Tonight's picture was taken in August of 2007. Our hotel had parakeets. Mattie had the experience of interacting with parakeets from his many trips to the bird house located at Butterfly World in Florida. Therefore, he understood that the birds weren't going to hurt him. But instead were interested in flying around him to get a snack or treat. San Diego was a great place to vacation with Mattie, because we could do things by day with my parents, and then in the afternoon, we could do outdoor activities with Mattie. Mattie loved every minute and back then I used to wonder..... will we ever be able to stop moving and relax? Of course now being able to put his energy into context, I would much rather have a healthy and active child than one who had to face childhood cancer.
Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.
- number of people diagnosed with the virus: 2,381,538
- number of people who died from the virus: 121,979
Yesterday was our first night sleeping at the new house. Of course anything new is always an adjustment. Yet thankfully my dad seems very happy with his new surroundings. The new house has a beautiful backyard, almost park like. I will have to take some photos to show you what we are looking at. In addition, part of the backyard faces a golf course. Hole #12 to be specific. Which is wonderful, because you can literally sit on the patio and tune into a golf game or match. Many of the golfers wave and say hi!
Peter and I are not sure what task we are addressing first, between the move and caring for my dad's needs we are on overload. It wouldn't be as difficult if we lived geographically close, but the distance adds pressure on us to make sure things are in place for a stable transition when we return to Washington, DC. So in addition to everything else, we talked with a caregiving company today to arrange for services. My dad is already getting nursing, PT, and OT care, but when I am not here, he needs help with bathing. I also want to meet who he is assigned to work with, so we are starting services on Saturday to see how it goes. Needless to say, I am not good with letting others in to help in this manner, but I also know it is important in order to maintain my mom's health.
If you ask what we do all day, I would say our day starts early. Peter at 5am, and me at 6:30am. From the moment we get out of bed we don't stop moving. I manage getting my dad up, showered, dressed and fed breakfast. I administer pills. Then while he rests...... my mom, Peter, and I were doing chores around the house. After which, today we took my dad for a foot doctor appointment. On an aside the foot doctor's staff were lovely! Unlike my dad's GI doctor yesterday. I literally had a screaming match with the receptionist, who refused to let me go into the appointment with my parents! I told her to STOP talking to me before I throttled her. Later in the day, we ran to their old house, cleaned it and did a walk through with the property management (which lasted an hour and 20 minutes) for an inspection and a returning of the keys. Thankfully ONE HOUSE DOWN! Managing two properties was beyond crazy!
With all this said, since we arrived, I have seen a continual improvement in my dad. He is eating now, has more lucid moments, and it is my hope his exhaustion and stamina will also increase. What I have learned though is my dad DOESN'T like eating at home. He prefers going out and I imagine it provides him a social experience, choices, and structure. Right now he has three people meeting his every need, and naturally I worry what happens when I leave. Nonetheless, I will be returning this summer (without Peter), and hope to continue where I left off.
But for now, we have my parents almost all unpacked and we are trying to manage connecting phones, cable, internet and other services. Moving isn't for the meek! Certainly it takes super human qualities to face this on top of a health crisis.
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