Thursday, January 20, 2022

Thursday, January 20, 2022

Tonight's picture was taken on January 23, 2009. This was a day I will never forget. Mattie was having a great deal of trouble learning to walk again. He couldn't get the hang of the front facing walker. So Anna, his physical therapist, found this posterior walker. I have no idea why Mattie was more receptive to this, but I think he thought it would catch him if he fell backward. Any case, I snapped this photo during Mattie's physical therapy session, when he took his first few steps post surgery. Unfortunately, this wasn't a trend, and Mattie never really walked again. 

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

• Number of people diagnosed with the virus: 69,149,005
• Number of people who died from the virus: 859,839

On January 20th, I always post a tribute to my maternal grandmother. She died on January 20, 1994, at the age of 86. My grandmother lost her husband to colon cancer (when she was in her 50's) before I was born. By the time I came along, my grandmother was already living with my parents. So to me a multi-generational household was normal. 

Facts about my grandma:

1. She was born in 1907, in New York. 
2. Both of her parents were born in Italy. 
3. She was the oldest of five siblings.
4. She married at the age of 16. Her husband was born in Italy and was a contractor for commercial and residential properties. 
5. She had three children. Her middle child died (Sudden Infant Death). 
6. Though she did not work outside the home, she had numerous skills. Cooking being at the top of the list. 
7. She was a born caregiver and cared for everyone in her family. 
8. She sponsored many family members to come to America and is in essence responsible for their successes and improved quality of life. 
9. She was a kind, gentle, caring, and loving person. With a very easy-going personality. 
10. She had two grand-daughters, but she and I shared a very close bond. As I was known to call her "mom."
11. Her favorite color was green. 
12. She introduced me to Days of Our Lives at an early age. To this day, I still watch it. 
13. She played the piano by ear. 
14. She wasn't a fan of chocolate (not unlike Mattie).
15. She wasn't squeamish. She could handle everything from mice to seeing blood. 
16. She did not know how to drive. 
17. She loved to read and was well informed about all current events. 
18. She was a Bob Hope and Bing Crosby fan. As a result, I have seen all the Road to.... movies. 
19. She loved lily of the valley flowers. 
20. She suffered a massive stroke in 1990, which left her physically disabled. She died 4 years later.  

Today's fiasco involved taking my parents in for a physical. In Washington, DC there was a threat of snow. But Peter assured me we would be okay and he was correct. It was the usual mis-reporting of weather in our area.

My parents had physical appointments back to back. I had called last week to get my parents in for blood work prior to their actual physical. However, the office never got back to me. Today they wouldn't take blood because my parents did not fast. I purposefully did not make them fast because I knew it was going to be a long morning of exams. As it was we were at the doctor's office for over two hours. Naturally I will have to take them back on another day for blood work. When I tried to discuss with the doctor the dysfunction at his front desk, he wouldn't hear it. I am sure if you have been following my saga through the blog with this doctor, you realize we DON'T match. 

I let my mom go into her appointment without me because I had to stay with my dad. However, after her physical, the doctor came in and told my dad and me that my mom has tuberculosis. Specifically that she had it in the past and may still have it! I literally said..... WHAT?! I asked for more information, and then literally jumped down his throat. My mom never had tuberculosis. Instead she had sepsis and was hospitalized for a month and then was diagnosed with a rare issue called Mycobacterium Avium Complex (MAC). MAC can look like tuberculosis, but it is a completely separate disease. I told him to go back to her medical reports and look closer. Unfortunately my mom didn't remember being diagnosed with MAC and it would behoove this doctor to draw me into both of their care management. 

How do I think this doctor did with my dad? I would say just okay. The doctor and I got into it regarding EKGs. I wanted my parents to both get an EKG today. They both have cardiac histories and their former primary care doctor did routine EKGs and both of my parents were under the follow up care of a cardiologist. Needless to say this doctor doesn't believe in giving EKGs. Instead he cited with me the "new" thinking that these tests do more harm than good, that they identify false positives, and also don't truly detect disease. I told him that I did not agree at all. In fact, it was a simple EKG done at my mom's primary care office in Los Angeles that identified a big problem. A problem that sent her in for emergency surgery of her left anterior descending artery, as she had an almost 100% blockage. Literally his response was he had NO IDEA what to say to me. NOT GOOD! NOT A GOOD WAY TO DEAL WITH VICKI! I am not used to a doctor NOT listening to me and my insights. Typically a doctor like this gets his walking papers, but my parent's like him. As you know, I have already decided to go back to my former doctor, as I can't take this one's quirky personality, anecdotal stories, and off the cuff inappropriate advice. Today he handed my dad a sheet on exercising that was totally coming from LEFT field. As my dad can't do anything he recommended on the sheet. Rather hysterical, no? Make a long story short, I am taking my parents to see a cardiologist and will get all my questions and concerns answered there. 

It is now 6:30pm and it is my first free moment of the day where I can sit down, write the blog, return emails, and perhaps do Foundation work. This free time won't last long, and what I could do in the past in one day, now can take me weeks. I am determined to write a Foundation January newsletter! All I can say is good luck to me.