The last blog entry said life was unpredictable. Well, as we all know now, that was the understatement of the year. To say the least.
So, here we are self-isolating. Not because we are sick, Thank God! but because we are old. I am 81, and Frank is 87. In the vulnerable category. Everyone has to stay away from us. Wave through the window and then leave. Lots of helpers--we are SO lucky.
Friday I had to go to the hospital for an ultrasound on my belly because my tummy is acting up. No food thank you. I eat a few ounces and put the rest away for later. I still have half a granola bar left over from breakfast yesterday. Ordered fish and chips from White Spot via Skip the Dishes. One order for my husband with an extra piece of fish for me. Then I snitched a few of his chips. I managed to eat the bit of fish, but most of the chips are in the garbage. It will be really good to find out what is happening to my ability to keep a meal in my stomach for a full 24 hours. Often it just visits for an hour or two and then comes up. Even Ensure drinks only stay down sometimes.
So, while everyone on Facebook is talking about all the cooking and baking that keeps them busy, or writing (which is what I would like to be doing), I am just trying to eat like a normal person. And sleep, too--but that is another story, I guess. For some reason sleeping is a big problem.
Take right now, for example. It is 12:40 a.m. and here I am. I am tired. I would like to sleep. But that is just not happening.
Counting blessings: FIRST, I am so very glad that I am not alone. My husband is here with me, and that is the best gift of all. SECOND, our kids are extremely helpful and kind. THIRD, I am glad to be able to use services like Skip the Dishes and pizza deliveries that deliver more than just pizza. And I have been able to sign up with a supermarket for online shopping complete with delivery. I placed my order a couple of days ago, and it is supposed to arrive next Wednesday (the only slot available). Hope they actually deliver. I have heard of some stores that do not keep the delivery dates.
So, while everyone else is writing about how they are coping with self-isolating and social distancing during this COVID-19 pandemic, I thought I would do the same.
I hope whoever reads this, is as blessed as I am with the situation we all face.
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Friday, February 21, 2020
Life is unpredictable
Last post, I was excited about my husband finally getting his aortic valve replaced. Then, it happened, all in an afternoon (the procedure actually took only just under half an hour) and he was up and around. The next day he was out of the Kelowna hospital (about 65 km from Penticton).
Then, a week later, he and I were manning a display table in the local mall, when suddenly, you will never guess what, I had a heart attack. It was not a big deal, really. A friend drove me to the Penticton hospital where I claimed to have a sore left arm. I really expected them to just send me home. Instead, they took a blood sample and declared there was a problem and I would have to stay until they could get me to the Kelowna Hospital for an angiogram. We had just been through all this with my husband. It was surreal that it was happening to me.
So, a week ago I had the angiogram and they found a few little problems that, thankfully, can be treated with just medication--no stents or surgery for me, thank God! When I got home from the hospital on Wednesday, February 12th, the bizarre situation was that Frank, recovering from his TAVI (transcatheter aortic valve implantation) and I (recovering from my angiogram) were neither of us allowed to lift anything over five pounds. Make a pot of coffee--nope!
Fortunately, our kids were amazing. They jumped in and looked after their dad while I was out of commission--that was my biggest worry. I had had no time, of course, to arrange for help for him--help which he needs at the best of times--and needed even more desperately with his post surgery care being untended.
The biggest problem of having to travel between Kelowna and Penticton, is that we do not have a car, but have to rely on others to drive us to and fro. Not long ago, we could use Greyhound buses, but they abandoned Western Canada a couple of years ago. BC Tansit has not really taken up the slack. It has improved from just Mondays to daily--but that is four buses on Mondays and only two (early morning and late evening) the rest of the week. There are flights, but they cost almost the same as trips to Vancouver or Calgary. Ridiculous! So when Frank needed to go, we had to ask one of our two sons, our daughter, or one of our two local grandchildren. All of whom have jobs and cannot just jump and take a few hours to drive us. Then, we had to have hotel rooms because some of the medical appointments at the Kelowna Hospital are early in the morning with a follow-up later or the next day. The last trip for Frank cost us almost $1000. Not paying our son for the transportation. For me, it was much easier and cost us nothing. Hospital to hospital by ambulance is free for the patient. I went to the Kelowna hospital early Tuesday morning, had the angiogram, and was back in my Penticton hospital room around lunchtime the same day. Easy-peezy! Home the next day. No hotels!
A word about the hotels: Last June, we took the advice of a handout from the hospital and chose a hotel from their list: Royal Anne Hotel. I confess I did not really examine the amenities carefully, but chose it for sentimental reasons: My parents met there! Not a good choice for traveling with a disabled person though. I do not recommend it.
This time, I thought I was doing better. I selected one from the Internet where it was claimed that it was wheelchair accessible. And although my husband is not in a wheelchair, he does use a walker. Again, I should have been more diligent and asked direct questions. It turned out that if you wanted the room to be wheelchair accessible, you had to ask at the desk for a ramp. I lifted the walker in and out of the room. The bathroom was definitely NOT safe--no grab bars, for starters. We had to go to that hotel twice--once for the pre-surgical screening visit then a week later for the TAVI. The second time, we came prepared, having bought a transfer bench for the bathtub so we could get in and out of the shower without falling. (The one we bought is a lot like the one in the link, but not identical. Ours cost $160, and had a grab-handle on the side.) I am not disabled, just old. And climbing over the side of a tub is quite challenging. So, for handicapped and elderly people, I do not recommend Siesta Suites.
Yup! Life is definitely unpredictable. I hope I never have to stay in a hotel in Kelowna ever again. And as for hospitals....well, I guess that is obvious.
Then, a week later, he and I were manning a display table in the local mall, when suddenly, you will never guess what, I had a heart attack. It was not a big deal, really. A friend drove me to the Penticton hospital where I claimed to have a sore left arm. I really expected them to just send me home. Instead, they took a blood sample and declared there was a problem and I would have to stay until they could get me to the Kelowna Hospital for an angiogram. We had just been through all this with my husband. It was surreal that it was happening to me.
So, a week ago I had the angiogram and they found a few little problems that, thankfully, can be treated with just medication--no stents or surgery for me, thank God! When I got home from the hospital on Wednesday, February 12th, the bizarre situation was that Frank, recovering from his TAVI (transcatheter aortic valve implantation) and I (recovering from my angiogram) were neither of us allowed to lift anything over five pounds. Make a pot of coffee--nope!
Fortunately, our kids were amazing. They jumped in and looked after their dad while I was out of commission--that was my biggest worry. I had had no time, of course, to arrange for help for him--help which he needs at the best of times--and needed even more desperately with his post surgery care being untended.
The biggest problem of having to travel between Kelowna and Penticton, is that we do not have a car, but have to rely on others to drive us to and fro. Not long ago, we could use Greyhound buses, but they abandoned Western Canada a couple of years ago. BC Tansit has not really taken up the slack. It has improved from just Mondays to daily--but that is four buses on Mondays and only two (early morning and late evening) the rest of the week. There are flights, but they cost almost the same as trips to Vancouver or Calgary. Ridiculous! So when Frank needed to go, we had to ask one of our two sons, our daughter, or one of our two local grandchildren. All of whom have jobs and cannot just jump and take a few hours to drive us. Then, we had to have hotel rooms because some of the medical appointments at the Kelowna Hospital are early in the morning with a follow-up later or the next day. The last trip for Frank cost us almost $1000. Not paying our son for the transportation. For me, it was much easier and cost us nothing. Hospital to hospital by ambulance is free for the patient. I went to the Kelowna hospital early Tuesday morning, had the angiogram, and was back in my Penticton hospital room around lunchtime the same day. Easy-peezy! Home the next day. No hotels!
A word about the hotels: Last June, we took the advice of a handout from the hospital and chose a hotel from their list: Royal Anne Hotel. I confess I did not really examine the amenities carefully, but chose it for sentimental reasons: My parents met there! Not a good choice for traveling with a disabled person though. I do not recommend it.
This time, I thought I was doing better. I selected one from the Internet where it was claimed that it was wheelchair accessible. And although my husband is not in a wheelchair, he does use a walker. Again, I should have been more diligent and asked direct questions. It turned out that if you wanted the room to be wheelchair accessible, you had to ask at the desk for a ramp. I lifted the walker in and out of the room. The bathroom was definitely NOT safe--no grab bars, for starters. We had to go to that hotel twice--once for the pre-surgical screening visit then a week later for the TAVI. The second time, we came prepared, having bought a transfer bench for the bathtub so we could get in and out of the shower without falling. (The one we bought is a lot like the one in the link, but not identical. Ours cost $160, and had a grab-handle on the side.) I am not disabled, just old. And climbing over the side of a tub is quite challenging. So, for handicapped and elderly people, I do not recommend Siesta Suites.
Yup! Life is definitely unpredictable. I hope I never have to stay in a hotel in Kelowna ever again. And as for hospitals....well, I guess that is obvious.
Monday, January 13, 2020
Happy 2020!
It's COLD outside. Ok, I know I live in Canada and the whole world thinks we all live in igloos, and that might be true of some parts of the Canadian prairies and on northward, but this is British Columbia--near the US border. It's not supposed to be -20 Celsius. Well, -14 at the moment. And snow, too. That's nothing new for the Okanagan Valley, and I know we're stuck with it until about mid-March or thereabouts. One of the bus drivers said "S-N-O-W = Something No One Wants". He got that right.
Besides griping about the weather, though, other things are moving along. The good news is that my husband's long wait for his aortic valve replacement has finally been scheduled. It's on January 31st, and we're already booked into a hotel for the day before and a couple of days after. We hadn't realized how much this wait had worried us until we got the news. The wait was, pardon the pun, truly a WEIGHT that has been lifted.
It doesn't take long for the calendar to fill up with doctors' appointments and other activities such as White Cane meetings and church meetings. I'm at Cowork a couple of days a week, and don't seem to get much done. The big highlight of the week is Tuesday and, sometimes, Thursday when Frank and I go to the pool with our son, Steve. Writing? At Cowork when I can fit it in between printing out whatever is sent that I have to "show" Frank, in order to keep him in the loop. It's only fair. I couldn't possibly do that without Cowork!
Besides griping about the weather, though, other things are moving along. The good news is that my husband's long wait for his aortic valve replacement has finally been scheduled. It's on January 31st, and we're already booked into a hotel for the day before and a couple of days after. We hadn't realized how much this wait had worried us until we got the news. The wait was, pardon the pun, truly a WEIGHT that has been lifted.
It doesn't take long for the calendar to fill up with doctors' appointments and other activities such as White Cane meetings and church meetings. I'm at Cowork a couple of days a week, and don't seem to get much done. The big highlight of the week is Tuesday and, sometimes, Thursday when Frank and I go to the pool with our son, Steve. Writing? At Cowork when I can fit it in between printing out whatever is sent that I have to "show" Frank, in order to keep him in the loop. It's only fair. I couldn't possibly do that without Cowork!
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