Wednesday, June 29, 2011

"O I have passed a miserable night." (WS)

.....It''s been awhile since I have written a post to this blog, and I hold myself accountable   for this omission.  I know I have a few loyal readers who like to tune in upon occasion and I would not like to lose them.  The fact is that I am injured and have not been inclined to writing.  In order to cure one of my problems I have been submitted to hyerbarack oxygen treatments every day.  Hopefully it will be successful.  The other day I had a weird dream which resulted in a fall.  I dreamed that I was in the clubhouse ballroom and Iwas locked in and all the lights were turned out.  It was pitch black and no knocking the door was successful.  Still dreaming, for some odd reason, I decided to go to the bathroom, so I picked up my walker and promptly fell because the walker collapsed.  It wasn't a real walker you see! Then the action took place in another part of a room, and I was crawling on the floor to find a way to get home.

.....This was a dream, but in reality I was crawling on my bedroom floor trying to get to my walker.  I was completely unsuccessful.  I spent the night sleeping on the floor and when I woke, there were blood stains all over the carpet.  I was wary that Rhoda--when she returned from New York would turn the lights out when she saw this!  My aide said  we have to call 911, and so we did.  When the rescue guys came they promptly brought me to the hospital where they dressed the wounds I had on my knees and took tests to see if there was any problem as a result of my fall.  I came home the same day.  I was mortified by this dream.  It isn't often that I "walk" in a dream.  While I did sleep on the carpet all night, failing to get to the bathroom, I could have used a pillow and a blanket, but the dream provided no such thing.  In the real world I could have had what I was dreaming about.  Oh hes, my aide cleaned up the bloodstains with peroxide.  Amazing.


Friday, June 17, 2011

"Weary sev'nights, nine times nine shall he dwindle, peak, and pine" (Macbeth)

.....It's been really speedy here.  Before I knew it, I had an aide to drive me each day to the cyperbaric oxygen treatment so that Rhoda might have the time to do the things she had to do.  The first time I met the "aide" I knew she was the one I wanted to handle all my needs; and I have a slew of them.  She's a pretty tall black gal with a gracious personality.  She knows what I need, before I even know what it is.  She's the one who will be staying overnight here while Rhoda is in NY.  Rhoda has been very insistent about having her stay all day with me so that I would not be alone.  She said it would make her feel better, so what could I do?  Well, the truth is that I really need an aide.  I am mostly dependent upon my scooter.  Walking with the walker is really painful.  I have two things which are a problem for me; the sore on the bottom of my left leg, and the pain emanating from my surgery.  There's nothing much more I can say except to apologize for Rhoda if she "lashed out at you".  She was a lady at the end of her rope, not knowing what to do about her husband's ailments, and hopeful that the Baron's children might offer to help.  But of course, they had no way of knowing the true  situation here.  

....Bonny and Sean are coming here on Father's Day.  She has offered to help by doing some cooking.  I guess she has learned how to cook.  I don't think her sister has gotten to that stage as yet.  Joel's anniversary is on June 17.  He's been married a long, long, time so I guess that marriage is one made in heaven.  The anniversary of my marriage to Rhoda occurs on Fathers' Day.  You do the arithmetic; our marriage is surely made in heaven.  The Baron could never ask for a better Baroness.  When she had to drive me me to the hyperbaric treatments she was driven to her wit's end having also her own doctors' appointments.  My doctors had better know what they are doing.  As for me, I know there are several lapses in publishing some blogs; at this time it cannot be helped, so please bear with me.


Sunday, June 5, 2011

"The patient dies while the physician sleeps" (Shakespeare)

.....I'm feeling a bit better today & in a better mood; we had visitors.  My sister, Betty, my brother-in-law, Mickey, and my nephew, "Z" (for Zaldor nee Jeffrey).  Z was of great help in clearing out all my record albums...and there were a lot of them.  He will probably try to sell them at a record store.  His work was part of a general overhaul of our apartment.  Although the music was once a great part of my life, it's been a very long time since I played them--since we played them, so why clutter up the house?  Z also hung a picture over our bed which I had knocked down in my sleep.  Of course it fell on Rhoda and me, but it did no damage--although it is large, it is very light.  My sister also brought me a couple of black and white cookies which I shall devour tonight before I go to bed. Tomorrow, I again go through the oxygen treatment.  I still don't know if it will do any good.
..... The wound care nurse came today in order to dress my wounds (I've three of them).  However, before she did that chore, she had me lie down in bed so that she could check out my groin in order to see why there was pain there.  However, unexpectedly, she pulled down my shorts and my underwear and got a first row orchestra seat of all that I hold dear.  This action made me speechless, a rare condition for the Baron.  After feeling around my groin, and elsewhere, she found nothing to indicate why I have pain there.  Finally, she bandaged my wounds and when she left, I took my walker and Rhoda and I went out to Applebees for dinner.  Tomorrow afternoon, we are making an appointment to see our primary care doctor.  Perhaps he'll be able to find the source of the pain I am having.

.....On the 24th of this month Rho is going up to New York to see Ilana graduating from high school.  I had bought two tickets awhile ago, but I will not be able to join her.  Right now Rhoda is down to a frazzle, what with her having to take care of me and my needs, and the rest of her life that is free.  Right now she has no life of her own.  While she is in New York, she wants to have someone stay with me.  I also have an alarm button which I wear around my neck in case I fall or something while she's away.  And if I press the button, the medics will show up.  All of these things are costly, and since I'm your dad, and I am in need, and since you cannot come to help, some financial assistance will be welcomed.  

Saturday, June 4, 2011

"Into each life some rain must fall" (Longfellow)

.....Well, I'll tell y'all the truth.  Yesterday was the third time I was subjected to the "Hyperbaric Oxygen" procedure.  I have a wound on my ankle that has not healed, and this treatment is supposed to help it to heal much quicker.  What happens is that you are placed in a large tube on your back, and the tube is then filled with oxygen.  You are left there for an hour and a half--which is a pretty long time.   There is a television set outside of the tube, and the sound is piped in somehow.  I don't usually watch TV in the afternoon--the treatment occurs at 11:30am--but I told them to put it on ESPN on the chance that there is something of interest to watch.  Anyway, I fell asleep for the entire time.  It's nice and peaceful inside that tube with no one to bother you, and you can do whatever you want.  You must go every day for as long as the wound doctor decides.

.....The other problem is that I can't walk at all.  Whenever I get into a chair or out of one, or get into a car or out of it, I have a fierce pain in the groin, and it's not pleasant.  I don't use a walker because I can't put full pressure on the leg where the hip operation took place.  The doctor says that it is all healed, but I still have the pain in my groin.  I have pain now,  24/7, and the pain medication doesn't seem to help.  The problem with my lack of mobility puts a great deal of pressure on Rhoda which I am not happy about.  She has to drive me whenever we have a doctor's appointment and also drives me to the Hyperbaric treatments.  Also, since it's hard for me to get to everything I need in the house, she is the one who has to get it, whether or not it's an item of clothing, or of food.  I don't know how much longer I will need to suffer from these problems, and I don't know why it's happening to me in my golden years which at the moment are mostly brass.