Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Tonight's picture was taken in March of 2009. Mattie was home between hospital stays and as you can see our living room floor was a hub of activity. Mattie had trouble standing independently and couldn't walk after his surgeries. So we all spent a lot of time on the floor. Our living room was filled to capacity with different Lego structures. Truthfully our living room became a Lego city. I was fine with that, as long as Mattie was engaged and occupied. In front of Mattie was a box of antique train items. Before my graduate school mentor died, he gifted Mattie a lot of Lionel trains and train items. This was one of the boxes in question. I will never forget my mentor or his kindness to Mattie when he was born. 

Quote of the day: Dogs are miracles with paws. ~ Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy

"Two Furry Friends!"

Sunny loved car trips! He was all about the adventure. This was a photo taken in my mother-in-law's kitchen in Boston. We drove Sunny up with us and you can see what fascinated Sunny.... the great outdoors. He was glued to the door! What I think was adorable however, was how well Sunny got along with their cat, OC. OC ruled the house but somehow didn't mind Sunny and of course Sunny was used to living with Indie, so was very cat friendly. 

This morning I was stressed out. No matter how many times I remind my mom about the timing of our day, something just doesn't compute. We needed to leave the house by 9:45am in order for me to drop my dad off at his memory care center and then drive to the hospital for my mom's doctor appointment. Needless to say, I could see the 9:45am departure time wasn't going to work. My mom just can't get it together in the morning. So I literally got my dad out the door and then ran back home to herd my mom into the car. 

I drove to the hospital, which is about 40 minutes away. We were scheduled to meet a rheumatologist to discuss my mom's osteoporosis. When I got into the office, I was harried, because I had to find parking, had to get my mom into the office, and then despite filling out paper electronically, they had MORE for me to do. In any case, the doctor was nice, though talked a mile a minute. In any case, my mom is now scheduled to take Prolia just like me. Why her doctor in California did not start this sooner, is beyond me. But my mom's osteoporosis is significant, especially in her hips. The doctor wanted my mom to complete some blood work. I wasn't expecting this today. Which meant that we had to walk to the outpatient lab of the hospital to get the testing completed. The tech taking my mom's blood was fantastic and though my mom hates needles, made the process go very smoothly. 

What I find particularly interesting is how easy Medicare makes access to Prolia. A night and day difference from what I have to do to get this drug. In fact, I am going on Friday for the first time to an infusion center to get my Prolia shot. I was so sick of dealing with my doctor's office and the high cost of the drug (as they would only bill it as a pharmaceutical expense). I am told that the infusion center bills the drug as a medical expense and I will only pay $275, versus $1,500. We shall see. What I do know is I am not at all excited about going to an infusion center. I am sure there are all sorts of infusions going on there, but clearly one of which will be patients on chemotherapy. I have seen enough chemotherapy for a life time and truthfully I am in no state to take on more pain at the moment.