Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #39 – Dealing With the Toilets & Working Through Tough Times

  

Monday, May 18^th, 2020…… I have begun working on the trailer again. With Lydia not here, I have time and want to do as much as I can before summer gets here. I prepped all of the rollers on the small parts and left them in the shop. I want to look at putting a metal workbench outside so I can do painting and messy projects out there. Most everything I have found so far is wood and expensive. I’m sure I’ll find something. Still rain in the forecast so I wasn’t planning on painting today. Lydia sounded tired when I talked to her today. I know she’s lonely. It’s been 9 days since she’s been there. I sure wish I could do something besides just talking with her each day. But that’s all we’ve got for now. Medical facilities will most likely be the last ones to stay on lockdown due to the risk factors. She is still borderline for dialysis but while she’s there, they want to go ahead with it to help get fluid off of her. She says she weighs 145 lbs right now so I think they have her close to where she won’t need it as long as her creatine stays low enough. She said she was worried about me but I assured her that although I miss her so much, I am hanging in there and I’m doing ok. I’m so glad my sister is close by!   

Tuesday, May 19^th, 2020……  I got up early and walked and fed Rylee and then sis and I headed off to Albany to hit Denny’s for breakfast and then Sherwin Williams to get her some paint samples for her upcoming house painting project, and then on to Costco. I wanted to check on their vacuum cleaners and also their toilets. My plan is to replace the toilet in the shop, which is old and round and has a busted seat cover. But I will buy a new one for the master bedroom and then move that one out to the shop. I found the one-piece unit that I like so much and loaded that on my cart. I also bought a metal shelving unit, which I want to build in two sections and use as a workbench for the area under the eaves of the shop garage. Sis bought two of these units to go on the back wall of her garage. We went there next and unloaded them and just went ahead and built them and installed them while I was there.

We brought the toilet and my shelving home and unloaded those and built out and installed the workbench. Tomorrow I will tackle the toilets. Kirk came today with Carter. They also brought Jody over to help with the weeding project. Together, the three of them made a big dent in one side of the driveway. It sprinkled on them but they kept going. 

Lydia has been doing just ok. No change except the fever is now gone. They are giving her antibiotics to help clean up the pneumonia in her lungs. She said she is still tired and wants to sleep. Given that no one can come visit, there really isn’t much more to do. I get it. I feel bad that she is alone. I fixed a chicken bake for dinner and relaxed and watched tv until time for bed.   

Wednesday, May 20^th, 2020……  This morning I decided to go check on Kevin’s and Shirley Mays to see if either was open for breakfast. Neither was. Bummer. I got my Jack in the Box meal and headed home. I cut open the box the toilet was in and discovered that they had included a wax ring so I was good to go to install it. So, I started in and removed the old toilet and got it out on the front porch and then installed the new one. It went pretty easy and no leaks. I even got Lydia’s raised toilet seat installed on this one too.

Sis came by to help and we got the toilet on the dolly and headed down Lydia’s ramp and around the front yard headed to the shop. But I ran the dolly into a crack and lost control for just a fraction of a second and that was enough for the toilet to slide off and break. It is now trash. I decided to complete the entire project after that and went to Costco again and got another toilet, this one for the guest bathroom. I got back and made quick work of that one. This time I put the toilet on a four-wheel dolly and sis got that out there ok and I lifted it up and got it close by ready to go. The old toilet out there was easy as well but I had to go get a new wax ring before I could continue the install. I got all of that done with no other issues. So, three installs in one day. Whew!

I got a call from Lydia today. The doctor was in with her and they put me on speaker. The doctor told me that he thinks Lydia’s lung issues are not directly related to the chemo meds, but thinks it’s more of a progression of the cancer in her lungs. He said they have done about everything they can to get her comfortable and treat the pneumonia aggressively but with not much improvement. We got really serious into her extended prognosis and where to go from here. He is recommending that Lydia go home to hospice. She just wants to come home and I get that. So, we started that process today. I received three calls from:  the case worker, the hospice office, and also from a medical supply to set up an oxygen maker for the house. All of this will happen tomorrow. It is not the news we wanted but we have come to expect things to go in this direction for some time now. Not a good afternoon but I am looking at Lydia’s outlook and her expressing that she wants to be comfortable and with family. They will start their evaluation tomorrow and release her with the appropriate meds. Her oncology doctor also has to weigh in on home treatment and next steps but Lydia probably won’t want any more chemo since this bout was as bad as the first. But, if it means anything, she came home with these same issues last time and recovered quickly once all of the chemo went out of her system.  We can only hope.

After all of this, I wasn’t hungry but managed to fix some scrambled eggs and mushrooms and had a quiet dinner and watched the second Darlington Nascar race and then made my way to what I knew would be a sleepless night. At least I can be with her tomorrow! That’s something positive!       

     

Thursday, May 21^st, 2020……  I was right about sleeping. It was a tough night. But hey, she gets to come home today! I had Rylee out and walked early, while it wasn’t sprinkling. I got her fed and then did some straightening up around the house. I had washed towels and included those we use on our recliner arms and headrests. I also worked a bit on a vacuum cleaner that my sister got from a yard sale and had in her garage. I paid her the $5.00 she paid for it and it turned out to be a good deal for me!  It works well enough for me to use for the time being until I can get someone out to service the in-house vacuum system.  Then the day changed drastically when I got a call from the hospital saying I should come in asap.  I knew this wasn’t going to be good news.  I dropped everything and left. I went through all of the safety measures and then was escorted up to her room. She looked worn out but I could tell she was happy to finally see me. The doctor came in and told us about her progress. Or lack of. He reiterated that they have done pretty much everything they can do and, as agreed yesterday, the next step was home hospice.  But her oxygen level had dropped and the amount she needed was more than hospice is set up for. That meant that they didn’t want to release her at this time, unless we opted to go to a hospice facility.  So, we waited and after about 5 hours or so the numbers got back to normal and all was back on schedule. But he advised me that her time table was now reduced and she could go in less time – it is now possibly down to weeks. So, I called both boys and they are making plans to get here asap. Lydia kept repeating that 1) “I just want to go home”, and 2) “I want to see my boys”. So, going home would be the best for everyone since none of us would be allowed in a hospice facility. Neither of us wanted that. I ended up staying most of the day and we got the word that our home hospice choice (Lumina) was busy getting everything in order. They needed to arrange an oxygen maker to be delivered and that was enroute from Salem so I went home to be there for that. Meanwhile, they had ordered transport for Lydia and worked on her discharge orders.  We got the oxygen system set up and she arrived an hour or so after that. Charlotte, from Lumina, followed soon after that and got us all settled in and our regimen set. Lydia has now been moved to a comfort status so she has been getting morphine when she has stressful breathing. This type is given by syringe under the tongue or by the cheek and has been very helpful today. I don’t know what tomorrow or the days ahead will be like but I am ready for whatever comes. The boys will be here Saturday and Sunday so I think she will be waiting for them. We are both now happy that she is home and in her own bed and content as it should be.