Tonight's picture was taken in February of 2009. I don't know if you find this photo as humorous as I do, but this was a typical physical therapy session with Mattie. I was used to this back when Mattie did occupational therapy as a toddler (pre-cancer). Mattie never would do something, unless I did it first. I don't think it was because Mattie wanted to see me work. It was more like testing the waters. If I could do it and thought it was okay, then he would then proceed to try it. This perspective carried through to his time in the hospital. However, not only did I have to do, he got Anna, his physical therapist, to do it too! As you can imagine, Anna wanted Mattie to do a game of Twister. Mattie wasn't going to sign up for this, unless we did it first. So naturally we did it!!!
Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.
- Number of people diagnosed with the virus: 75,954,167
- Number of people who died from the virus: 896,496
Last night, I had finished cleaning up dinner and had just decided to sit on the couch. That moment of peace did not last long, because my mom came down from her bathroom and told me she wasn't feeling well. In addition to not feeling well, she coughed up blood. She was scared, but we also know she has a long standing lung condition called Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC). MAC is a group of bacteria related to tuberculosis. These germs are very common in food, water, and soil. Almost everyone has them in their bodies. When you have a strong immune system, they don't cause problems. But they can make people with weaker immune systems, very sick. My mom developed MAC from caregiving intensely for her mother, who suffered a stroke. Though my mom for the most part is healthy, at times this infection flares up.
So at 10pm, I called their doctor, who many of you reading this blog know that I call him Dopey Doo. When I called him, his response was he couldn't help. That I should call her pulmonologist. Wonderful, if she had one in Virginia. So I corrected him and reminded him ONCE again that my mom in new to the area and doesn't have this kind of specialist yet. Therefore, I demanded he prescribe her antibiotics. He did comply, but finding a CVS open at that hour in my neck of the woods is hard. There is only one nearby open 24 hours and when I called them, they told me it would take 4-5 hours to fill the script. Because they were that busy! I literally told the pharmacist to forget it and instead called my CVS in Arlington, VA. A CVS I have gone to for YEARS! This is an incredible CVS, that is always well run and well stocked. I learned this back when Mattie had cancer. That CVS had access to drugs that others do not. In any case, the CVS in Arlington actually answered the phone and the pharmacist within minutes filled the script. Thankfully Peter ran out for me and picked it up, which is a twenty minute drive there and a twenty minute drive back at that hour!
Meanwhile today I had my mom rest at home, while I took my dad to visit the cardiologist. I always go into these situations ready to do battle. But I highly recommend Virginia Heart. Everyone, from the office staff, to the nurses and the doctor we met with were very patient centered! What a concept. The doctor is the chief of cardiology at Virginia Hospital Center and happens to be Italian. He and my dad got along great. The doctor also went to Boston College, so as fellow BC Eagles we connected. He listened, treated us as part of the medical team, and has a solid plan of attack to figure out what is going on with my dad. My dad will undergo an echocardiogram and a Lexiscan (stress test) next week. But today's EKG was normal and we were very pleased by that news. In any case, I feel like we have an excellent and competent cardiologist on our team, and I liked him so much that I changed my mom's appointment, so she could work with this same doctor.
No comments:
Post a Comment