27 June 2022
One of life's more amusing ironies is impatiently waiting for someone to finish telling you how busy they are. They always seem to have the time to rattle off the list of crises they are managing so you don't feel bad when they decline your invitation.
It has been a busy month here and you can tell because I haven't written an entry for three weeks.
Mr. Mundstock discovered my mother's chimney cap had rusted away and sent me a photo to prove his unfounded allegation. After scouring the Internet for a chimney sweep (it hadn't been swept this century), it took a while to get someone out and then to get the parts in and then two days to do the job because the wooden box that frames the chimney had to be replaced, too, after rotting away.
I had to put the mouse traps out after seeing evidence of a renewed invasion but I didn't catch anything all week and, after cleaning up, they don't seem to have ever returned. They've discovered the kitchen is under new management, I hope.
There are still a couple of other home repairs on my mother's list but I have to wait for one of my brothers to spend a few days up here to oversee them.
At the same time I read about the IrisVision Inspire, which is designed to provide improved vision to people who suffer macular degeneration, which is what has made my mother's life so miserable. I got her set up with a 30-day trial (because it's the only way to find out if it helps). We're still evaluating it.
The next debridement is scheduled for August.
But that meant going over there to help her use it nearly every day. And attending her one-hour Zoom coaching sessions with Myrna in Arizona.
So I missed a couple of Joyce's weekly physical therapy sessions and suddenly there are no more scheduled. So I'm chasing that down.* Are any more scheduled? Do we need a new order?
This weekend I ordered Mediplex from Byram for the first time since we went back to wet-to-dry dressings. They did confirm the order. But if I cross my fingers, I'll never get this report typed up.
This morning Joyce had a session at the clinic but not with Alysse the Physician's Assistant as planned, who was in surgery apparently. Instead Lady the RN changed her dressing. It took about half an hour and went well. Lady told her Dr. Mike was taking good care of her. "They all call you Dr. Mike," Joyce laughed. I suppose I should look into malpractice insurance.
We are still doing daily dressing changes with Santyl applied directly to the slough. But just once a day instead of twice. And three times a week Kristine the LVN does it and once a month Dana the RN does it. Differently, of course.
The next debridement is scheduled for August.
Meanwhile Joyce is no longer taking any antibiotics and really doesn't need pain medication for the routine dressing changes (because the slough insulates the nerves).
But I did have the bright idea of buying a multivitamin for women when I was shopping for bourbon at Trader Joe's. Joyce does shop now and then at CVS but it never occurs to her to get vitamins and they have been on the recommended list for a while. So that's done.
Except she forgets to take them. So every night, after I put dinner on the table, I get the bottle and give it to her.
One of these days, I'm going to return to the problem the preceded all this. The lock actuator on the Honda's passenger door. The thing costs less than $20 discounted but there are Very Hard to Access Screws to be removed. And the three easy ones that are staring me right in the face will not budge despite my super-human strength.
But I won't get to that before the new circuit board for my mother's 1998 garage door opener arrives. She had a power failure and the spike when power was restored apparently zapped the radio on the old board so none of the remotes work. Which the chimney sweep discovered when I left a remote out for him to get in the garage.
I spent a few hours diagnosing that issue and trying a half dozen different sync sequences to get one of the four remotes programmed. Nope.
When our kitchen faucet started dripping again just a month after I had replaced its rubber seats and springs, I felt persecuted. But then I thought about it. All this time (well, three times in 20 years) I had been replacing the bad seals with the same large size springs and seals that had been in there. What if I used the smaller springs and smaller seals?
It appears to work much better. No drip with smooth operation. Like new, one might say. So far.
I hope this explains why you haven't heard from me all month. And even more, I hope it amuses you a little.
But if you haven't heard from me until August rolls around, please send a handyman.