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Barbara
Fritchman Thompson Diary
Week
of 22 September 2008
Latest Update: Sunday, 28 September 2008 4:15 p.m.
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Monday, 22
September 2008
I
worked through lunch in order to get off at 4 to go to the hospital.
Frances called a around 2pm to let me know dad was being moved from the
2nd to the 3rd floor. This is a more intense therepy floor. Our friend
Marcy was at the hospital visiting with dad when they came in to move
him. She called to let me know what his new number was. When I got
there a little after 4pm they were still getting him settled in.
Most
of the rooms on the floor are semi private, one bed on one side of the
room, the other opposite with a curtain in the middle. The main reason
being they are supposed to be up and out of their rooms a lot during
the day. Al and mom were still there. They left to go home a little
after five. I stayed to help dad with him supper and get him settled in
for the night.
His spirits are much better. He is acting more
like his old self. He did walk a good ways this morning while still
down on 2nd floor and he can bend his knee pretty good.
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Tuesday, 23 September 2008
Dad did very well in rehab. today. I again
worked through lunch and left at 4 to go to the hospital. I stayed
through his dinner time. Even though I am leaving an hour early working
through lunch makes for a long and tiring day. I miss having my 45
minutes or hour, whatever I take, to relax and read. If I eat in, I sit
in one of the small rooms off the file room where I can put my feet up
and relax. If I walk up the street it is a nice break to get out of
building and of course I take my book along unless I am meeting someone
for lunch.
I am still reading the Lumby book. A famous painting
of two barns in Lumby has gone missing from an exhibit that was on its
way from New York to London. The artist now lives in Vermont having
been passing through Lumby in the early 50's. The small town of Lumby
is not over excited about having a bunch of reporters running around
asking questions in their quiet town. Not only does the painting go
missing but so does one of the barns.
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Wednesday, 24 September 2008
No update.
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Thursday, 25 September 2008
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One step forward, two steps back. Dad did
pretty good yesterday in his morning physical therapy sessions but
since has had a few setbacks. I had to leave work at 1:45 to pick
mom up for a doctor's appointment. From there we went on to the
hospital. When we arrived he was curled up in bed. Early that
afternoon during his therapy sessions he experienced shortness of
breath and chest pains. They immediatly put him in a wheel chair to
take him back to the room. The doctor on the floor checked him out and
ordered an EKG once they got him back in bed. Mom, Frances and I all
stayed until around 7:30 to make sure he was okay.
Later that
evening they called to talk to dad and then called me. They attributed
the episode to dehydration. They this morning he work up feeling
queasy. During his early afternoon session he became nauseated and
threw up several times. By the time I arrived they had started an IV
for the nausea and a saline solution to get him rehydrated. My theory
is the pain meds. He cannot tolerate any type of anti-inflammatory or
narcotic medicine. He had a bowl of soup and two popsicles for dinner.
When mom and I left at 6:30 he was feeling better. They earliest he may
be going home is now sometime next week.
The weather here is
nasty. We have a low coming in off the coast moving east to west
bringing high winds, rain, and cool temperatures. I wanted to get mom
in and out of the weather so we hit Cook Out drive through on the way
home from the hospital to her house.
The good news is the new
dishwasher was installed this morning. Or, should I say Bob's new
dishwasher. He is the one who loads and unloads the thing. Our old one
is at least 25 years old or older. We bought stainless steel to match
the fridge.
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Friday 26 September 2008
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Dad is much improved. He did great in both
his morning and afternoon PT sessions. He is feeling and acting more
like himself. I left work at 3pm to pick up mom for her Friday
afternoon hair appointment. Since it only takes about an hour I just
waiting for her. From there we went on to the hospital.
I stay
until 6 then left to come home and cook dinner. I don't think I have
ever been as tired and worn out as I feel right now. It will be great
to get dad home so we can all get back into our normal routine.
The
low off the coast started coming through this morning. Driving wind and
rain was the weather for most of the day. We have had an inch and a
half so far with more tonight. The winds are not as bad as they were
this morning when I walked up from the parking deck. When I left at 3
it was pouring rain but not as windy. I have a wind proof umbrella but
did not want to try fighting 30 mph gusts holding on to it. Instead I
just wore my rain slicker . When it is that windy an umbrella doesn't
do much to keep you dry from driving rain.
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Saturday, 27 September
2008
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I slept in until 8:45 to get some rest. After
breakfast I started working on the counter tops. At first I was
removing the laminate layer which was going very slow coming off in
small chunks. I then removed the front two inch facing board to
discover how the plywood was attached to the lower cabinets. Bob came
in to help. We discovered we could pry the entire piece of plyboard up
as it was only nailed down along the front and back counter edges and
along the middle.
Bob sent me downstairs to look for a bigger
plybar. I did not remember we had one but I checked a couple of places
to no avail. Bob went down to look for a tire iron and found the bigger
plybar hanging on the peg board behind the work bench. I forgot we had
that one. Shall I ever hear the end of him being able to find something
that I couldn't.
Anyway, I guess since we have been married for
25 years during which we have acutally passed the test of being able to
hang wallpaper together, we do work well as a team. Between the two of
us we figuered out the best approach to getting the counter top off.
Once Bob started on one end with the BIG plybar he was able to get the
entire board up fairly easily.
I started on the other side of
the sink removing the laminte from the edge and pulling off the facing
board. That side of the sink is an entire 8 foot piece of board in
which the sink is mounted. We will now have to remove the sink to get
that piece up. The last piece is mostly the stove top and back corner
of the counter.
It's still raining pretty good this morning with
showers to continue today possibly through tomorrow. I am taking the
late afternoon shift at the hospital to sit with dad.
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Sunday, 28 September
2008
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I left for the hospital this morning around
9. Dad was sitting in his wheelchair when I arrived waiting on his
physical therapist. I went along with him to therapy. He had a 30
minute session doing 10 minutes of a bike fitted out to be used while
in a wheelchair. He then did stairs while I supervised.
After
he finished I rolled him outside on the patio area for some fresh air
and sunshine. It was a very nice morning, not too warm nor windy. He
sat outside about 20 minutes then went back to his room. He sat in his
wheelchair to eat his lunch then he used the walker to walk down the
hall and back. He got in bed before I left so he could rest and put his
legs up. He's doing very well though he still gets winded and short of
breath at times.
From the hospital I had to go by Frances's
house to drop off dad's dirty clothing. I visited with her, mom and Al
for a few minutes before heading back home.
Bob unhooked all the
plumbing attached to the sink and pulled off the clips holding it down.
We removed the sink then pried up the rest of the counter. I vacuumed
out the cabinets and cleaned up everything. The stuff from the cabinets
in piled in the kitched and dining room. Last night I stopped at
KFC on the way home to pick up dinner. We have enough left over for
tonight.
We ended up getting a little over 2 inches of rain
total. We had a brief shower this afternoon. Now the sun is out making
it hot and steamy but the low tonight is be down into the high 50's.
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Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002,
2003,
2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
by
Barbara
Fritchman
Thompson. All Rights Reserved.