Archive for September 16th, 2010

Today’s Business: 2010-09-16

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

Today’s Activities

  • Shower.  DONE.
  • Cat duty.  DONE.
  • Wash 2 loads of laundry.  IN PROGRESS.

Log

09:15 AM: I’m up.  Gray and rainy this morning.  Still though, I’m not complaining, as we really need the rain.  Our grass is mostly brown.   

12:15 PM: Watched The History Channel’s mini series:  America: The Story of Us; Part Four   on the DVR.  This one covered the growth of American mega cities, and how the advent of mass-produced steel made it possible to build them vertically (sky scrapers).  They illustrated Henry Ford’s  bolstering of industrial forces to build the first widely-affordable automobiles.  The discovery of oil in Texas was also covered and how oil made the US the biggest oil producer in the world during the early twentieth century.  This show detailed Edison’s grueling efforts to find a filament that would glow a long time in his light bulb and how the advent of that artificial light source fueled the growth of the electricity generation industry.   They talked of the advances in work place equipment and the evolution of work safety regulations.  Prohibition was briefly covered as well, and how it caused organized crime to grow in its near-dynasty status in the 1930s.  To combat the increases in organized crime, and to create a new source of cash flow for the government, prohibition was abolished in late 1933.   Again, an excellent show, and I’m so looking forward to viewing part four sometime either today or tomorrow.  I wish that in lew of American history classes in school, we could have watched this show when I was a high school freshman.  That would have made those classes much easier to understand and the events more readily related to. 

02:00 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   on the DVR.

02:45 PM: [Emmy] and I finished up the leftover pork roast from last weekend, and we ate some fresh strawberries for dessert, for lunch. 

04:45 PM: Nap time.  Back later.

05:30 PM: We’re back up again.  Great nap on this rainy afternoon, hearing the drops pelting the roof not four feet from the head of my bed. 

05:45 PM: Heading out for this week’s   shopping trip   and    today’s visit with Mom.  Back later.

09:00 PM: We’re back home again from our   shopping trip,   and everything purchased has been put away. 

11:30 PM: Just watched lots of national and local news, and was surprised that Sarah Palin is advising republican and tea party candidates to speak to only Fox News reporters (those who are sympathetic to their cause).  But maybe I should not be so surprised, as many of their rallying points don’t hold up under objective questioning.  Then there was New York republican gubernatorial nominee, Carl Paladino, who says he opposes   all   abortion, even in cases of rape and incest.  Seems to have no empathy for the women carrying babies in these cases. Well, the good thing is that he appears extreme in his views, so that the democratic nominee will probably beat him in November — if the democrats show up to vote that is.  Grrrrrrr. 

12:00 AM: Watched a bit of   David Letterman.  He told a few chuckle-worthy jokes but nothing terribly funny.  Perhaps I’m just very tired, and so, lack enough energy to laugh.  :-)   So I’m off to bed.  More tomorrow, take care, and sleep well. 

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

None today. 

Related Posts

Shopping Trip: 2010-09-16

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

05:40 PM: In order to visit Mom during the prescribed visiting hours without having to make a second trip, sister Jojo and I decided to go shopping tonight instead of on Friday morning. 

05:55 PM: We visited Mom.  Details   here.

06:40 PM: Next, we hit Dunkin’ Donuts for a coffee and bagel.

Total cost:  $6.00 (approximately).

07:45 PM: Next, we visited   Sam’s Club and bought the following items:

  • A throw blanket for [Emmy]
  • A robe for [Emmy]
  • Crest whitening tooth paste for [Emmy]
  • Blueberries, strawberries, and peaches
  • Sensodyne Pronamel tooth paste, for me.  I’m really having problems with tooth erosion, and hopefully, this tooth paste with slow that tooth wear. My sister, the dental hygienist, recommends this. 
  • Oral-B tooth brushes (1 8-pack)
  • Ground turkey (4 pounds)
  • Hand soap (refill bottles) (2 gallons)

Total cost: $121.46

08:10 PM: For our last stop, we visited Wal Mart.  I went in by myself and sister Jojo and [Emmy] waited for me in the car.  They needed nothing further, and I needed very little.  So they figured they’d just wait for me and gab.  I bought the following items there:

  • Diet caffeine-free Pepsi (6 liters)
  • Equate mouth wash for [Emmy]
  • Minute Maid orange juice (1 gallon)
  • Kraft shredded Parmesan cheese (2 jars)
  • Small bananas (1 bunch)
  • Sargento Muenster cheese (3 packs)
  • Manwich sloppy Joe sauce (8 cans)
  • Eggland’s Best extra large eggs (18)

Total cost: $38.34

Grand total: $16.58

Tom Hesley

Related Posts

Mom’s Status: 2010-09-16

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

Summary

Now that Mom is settled in at the hospital, she had two grueling sessions of physical therapy today along with one session of occupational therapy.  Her voice sounds very sad; she’s definitely seen happier days in the past week.  She’s still fearful over what might happen once they conclude her IV antibiotic run at the end of next week.   Will the MRSA return?  To reiterate what I said yesterday, Mom wishes to have no visitors during this crucial time in her healing.  We don’t want to risk her catching colds or other bugs from people stopping by.  Plus, she needs to  focus  much energy on her convalescence, and so will likely be very tired after a full day’s workout such as she had today.   

Deferred Objectives

These objectives are on hold until Mom returns to the nursing facility. 

  • Track Mom’s extreme weakness and loss of feeling in legs. IN PROGRESS.  This has gotten notably better over the past week or so.  We still feel that the nerve damage is reversible.  She’ll continue full PT workouts (including   standing   exercises on Monday). 
  • Monitor Mom’s overall pain status.  IN PROGRESS.  Her pain continues to lessen so that now, she has little in her legs when she’s laying still.  So the static pain seems all but gone.     
  • Track the dissipation of Mom’s pelvic hematoma.  IN PROGRESS.   Can’t measure further progress on this one until Mom has another EMG test next week. 
  • Locate Mom’s living will.  IN PROGRESS.  Her attorneys called a couple days ago, and want me to visit their office.  I’ll try them again next week, and hopefully, they can come to the hospital for Mom’s signature on these papers if needed.  Or at least, they’ll be able to FAX me the living will.        

Completed Objectives

  • Order podiatrist for regular checkups on Mom’s feet.  DONE.  A doctor who makes regular visits to this hospital is now monitoring and treating Mom’s foot troubles.   

Log

05:55 PM: Sister Jojo, [Emmy], and myself arrived at the hospital.  Details of the visit follow:

  • 05:57 PM: We arrived on-floor.
  • 06:00 PM: Mom says she likes her new digs, but does not like the food.
  • They’re performing her blood sugar readings and insulin injections twice per day; once in the morning, and once in the evening. 
  • They used tape on her to which she had an allergic reaction.  They’ve given her meds to counteract those symptoms.
  • Her overall mood: Down in the dumps.  But she’s somewhat hopeful today since she actually took a few steps, twice, in her physical therapy this morning.
  • She needs her blue jacket with the pumpkins on it along with the hat from Dad’s dresser drawer.  We’ll take that up over the weekend.
  • Sister Jojo noticed the the swelling in Mom’s feet is down considerably today.
  • A resident podiatrist examined Mom’s feet.  He says that the ulcer and the callous on the right big toe look okay.  Nothing there is getting any worse. 
  • 06:30 PM: Mom wants to be alone now.  So we’re leaving.  More in future posts. 

Tom Hesley

Related Posts

Today’s Diet: 2010-09-16

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

I keep this food diary to stay aware of just how many calories I’m eating daily, with the hope that it decreases the likelihood that I’ll overeat.    It seems to work, so here we go with another day…

Today, I consumed the following items:

  • Herbal tea and diet pop throughout the day. 0 calories.
  • 01:00 PM: Bacon -flavored pork roast.  600 calories.
  • 01:10 PM: 1 bowl of strawberries and sugar.  200 calories.
  • 09:00 PM: 1 bigger bowl of strawberries and sugar.  300 calories.
  • 09:30 PM: 2 bowls of Cheerios with organic cane sugar and fat-free milk.  1200 calories.

Total calories: 2300.

Tom Hesley

Related Posts