my mom

[Drunk Monk]

Thanks for that offer.  That's extremely kind.

Not sure how this will all go.  Things change moment to moment.  The nurse, OT & PT book appts the night before, which makes scheduling really hard.  She's got some trusted neighbors, which is wonderful, but I don't want to put them out too much, ya know?  Looking into home care (not covered by my mom's longterm care plan because she just has basic coverage).

She doesn't know you guys, but we'll see. I may take you up on that.

Hell Mouth?

[lady_cranefly]

Hell Mouth?

Sunnyvale, Sunnydale, potato, potahto.

One option is to send us on errands for you so you can stay with your mom.

law

[Greg]

For a short period of time, Scapino lived on Sunnydale St in Duarte.

Hijack: Accomplished!

[Drunk Monk]

Hell Mouth?

Sunnyvale, Sunnydale, potato, potahto.

One option is to send us on errands for you so you can stay with your mom.

law

Thanks - I'll keep that in mind.  My mom can be alone for short periods.  She can get to the bathroom on her own.  Actually that's about it.  As long as she has her phone, I'm okay with leaving her.  Honestly, I need the break.  I have a few errands outside today and I'm waiting for a break in the storm.  

Still not clear how spellcheck generates Hell Mouth from Svale, but it's kinda poetic, given the present situation.

So today is my first 'day off' after a truly hellish mouthful of a week.  Which means, of course, I have a ton of errands to catch up on.  I gotta move some furniture to prepare for some construction.  I gotta sort sort loose medical options, especially scripts.  My cousins were kind to stock us up with some homemade minestrone.  I'd prefer to just rest, but so much still must be done.  

I'll likely be posting a lot over the weekend. It helps me process.

---

right now i'm procrastinating... listening to the GD marathon on KPFA.

looks like the storm broke. i better get moving.

[Drunk Monk]

insurance issues on the oxy - the key pain med and the most expensive.  trying to sort it but no access.  can't set up the online account for some reason - all the data just results in errors, despite completing the forms in person.  no available contact help because it's the weekend and sutter's help services don't function on weekends.

[Drunk Monk]

This morning went well.  I fed and medicated my mom, and then turned on the telly for my own breaky, just to find Batman (the Adam West one) on Heroes & Icons, and then Man at Arms on El Rey (season 2 finale, not one that I'm on at all but still fun to see again). 

The day's errands went poorly - quite frustrating, exacerbated by getting caught in a downpour on a grocery run.  Then there was the closet I had to clean to make room for the new door.  We got in an argument about it unfortunately but eventually she acquiesced. I'm astounded by how much came out of that closet: dozens of my mom's light jackets, boxes of golf balls (unopened), bowling balls, pillows, blankets, hats (including a sombrero and a classic Hawaiian feather-brimmed straw hat, tennis rackets, dozens of my dad's thin ties, camping and fishing gear, slides, a portable grill, a cordless hand drill, a bag of lead balls the size of tennis balls...I was worried I'd find a dead rat, or some buried body. It's mostly in a huge pile in the living room now.

I kept the Grateful Dead marathon going on the ol' family magnavox. I was raised with that - it still sounds great.  I keep stumbling over fossils of my childhood - some bowl or spoon I used growing up.  Many of the dishes are soiled in the corners, or haven't been used in ages.  I'm tossing out random things I find in my way.  The other day, she got her svale phone book. I went to put it where phone books were kept and found about a half dozen old svale phone books - now in the recycle bin.

Now John Wick 2 is on.  At least the TV is good.

[Drunk Monk]

TV continues to be good medicine, or at least a distraction. The El Rey Sunday Kung Fun day was diverting background noise to the daily chores.  

I moved a cabinet and shelf to make room for knocking that wheelchair door out. Such a nice piece of furniture - 70s style - real solid hardwood - cherry I think. It was filled with random stuff.  I tossed some.  The tossing has begun.  It was also very heavy.  My tendonitis is still flaring.

I also cleared out my room enough to see the floor. Moved a ton of stuff to the next room, so now I can access my old bureau and shelves and start cleaning them.  Embarrassingly, my top drawer was filled with T-shirts. I got so many damn T-shirts.  Old clothes that were snug on my teenage body.  Parachute pants.  Still in good condition so I'll drop them off at some donation center.  Now I can start clearing books - so many pulp paperbacks, old textbook, a complete Funk & Wagnall's encyclopedia (like that's worth anything at all now).  Lots of nice weapons tho.  

I keep finding random things that send me down memory lane, or bits of trash that should have been dumped years ago.  It's a surreal journey through dust and cobwebs.  Nostalgic, regretful, humbling.

My mom was in considerable pain most of the day.  Not one of her better days.  Her neighbor visited, and unfortunately we dominated the conversation (she's from Mumbai, close to where Stacy and I rented an apartment for a month) and works for the Chinese electric car company Nio. We facetimed with Tara. Mostly, she napped and did crossword puzzles. She didn't eat to well.

This week has several appointments, including two days of construction towards the end of the week hopefully.  Work should be manageable - construction there should be winding up.  Tomorrow is a huge day for my mom with OT, PT & a social worker coming by.  Stacy will be here.

I've been getting a good 6+ hours of solid sleep - still waking early, but not tweaking as hard. I think the squirming toad in my brain has just got too tired.  We'll see how this week goes. I'm still unsure on where this is all going, very unsure.  

I miss the Cruz so much.

[Drunk Monk]

Stacy and I saw each other for like 5 mins in the morning and 5 just now as we tag teamed care and tried our best to dodge the commute.  She started a notebook journal so we can communicate the course of each day and document medication.  Today was a huge day for my mom. PT, OT & social worker.  It was too much, way too much.  

I got back from work, said hi to Stacy as she darted out the door to beat traffic. I hoped to catch a moment after work but pretty soon after she left, my mom started gasping from pain and then speaking incoherently.  She gets paranoid about chores and tried to explain several things to me that I already knew about - really struggling to communicate.  It was hard to decode but I figured it out what she was trying to say eventually, did my best to reassure her and get her into a position of comfort. Full talkdown mode. She calmed down, and then started saying to herself 'I shouldn't have taken that Tylenol'.  That was several hours ago and well within her dosage schedule.  

Now I'm watching the clock until when I can give her more pain meds because she's maxed out.  Nothing to do but listen to her gasp. Every breath expresses her pain. It's so hard to watch her suffer and be powerless to help.

Mondays...

[Drunk Monk]

That was the most brutal so far. She was in agony for several hours until the meds finally gave her some relief. Hopefully she’ll fall asleep soon. I’m emotionally exhausted.

[King Bob]

On a lighter note, do you still have that photo on Stevie Nicks on the wall?

[Drunk Monk]

Ha. No. My kid took it down when she had to sleep in my room years ago. I still have a ton of Stevie pix but none are up. Coincidentally I’ve been sorting shirts and found several Stevie & Fleetwood Mac shirts that are in fine condition. I’m going to send them to Tara - she asked for any shirts that I might think she might like. And some of them should fit her nicely now.

[Drunk Monk]

Stacy watched her today. She got life line set up. There was a gap between her leaving and me arriving and my mom got paranoid and tried to call me (my iphone hasn't been ringing - some glitch that I haven't been able to repair).  When I got home, she was somewhat incoherent but settled down eventually after I talked to her a bit.  She's still in agony.  I cancelled her PT for tomorrow because she needs a rest day and when I told her, she started crying because I didn't ask her. Then she asked me what PT was.  When I told her it was physical therapy, she said 'oh okay'.  She calmed down more later and ate a little.  I messed up on the meds a bit - gave her an extra tylenol when I should've just given her the nightly regimen.  It was coming back from work into this chaos of suffering and I lost track.  Now she's trying to go to sleep.

Tomorrow is a telecommute day for me.  I'll stay here with my mom, except for running a few errands.  We had hoped to get our contractor in here tomorrow and Friday or Friday and Saturday, but he hasn't gotten back to us.  We were also planning to move my mom to her friend's house nearby during the construction, but he just went back in the hospital.  His daughter, someone I haven't spoken to in maybe 3 decades, said we could still move her there, but that might be weird now.  That friend is one of Stacy's clients too.  

Did I mention that my coworker who lost 8 family members got some papers stolen from his truck glove compartment?  He had his taxes there, ready to be filed, and his passport.  I'm starting to think he's doing it just to one-up me in hellish dramas.

[Greg]

Madness takes its toll.

You did mention the stolen tax papers. I don't think this is a game you want to win although you do seem to be in the running.

[Drunk Monk]

I don't think this is a game you want to win although you do seem to be in the running.

Yes, you are right there.  When things settle down, he and I are going to get drunk together.  He's been planning this trip to Spain and I've been advising him.  He has dual citizenship and was asking me which passport to use.  That question I couldn't answer.

So today is a telecommute day. It's gloomy outside, sprinkling off and on.  I'm juggling various errands and working on some writing. My mom goes through periods of gasping in pain to resting quietly, reading, working on puzzles or napping.  I'm in the living room, listening to my folk's old magnavox, and writing.  

Today was garbage day.  Svale has these ridiculous garbage cans that separate into two sections, like one for landfill and another for table scraps and one for paper and another for recyclables.  One can divided into two sections.  I just watched them pick one up and dump it all into the same bin in the truck.  What is the point of that?  Svale garbage nazis.

I picked up some lidocaine patches for my mom. The scripts are 5%, regulated and not covered by our insurance, and cost $300+ for a month's supply.  The OTC are 4% and cost about $10 for 5 patches.  American pharmacy and insurance is so stupid.

[Greg]

Of course I have a lidocaine patch story. My friend Ruedi Kaspar's father worked for Rohm and Hass. They were one of the first inventors of the Lidocaine patch. They were available in Europe and not available here. Ruedi's father was able to get them for my mother back in the day.

Most likely all the facts in the above story are wrong.

Good luck today.