Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Tonight's picture was taken on November 21, 2008. About 9 days after Mattie's second limb salvaging surgery. Given that Mattie was hooked up to all sorts of machines and had his leg and arm in casts, he wasn't moving outside of his hospital room. So on Fridays, the chemistry club would make a special visit into Mattie's room. No matter how awful Mattie felt, he never wanted to miss the chemistry club. Mattie loved the hands on learning and to see what activity the club cooked up that day. I will always be grateful to Chris, the club's president, who connected with Mattie and found a way to help him break through the anxiety and depression even for just thirty minutes. 

Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins. 

• Number of people diagnosed with the virus: 48,091,937
• Number of people who died from the virus: 775,397

Peter shared photos with me of Thanksgiving prep on the Farm. 

Peter did a beautiful job putting together a Thanksgiving table.

Meanwhile, my mom's clock alarm went off at 5am. It was so loud and kept ringing for so long, that it woke me up out of a deep sleep. I wasn't able to get back to sleep. So I got myself washed and dressed and went to the kitchen to start baking a three tiered chocolate cake. We have family friends joining us for Thanksgiving, and my dad's friend mentioned last time we were together that he loved chocolate cake. I remembered that, and decided therefore to make a chocolate cake. Given the chaos all around me, I have to cook and prep for Thanksgiving in bits and pieces. 

I took my dad and his caregiver to visit the gastroenterologist today. I wanted to follow up with them regarding his Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I wanted to hear from them that there is NOTHING else we can do, and to also check to see if my dad needed to continue with a gastroenterologist on the East coast. The answer is NO. It is a horrible disease, that has NO cure. Basically this disease can limit one's life, and definitely has consequences on one's social life. As any food or fluid going in can produce intense diarrhea. I can't tell you how many times my mom and I have been out in public and my dad has had an episode and we have had to clean him and the floor around him. It is overwhelming and though he most likely had this issue all of his life, now with his inability to move quickly and his dementia, he can't get to the bathroom in time, and also can't distinguish when he has to go to the bathroom. You may be saying, why not just take ? Well Imodium, if not managed well, can cause constipation, and this sent him to the hospital in 2020 with an impacted colon. 

My dad spends more time sleeping and napping than awake. We got him to the doctor's office and literally he napped until they called him back. I was livid in the office today because they kept us waiting an hour. I literally flipped out and told them we were walking out because this wasn't fair to keep my dad waiting for so long. Needless to say, they jumped through hoops and my dad was seen immediately. 

I learned today that there isn't anything further we can do other than continue to keep my dad away from dairy and taking Metamucil (in large quantities) each day. The office staff were empathetic and I can only imagine what a support group for this disease is like.

I did chores with my parents today, took them out to lunch, went back to the grocery store and made chocolate frosting tonight for the cake. 

The three layered chocolate cake!

I cleaned the turkey tonight and have it marinating in the refrigerator overnight. 

Meanwhile this sight gets me every year in Toluca Lake, CA. People line up, and I mean line up to pick up a ham at Honey Baked Hams. Literally lines go around the corner and into the neighborhood. From the moment the store opens until it closes. 

In the midst of everything else I have going on, I got a jury duty notice for the District of Columbia today by email. It was with great pleasure that I filled out the survey and let them know I moved. In DC they call you for jury duty every two years. It is beyond ridiculous and I have no patience what so ever right now for this or any other pressure.