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Barbara Fritchman Thompson Diary Week of 21 July 2003 Latest Update: Sunday, 27 July 2003 20:28 |
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Monday, 21 July 2003 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| Gosh, where has this month gone? I cannot believe we are
almost through the month of July already. It was the usual busy Monday for
me... work, home, dinner, Lenore, gym, computer.
Time to get in some playtime with the dogs. We have had thunderstorms all around us this evening. The weather alert radio goes off about once an hour or more but so far they have gone west and south of us. As always, thanks for stopping by. [Top] |
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Tuesday, 22 July 2003 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| We have just had yet another power failure during a
thunderstorm. This has been happening at least once a week for the last
month or so. I left work at 2:30, to get home early enough to get some
work, after first making a quick library and grocery store stop. I have
four assignments to get completed this week for my Microsoft contract
work. I asked Bob he thought his mom would mind if I did not come over
this so I could have a good four hour block of work time.
The storm started brewing up around 5:00 just as I started fixing dinner. Just as we has sat down to start eating we had the usual power off/power on sequence for maybe 30 seconds before it finally went off altogether. We finished eating dinner in the semi-dark...the den curtains were open giving us just enough evening light to see by. After we ate and rinsed off the dished we went downstairs to wait for it to come back on. This time it was a little over an hour and it came back on. We are still under sever thunderstorm watch until 11:00 pm. After I get this post up I will get back to work for another hour or so before calling it a night. Our poor house is like a car that starts getting a little mileage on it. Things are starting to wear out and break. Last week , of course, it was the washer. Sunday morning while cleaning the bathroom I noticed the floor tiles around the toilet had come loose because of the wood sub floor underneath being wet. Bob called our Jerry, our plumber, yesterday but he could come out until today. Fortunately we caught the problem early, something was leaking from the tank, and the floor was still sound underneath the dampness. Since he was here, Bob had him look at the kitchen faucet that has been broken for several months but still functioned. Apparently a bolt had broken off from underneath and was not replaceable. While Jerry's son went off in search of a new sink fixture, Jerry fixed the toilet. The toilet was new when we remodeled our master bath in 1988 or 89 but the kitchen faucet was original when we bought the house. I have no idea when it was installed, I am sure the kitchen has been redone at least once before we bought the house, since it was originally built in the early 70's. I hear thunder in the distance so I better wrap this up before another storm come up. I finished up the Hazel Holt, Mrs. Malory last night and started another Carolyn Hart Yankee Doodle Dead.
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Wednesday, 23 July 2003 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| I have just arrived home, 7:45 PM, having left the house
for work at 7:15 this morning. When I got off at 3:30 I had a couple of
errands to run before my 5:30 haircut appointment. When I started full
time the first of the month I had to move my early afternoon appointment
to later in the day. I like to go on Mondays but the only thing she had
open when I called her was this 5:30 slot for today.
Just as I finished up getting my hair cut a storm came up with buckets of rain falling. I made a mad dash to the car but got soaked anyway. From the car I phoned in a take pizza to pick up and take over to eat with Lenore since I did not go over last night. We wanted Chinese, but our favorite place is moving to the shopping center right near our house and have not reopened. I drove in the pouring rain back across town, picked up Bob at the house, drove out to get the pizza, and headed to the nursing home. We arrived just as Lenore had finished being sick, a common occurrence of late. She has not been well for several weeks now and seems to steadily declining. She refuses to drink enough fluids to keep her body hydrated and has not had an appetite at all. Guess I better run. I need to check my mail and give the dogs some attention.
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Thursday, 24 July 2003 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
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I spent most of today working, either at work or at home. I took about twenty minutes when I first came home this afternoon to play with the dogs then right back at it on contract work. I worked until Bob got back home from visiting Lenore, around 5 then stopped to make dinner, walk the dogs, and mow the lawn. Back at it again until about 8:45 when stopped to write up my post for this evening. Time to take a break and read for awhile before heading off to bed. [Top] |
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Friday, 25 July 2003 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| As I mentioned earlier in the week, Lenore has not been
doing very well for the last two or three weeks. Between her lack of apatite,
unwillingness to drink fluids, listlessness, and the mental confusion we
could not pin point what was going on. This morning we had a call from the
nursing home at 4:19 from the floor nurse. She said Lenore was in
considerable pain, did we want to send her to the hospital. Seeing that
she had been vomiting off and on for several days we told them yes. Then
we went back to sleep until the alarm went off at 6:15.
I called my parents at 7 pm before they left to volunteer at the hospital to let them know what was going on. I then took off for work and Bob took off for the hospital. He called me several times, the final one around 9:30, to let me know the results of the CT scan showed she had a hole somewhere in her abdomen and was getting ready to go in for emergency surgery. I left work, came home to let the dogs out, grabbed some books, snacks, drinks, and sandwiches for Bob and took off for the hospital. I got there just in time to see her before they took her up to the OR. Bob and I went on down to the cafeteria to eat lunch with my parents then it was back up the waiting room to wait. She finally went into surgery at 1 PM and back out at 2:20. She had a perforated duodenal ulcer which they repaired as quick as possible and closed her up due to her age and physical condition. We waited until 3:30 to get to see her in the ICU. I left to run some errands and meet my parents for dinner as was originally planed. Today also happens to be my fathers 81 birthday. Bob's brother, Bill, drove over from Raleigh this morning, getting here about noon. He came on home to let the dogs out and Bob stayed for the 5 pm ICU visiting hour then he came on home. Bill is going back for the late evening visit by himself and Bob and I will stay home and rest up. At this point she has not woken up from the operation. Her vital signs are iffy her chances, per the doctor, are fair. On the good news side, our friend Marcia, also had surgery today, and she is resting well and hopes to be home on Sunday. Will keep everyone posted.
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Saturday, 26 July 2003 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| Bob and I went over to the Brian Center this morning to
clean out her room and bring her things home. They only hold the room 3
days then we would have to pay for each day she is not in the room until
she returns. Knowing, at this point, it will be at least several weeks
until she leaves the hospital, we released the room.
In the meantime Bill went to the hospital to see his mom then drove back to Raleigh. When we got back from the nursing home I fixed an early lunch then got started on the house cleaning while Bob did a load of laundry. Afterwards it took a shower and spent an hour or so catching up on e-mails before going down to the hospital for the 2 o'clock visit. Being in ICU, she can only have visitors four times a day at certain hours for about an hour and half each time. The good news, is when I got down there, she was awake. She still cannot talk because of the breathing tube but seemed to be holding her own. I left a three to come back home and get an early dinner cooked, grilled ribs and boiled potatoes, so Bob could down for the 5 pm visit. He is staying until the time for the 8 visit and then will come back home. While he was at the hospital I worked, from about 5 until almost nine, taking a short break to play with the dogs around 7:30. After I get this post written I will take the dogs out for their last walk. Bob will not be home until around 9:45. He called me after the early visit was over. She has a slight infection so they started her on antibiotics and will run some tests to see where the infection is. That was to be expected. While she is not out of danger as yet, Bob was fairly pleased with her condition at the time. He may have better or worse news when he gets home.
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[Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| I took the morning off to play golf with my dad. We had
great, sunny weather, although it was a little hot and humid when the
breeze died down. We finished up a little after 12. When I got back to the
house to drop off dad my three of my mom's sisters were over for a visit.
I knew they were coming for dinner at Frances' to celebrate dad's birthday
but I did not know they would be at mom's for lunch. I had told mom when
we left that morning I would stay to lunch since I needed to get home and
showered for the 2:00 ICU visit.
Instead, I did stay for a few minutes to have a sandwich and quick visit then fixed Bob a couple of sandwiches to bring him for his lunch. He had done the morning visit. When I arrived at 2 pm they had the breathing tube out and she was in a somewhat raised position. She woke up while I was there. She is still very weak and cannot very loud. All and all, when I left she seemed to be holding her own. I went from the hospital to Frances' house. We had a nice meal, homemade lasagna, garlic bread, and strawberries for dessert. I stayed until about 5:45 then left to come on home to feed the dogs and finish up some projects due tomorrow on my Microsoft contracts. Guess that's about all the news for now. Bob will be back after the 8:15 PM visit to give me an update. Until then I will read and give the dogs some attention. I started a new Joan Hess, A Holly, Jolly Murder. Right now, reading one of her funny mysteries just seems like the right thing to do with all the stuff we have going on. At least this time when Lenore got sick I was not on a bus halfway across the United States. Last year when she fell and broke her legs I had just left on a 23 day trip to the Canadian Rockies. [Top] |