Thursday, November 20, 2014

Doctor Visit




Here's Mommy all ready to go to the doctor's office.  She's in the living room, and "Deep Space Nine" is involved in a huge flashing space battle on the TV.  She said she just can't figure out what those people are saying.  (I couldn't either - it was wild battle dialog with flashes of explosions in between the words - but David seemed to be following the story line pretty well.)

From here, Mommy got put into her hat, gloves, scarf, and a black coat/cape that I thought would be easy to adjust in the wheel chair.  Then we wheeled her out to the truck, and Stephan lifted her into the passenger seat.  I sat between them in the front seat.  I held her hand while we drove because I think the flashing scenery makes her a little nervous.  I asked her what she thought about the scenery and she said that it was hard to see it.  (From context I thought she meant it was going past too quickly.)

At the doctor's office, they were very nice.  The doctor, herself, seemed brilliant and businesslike.  I was pretty impressed by her.  She wasn't too impressed with me - I don't think- as I didn't know lots of the answers to questions she asked and had to call Jeanie twice for clarification, but by the end, I think the doctor knew pretty much what was going on with Mommy, and that's what's most important.

Even is she wasn't impressed by me, the doctor was very impressed by Jeanie and her iron supplement research.  When I showed her the iron supplement Mommy is taking now, and explained how it didn't upset Mom's stomach, she got really interested.  She looked at it for a few minutes, and then she handed it back to me.  Then she clicked away on her computer.  Then she said that it "wasn't in her system" and she asked for the package again, and apparently found it outside the system.  She kept saying, "This is a very good product."  Maybe she knows people who are anemic who can't tolerate the other iron supplements just as Mommy can't.

Mommy made a pertinent comment while we were there.  When I was asking the doctor how long a person should be allowed to stay on the commode because somebody might want to sit there for hours and a time, and the doctor said, "half hour max."  I said to Mommy, "Sometimes life is crazy hard, isn't it?"  And Mommy responded:  "And sometimes it's easy."  That reminded me of Pete's "Don't sweat the small stuff" comment.  (That comment is finished with something like, "and there's no big stuff," or "and everything is small." - something like that . . . )

The doctor prescribed a hospital bed, and I spent an hour or so on the phone after we got home trying to track down what medical supply place in Allegheny County provides hospital beds for Medicare patients.  It seems that it was a won-bid contract (or something like that) and that nobody has any idea who won the bid.  I've got a lead to call first thing tomorrow morning when they open up at 8:00.  Wish me luck.  A working hospital bed will make our life a zillion tons easier.  Or, well, maybe only 114 pounds easier, but those 114 pounds seem like a lot more to me when I lift them.  

Tomorrow!  Dryer arrives!  I'm really glad - I have to guiltily admit that knowing the dryer will be here has allowed me to slack off and instead of having clothes hanging all over the basement (after the basement clothesline is filled up), I now have a pile of clothes to wash beside the washer.  I am so excited about that dryer!  (THANK YOU PETE!)

Must go now.  I've got yogurt set up and ready to strain into Greek style yogurt.  Having Mommy here has made my kitchen be full of good things made from scratch.  I've got my sourdough bread going again.  David said that the bread I made yesterday is the best he ever tasted.  Plus, I made yogurt today, and I plan to do cottage cheese tomorrow.  I've got split pea soup bubbling on the stove.  (Everybody loves my split pea soup - even Mommy ate hers the other night, although she likes the yogurt mixed with brown sugar and vanilla - that we call "pudding" much better.)  Tomorrow, I'm going to make cottage cheese.  The kitchen is pretty much bubbling with yummy.  

Update  (Here's my first attempt at Greek yogurt - I've made regular old yogurt many times, but straining it into "Greek" - this is a first):


3 comments:

  1. Yummy things in the kitchen?! ...do you mind if I come visit? �� sounds like grandma is getting spoiled by such good things! You are doing a wonderful job taking care of grandma aunt Laurie!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Come visit me any time :-) <3

    Grandma might be getting spoiled for food, but her manicure/pedicure spoiling days are at a pause. I don't know how you took such good care of her hands and feet, Chelle, I need a tutorial ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am totally upset cause yet again I wrote this long and delightful comment and when I went to publish, it disappeared when it asked for my password! Anyway, it said something like this... Call Chelle anytime about mom's nails - she was great at doing them. I think she soaked them in Johnson's foot soak, maybe even her hands too. Too make it shorter without all the explanation I put in the post that did not post... I am glad the dr liked the iron and maybe it will help mom not be so tired, I also sweetened her yogurt with honey at times for its health benefits, and her oatmeal with molasses for the same reason. You have to stir it in and don't tell her cause she'll make a face, but she ate it every time! Gtg get to work! Love you!!

    ReplyDelete