Saturday, June 11, 2022

Saturday, June 11, 2022

Tonight's picture was taken in June of 2009, shortly after Mattie's sternotomy, a surgery to remove tumors from his lungs. The healthcare team wanted Mattie to do breathing exercises  to help clear his lungs, and lower the risk of pneumonia. However, by this point in time, everyone knew Mattie wasn't going to work with a respiratory therapist. So his nurses came up with this clever game. It was a cup boat race between Sponge Bob and Patrick (the cartoon characters) in a wash basin. Mattie was hiding under a blanket, but was competing against Peter. Both of them were blowing on straws to make their cup boat get to the finish line. As you can see Sponge Bob was well in the lead. Mattie loved the spirit of competition and if one of us was playing along, he then was happy to comply with the exercise. 

Quote of the day: Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don’t have the strength. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

I agree with Roosevelt's quote 100%. Today I felt like I hit an all time low in my energy level. I am so tired of getting up early each day and doing chore after chore. There hasn't been one break since November of 2021. It is hard on the body, mind, and spirit. 

After completing my usual daily routine, I took my parent's to our local farmer's market. It is literally a few blocks from us. It is small, but excellent. We love some of the vendors though I have gone to bigger markets, this one really meets my needs. I wanted to get my dad out of the car to walk, as he once LOVED to food shop. But he did not want to walk and stayed in the car. So I got what I needed and came back home to unpack and fold laundry. 

What is this? Try a smoked pig's ear. One of the tents at the market was selling these and I bought it in hopes of encouraging Sunny to eat. The irony is instead it is like "finding Waldo!" Sunny carries this treat from room to room, but has yet to take a bite!

I took my parents out for lunch today and we saw our favorite server, Dawn. Dawn has an outstanding rapport with my dad. It took me about 40 minutes to drive to the restaurant, which for me is exhausting, given how I am feeling. As soon as I pulled up to the restaurant, my dad said he had to go to the bathroom and quickly. I literally parked the car by the front door of the restaurant, put my hazard lights on, locked the car and took him directly to the bathroom. Today was one of those days, as he has diarrhea. I got him there in time (this time!). 

When we got to the table finally, my dad was joking with Dawn and he said to her because he treats her like family, he thinks the reason he was so humorous and lively today was because he just had a huge bowel movement. Can you believe this conversation? Fortunately Dawn did not skip and beat but she did say in all her years working, this was a first for her!!! Stick with us is what I told her. 

I thought since my dad went to the bathroom right before we ate, that I was going to have a peaceful meal! Forget it. Right after our entrees, he got that look! Which meant we had to go back to the bathroom, this time, apparently we weren't moving quickly enough. So it was all over him and I had a big clean up job to do in the bathroom. Fortunately I go no where without a large tote bag filled with things and thankfully have a strong stomach. As not everyone could handle this sight and smell right after eating. 

I have to admit after all of this (on top of months like this) that I got in the car and was very very tired. I got us home safely, but I am wiped out. So I am calling it quits for today and headed directly for the couch.