What Day of the Week is This???

It all seems to run together. My father residing in the nursing home never knoww what day it is or if it is morning or evening. Claude and I are pretty much in tune with day and night but what day of the week it is sure gets fuzzy when they are all the same. So I'll continue putting my life in this Blog so when Covid-19 is all done I'll remember what each day was...or close to it.

Monday, April 13, 2020

Paul, our grandson, received his face mask and sent me this picture. He commented that the fabric smelled like Blamma's house. That is a compliment. Blamma is what he and his siblings called me when they were little. Claude was Blampa. Katelyn, Paul's older sister, couldn't say 'gr' and substituted 'bl'. We loved these names. They were unique. So when Paul said the fabric smelled like Blamma's house, that was a double compliment.

This day I tried to get Papa some new glasses. I called Dr. Richardson's office as soon as it opened. It seems they don't have any record of making new glasses for Papa. They do have all the records from his visits. So, I asked if they know what his last prescription should have been based on his eye exams. They do have that but have not made glasses from that prescription. The bottom line is they can't make glasses for Papa. Since Walmart's optometry department is completely closed, and since that is where Papa would have purchased his last pair of glasses, I have no where to get real glasses made for Papa. They would have been bi-focals. I do have one lens but that doesn't mean the other lens was the same. My only recourse was to purchase a pair of the strongest readers I could get. Claude and I drove to Georgetown and I purchased the strongest readers I could in a style I thought Papa might like. Then we dropped them off at the nursing home. This is driving me nuts. Papa can't hear and his TV is way across the room from him. He is pretty much blind in one eye and mostly blind in the other. However, reading is something he still fills his time with till his eyes get tired and then he takes a nap. I truly hope the readers work for him. And, I take courage in Glen telling me he works with his two magnifying glass options to see the page. Ugh!!

In the evenings Claude and I watch television together. We are wading our way through all of the 8 seasons of Psyche, a television show we really liked. I bought the DVD set several years ago for Claude and this seems a time to watch all of those. We are also watching through the Hobbit movies as well as a few other movies we have DVD's for. Then we try to clear some of the shows we have DVR'd. While watching Psyche this night, Shawn was talking about the Bible to his friend Gus. Gus told Shawn he clearly had never read the Bible. To which Shawn recites for Gus the names of the first five books of the Old Testament in this fashion, "Genesis, Exorcist, Leviathan and Do The Right Thing". Claude and I are still laughing. Clearly Shawn had never really read the Bible.

I also finished the fourth row of my Covid-19 afghan.

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Saw one cute memes and sent it and a screen shot from my phone to our Mini's. Bailey loves emoji's and these particularly fit this time in which we are living.

Every beauty shop, barber shop and nail salon is closed. People are trying to cut each other's hair when they have never cut hair before in their life. When getting ready in the morning, I realized how long my hair is actually getting and took this picture of me playing with a new hairstyle. What do you think?

Took a rather sobering phone call this day. One of the nurses that works for Signature Health Care traveled to Tennessee. She came home the day the Executive Order was given that, if you travel out of Kentucky and then come back into Kentucky, you must self-quarantine for 14 days. Being a nurse and working in the long-term care area, her employer gave her a test before she went to self-quarantine. It came back positive for the corona virus. She has absolutely no symptoms. No fever, no cough, no tiredness or difficulty breathing. Absolutely nothing. In fact, she is so healthy that she goes out everyday for her jog and does her yoga in her home. They have tested her husband and her daughter and neither have the virus. So, there you have the deceptiveness of this virus. She is totally asymptomatic and still can spread the virus to others. Since she can't come in to work (she doesn't work where Papa resides), they have given her the task of calling every family in a Signature Health Care facility and reviewing with them what they are currently doing and confirming end-of-life decisions. We had a lovely call. We laughed about her situation and then she explained about Papa's situation and confirmed our desires for his end-of-life. They are keeping residents in all their facilities in isolation in their rooms. If a resident tests positive for corona virus, the nursing home will provide all the supportive care they are capable of doing in that facility (breathing treatments, meds for symptoms, etc.). Glen had already told me that Signature Health Care of Georgetown, where Papa resides, is preparing some rooms that will be in a separate section should they needs them. If the resident develops respiratory concerns, they will be transferred to a hospital. They can be placed on a ventilator. Then she told me something I did not know. They will only keep someone on a ventilator for two weeks with that timing beginning when they place the ventilator in the patient. It seems prolonged use of a ventilator causes the tissue around it to deteriorate. They simply can't and won't leave it in longer than two weeks. After two weeks, they can perform a tracheotomy and insert a breathing tube. Papa has requested for him and my mother long ago to not prolong the end-of-life. I told the nurse that they may use the ventilator for the two weeks if it has a hope of giving him time to heal. We are not to prolong life. May I just insert here that taking responsibility for the end of your parents lives is not for the faint of heart. It truly requires you to know your loved one and their wishes and understand that you must stand firm in that plan. It is not easy to say, "Okay, let them die." Not easy at all. But I personally believe there is time for us to return to our Heavenly Father and we don't need to tamper with that timing either. I reflect back to my dream a week or two ago of my parents walking hand-in-hand and will bring that memory to the fore when time requires it. I have always wanted to be with Papa when his time came to die. I was with my Mother for the entire last week of her life. I wanted to be there with Papa. The threat of this virus taking him means that I haven't seen him for a month now. If they put him in a hospital in this condition, I will not be with him at all while he is there and I will not be with him when he passes. He will be alone. Him being alone at that time is so much harder to think about than him passing. Life is not easy even when you are doing the right thing. I am grateful that Signature Health Care is making sure all families are aware of what they will do and that their wishes for end-of-life are being confirmed should any steps have to be taken.

This evening I finished rows 5 and six on the Covid-19 afghan. It was progressing.

Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Meme for this day harks back to a favorite television show "The Big Bang Theory". They have a running line about the Schrodinger's Cat Theory. Someone made a meme about that based on the corona virus.

This day I managed to get the seventh row done on my Covid-19 afghan.

Thursday, April 16, 2020
Meme for this day was cleverly stupid.

I loved getting this picture of Nelson when they received their face masks. It is funny to me that I mailed all the face masks the same day with the exception of the Tyler's. Theirs were mailed the next day. Yet the Tyler's got theirs on the same day the Ropers received their face masks. I believe that mail is silly right now. But it still moves a bit. Nelson is cute and Aubrey says he loves playing with it.

Katelyn helped Raelyn send a letter to her grandparents, Nissa and Todd. This is her letter. It says, "Dear Ma and Pa, you owe me an Easter Egg Hunt. I love you and miss you." The inside of the card says......"I'll come over and go fishing and hunting and play outside. Love Raelyn." Melted these grandparents heart.

This day found me spending a good bit of my time crocheting. The temperature dropped outside to way below normal for this time of year. So I put on my Dr. Pepper socks and crocheted away. I finished rows 8 and 9. Please note that I am not curling my hair during all of this unless we are going somewhere...which is just about never. It will be difficult to go back to curling my hair every day.

Friday, April 17, 2020
This morning I spent doing laundry and ironing. Between loads I would crochet. While I did this, Claude busied himself defrosting the freezer in the pantry. Yeah Claude!!

I received this picture of Jake. He received his face masks.

This day I finished row 10 on my Covid-19 afghan.

Saturday, April 18, 2020
This day was Jake, our son's, birthday. He turned 45 years old. First thing I posted a Happy Birthday wish to him on Facebook with this picture of him taken at Thanksgiving 2019 with the family that came for Thanksgiving. Jake is the tall one on the left end of the back row. 

During the day Jake and I texted back and forth. On Friday Claude said how he wished we could go to Michigan and take him to dinner. There is a 'no travel' order in place and we really are not to leave Kentucky. If we had to for any reason, we are to self-isolate for 14 days upon our return to Kentucky. I told Claude that restaurants are not open and we couldn't sit down and have a nice meal together anywhere. So Saturday I was really wanting to do something extra for Jake's birthday. All the rest of our kids and grandmonsters have others they live with. They are not alone. Jake lives in his apartment and now works from there. So he is alone except for stepping out in the evening and chatting with Max, his neighbor, at a safe distance for a bit. The idea came that we could order something for him a nice birthday meal. I ran the idea past Claude and he thought it was a great idea. I sent Jake a text and asked him what he would want from a restaurant in Chelsea that had curb service or delivery service. Any place he wanted. I also indicated that it would be a good meal for him and it would help his local economy. Jake was happy with the idea. He suggested Cottage Inn Pizza which he was sure was doing delivery. He told me exactly what he wanted from there. I called and ordered and paid for Jake's meal and they delivered him a hot pizza and Caesar salad. The sweet lady that took the order asked if I wanted the large salad or the single serving size. I assured her large would be better and Jake might make two meals out of it. Jake was happy with that idea when I told him his pizza was ordered and would be there shortly. To continue the celebration, Claude and I called Formaggio's in Georgetown and ordered us individual pizzas and Caesar salads. Then we drove in and picked them up. Loved that they wrote on the top of our individual pizzas Thank You and Stay Safe. 

It was a long distance meal, but it was fun nonetheless. This is how we celebrate while self-distancing during the corona virus.

Later Jake sent me this picture. Jake goes to the laundromat. He has been taking Max's clothes as she has very poor health and has a greater risk if she got the virus. This day Max was sure she should go herself. Later that day Jane, the lady that owns the laundromat, brought Jake cupcakes to celebrate his birthday. Clearly Max had talked with her. Jake said she was very careful to tell him she washed her hands several times while baking them. Jake was happy with the cupcakes (which included a little candle to put on them). He took three of them to Max to enjoy also. There are so many nice things happening with this virus. 

During the day we seemed to have an unusually large amount of things collect at the top of the stairs. We usually put things on the gossip bench or by the door and then when we go downstairs, we take them with us. Seems like things were a bit out of control and we needed to go downstairs more than we were. 

This night I finished the last row on the afghan and then crocheted the edge around it. I was very happy to get this done. I think it turned out well and I have had several compliments on it from my Facebook post. It was fun to be crocheting again. I will not now crochet for a long time I think. I am pretty sure I have carpal tunnel in my hand and this just makes it very angry. So, I'll find another project to do until I feel my hand can do this crocheting again.

Sunday, April 19, 2020
Didn't sleep much Saturday night. So I read my Ensign for April. I was about half way through it when I finally went to sleep. Sunday morning I got up and got my shower and prepared myself for Church at home. Then Claude and I each read some. I finished up the Ensign. We had a Zoom Worship Service. Not a sacrament meeting. But a chance to sing a couple of hymns, listen to words from our Bishop and also two other talks. Just a chance to be back together via on-line face time with the other members of our congregation. It was nice. Luella Alcorn posted this picture of us. Claude and I are on the right side next to the bottom. We look like we are peeking over the edge of the picture.

In the afternoon, Claude played his guitar and I recorded him singing. This was something I felt strongly about us doing last week. There were two songs Claude used to sing to our kids when they were little. They are titled "The Marvelous Little Toy" and "The Unicorn Song". Our kids loved hearing their Dad play his guitar and sing these songs. I just felt a prompting this would be a fun thing to do for our family. So Claude did some practicing and he was ready on Sunday. I recorded it. Then I spent the rest of the day trying to get them to download to a Google photo album I created for them. This would allow me to share them with all the family. I changed the settings on my cellphone before I recorded so it was a larger file. I'm sure that was what made it so hard to do. That, and our Internet has been really spotty since everyone is home. It was fun to do this for our family. 

Monday, April 20, 2020
When we woke up we had a message from Andie, our daughter. She sent us a link to an NPR recording of Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers. They are excellent. And so I started the recording and we did our waking up this morning to new songs from them. 

I suggested Claude get me a biscuit for breakfast from Hardee's. We hopped in the Jeep and went to the drive-thru for a biscuit. We sat in the parking lot to eat and watch all the truck traffic at Love's Travel Plaza. 

When we got home I started working this Blog while Claude took care of some telephone chores. Then we paused to sit on the front porch for a bit before working in the yard for the rest of the morning. I was weeding the front flower beds and Claude cut the grass. Now Claude is edging the top part of our property and I am finishing up this Blog entry.

I just wanted to record this about the concern for long-term care facilities in Kentucky. As of last night's update from Governor Beshear, we had 2960 cases of the corona virus in the state. 148 people have died because of the virus in Kentucky. On April 7th there were 55 residents in Kentucky long-term care facilities with the virus, 22 staff with the virus and 11 deaths. As of today, the total number of deaths in long-term care facilities if around 50. With the total number of deaths in the state being 148, that means 1/3 of the deaths from corona virus are in the long-term care facilities. This is why the tight restrictions there. When the restrictions for all the things start to let up a bit, the very last one that will open up is the long-term care facilities. Just looking at these numbers makes it clear why that is important. This is a vicious and strange virus. So many are healthy and don't know they may have it, like the nurse I spoke with last Tuesday. They could be spreading it and not even know it. Others are healthy one day and gone the next. We have even had a 10 day old baby with a positive test. Until there is a vaccine against it, we will have a strange way of life. But, as Governor Beshear tells us at the beginning and end of each of his daily news cast, "We can get through this, we can get through this together."