning on leaving tomorrow driving back to Wisconsin. Maryanne and Cherrelyn are planning visits next week.    

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #17 – The Week in Review…

Sorry that it has been a while in getting blog posted. It's been hectic with everyone here. I managed to get the week done... 

Monday, Feb 24^th, 2020……  Penny called this morning and was told that she gave up 2 ½ liters of fluid last night!  Yaay!  They will be taking her back again sometime today for another round. I’m not sure if this is procedure or not but I will be sure to find out this morning.

We headed over and they had just wheeled her down another wing of the hospital to the dialysis room. We were allowed to visit with her while she was there. They give you meds to relax so she was sleepy most of the time. The nephrologist told us they may even do another round because it is helping with her functions. We stayed for a bit then went back home to let the dogs out. We stopped on the way for wet burritos from Tres Arbolitos. After a bit, we headed back and saw her for a bit. She gave up 2 more liters!  They were just getting ready to put in a feeding tube and it turned out she wasn’t a good patient. Poor thing!  Her nose was sore and dry and she fought the procedure. But, with a little hand holding from sis and I, they were able to get it done after a few minutes.  She was very tired after that and calmed down after a few minutes and relaxed and got back to normal. I turned on her tv and after a few minutes she went back to sleep and we left her for the night.  

   

Tuesday, Feb 25^th, 2020…… The plan today was to go once and stay a bit longer. But first I had to head over to Albany and get my sunglass issues worked out. This was the redo from the first ones that they messed up on the transition area on the lens. This second one was not much better. For the redo, I had chosen larger lens that I liked better for sunglasses but after trying them several times, I found that they still had the transition area from distance to close up too high on the lenses. I decided that I really didn’t need the close up for sunglasses after all so I had them do them again, this time as single vision.  Turns out I got $50.00 credit back on my card! Wasn’t expecting that!

I got back home and got Rylee out and walked again and I played with her in the backyard for a while. I ate leftover burrito for lunch, then I headed over and picked up my sister and we went over for the day. They had to take her in for a chest x-ray to make sure her stomach was doing ok from the feeding tube. When she got back, we visited for a good while. She looks better today than yesterday. Her color is back and she has lost most of the water weight. She still is pretty weak though but the dialysis and the nutrition have got her numbers going in the right direction. It’s a slow process but things are definitely looking better.

When I got back home for the day, Krista had asked me to call her. She said Jeff is getting antsy and wants to come see his Mom and what did I think of that. I told her she is in no danger and things are on the upswing and coming here would be their call. If they choose to do so, they should not rush – look for a good deal on the flight – and not worry.  They are trying to decide if Krista will come too and then what dates to travel. We will arrange and pay for the shuttle to get them the 100 miles from Portland to Albany where we will come get them. No need to rent a car.

I finished up the night with dinner and playtime for Rylee before calling it a night.    

 

Wednesday, Feb 26^th, 2020……  Today things got worse. She now has pneumonia in her right lung. This notches up her planned care, making things more urgent. The hospitalist came in this morning and told her how serious she was. He asked her the usual questions about life saving treatment. And did she want to be put on life saving ventilation for her breathing should it come to that. She does not want that and said so. We both want quality of life with no artificial help and that is our choice. And even though I suggested she do it, she said no. So, she will get a dnr bracelet. He also told us with her condition, things could go south very quickly. So, I started in making all of my calls to family. Jeff and Randy and Frances are making arrangements now.

Thursday, Feb 27^th, 2020……  Today was way better. What a relief!  She's even talking a little bit. She had an uneventful night. The bipap mask is now off and she’s just on oxygen. Randy and Frances (both in Calif.) got here late last night. Jeff and Krista will be coming in late tonight. When we got in, she was over in dialysis again. She’s relaxed and more mobile and animated. I think she was happy to see family. Her brother Ed, and his daughter Tia, will be driving from Wisconsin. Ed has had some medical issues himself and his doctors have told him he is not allowed to fly.  Like I said, a way better day!  I am re energized!  

Friday, Feb 28^th, 2020……  More dialysis today. They are getting 2 liters average each time, which helps a great deal. She still has trouble swallowing so she’s still got in a feeding tube. But she is alert and can talk a bit more now, just restricted through the mask and she still has the painful sores in her mouth.  Progress continues but in baby steps.

Saturday, Feb 29^th, 2020…… She looks really good this morning. No oxygen and dialysis is only an extract to remove the fluids, not the full exchange, which they will alternate now. The girls brought everything to re-do her nail polish again. Definitely a good day!

Sunday, Mar 1^st, 2020……  Another good day!  The family arrived from Chico last night and stayed in town. We all went to breakfast this morning at Apple Tree, next door to their motel before caravanning over to Corvallis and invading her room!

From left to right:  Judy, Tia, James, Frances, Richard, Lydia, Ed, Randy, Terry, Penny, and Bill. Jeff and Krista were not there. Krista was flying back to Florida today so she and Jeff came by earlier this morning so they could leave to make her flight out of Portland.

Lydia asked for her phone back so she could make a few calls and take some when she is up to talking. She still has her feeding tube in so it’s hard to talk, but they are allowing her to have semi-solid food. We brought her some cranberry juice that we had frozen into a ‘slushy’ or ‘slurpee’.  We also brought her some ‘peeps’ and also some A&W root beer if and when her blood sugars stabilize enough for her to have them. It’s nice that everyone is around – but it’s like herding cats!  We had all met up at our house and I gave those who hadn’t been to our house yet the 50-cent tour. The Chico family left in the afternoon for the 7-hour drive back home. We got a call from Lydia that they were moving her from PCU to the oncology floor (where she got her chemo) so we could find her when we went back in the afternoon. We stopped before that at Dos Arbolitos for a tasty dinner. As you can see, most of us chose the wet burrito.  

When we went back to see Lydia, she said she was happy to be back on the oncology floor so she could see her old chemo nurses again. We visited a while and then let her rest for the evening.