“
A Most Scattered Saturday “
08/11/12
To my very, very dearest friends, and, as always, to
my ever constant, and loyal readers,
I must fully confess to you—my most dear friends—that
today ( and…to a large extent, yesterday too! ) has proven to be far and away,
a most unusual pre-weekend, and weekend for me.
And, I hardly know quite where to begin.
One of my dearest, local friends—Joan—is again in
rehab, following two hospital stays for a urinary tract infection that was for
so long undiagnosed, that it became septic, and—among other, horrible effects,
was that it caused her blood sugar to skyrocket (in spite of having been given
multiple injections of insulin), her blood pressure to drop dangerously low,
and—in process—cause her to become so confused, that—at one point—she thought
that she was back home in New Jersey; even the timbre and tone of her voice was
altered.
It was hell for her, I know. And disturbed me very greatly. But, her health was somehow stabilized—sufficiently—to
have her transferred to a rehab facility, to try to regain her ability to walk.
This is now her second admission to rehab; each
time, the infection has returned, and—besides her complains of pain and
discomfort—I can tell it in her voice, and in her subsequent confused state.
I often telephoned both the hospital, and the rehab,
nursing home, for continuing information from the nurses there.
When I spoke with Joan, last evening, she was—again—very
confused, and disoriented. When I spoke
of it with her nurse, I was told that much lab work had been ordered, as well
as a third U/A (urine specimen) for C & S ( culture and sensitivity ),
which should, in a few days, reveal whether or not the infection has returned.
It is for times like these that I most resent not
being able to drive, or have a car. I
must rely on the telephone to get any kind of update at all, and—frankly—feel quite
helpless; besides…I feel as if I somehow should be there. But, once again, illness, pain, and
agoraphobia, added to the very real chance I might pick up some bug, there (as
my Plaquenil lowers the immune system), has, regrettably, rendered me less than
useful.
About all I have managed to do, is to pay her bills
(with her checkbook), and to try to run interference between my dear friend,
and—frankly—her less than stellar nephew and niece, who I pretty much know have
been going through her affairs, to see what she’s worth.
I have met them several times, and I was
unimpressed, as both of them have demonstrated themselves to be, well...rotters.
And, I am pledged to Joan as her friend to thwart them at every avenue.
And, in that regard, my very dearest friends, I can
be a bitch-on-wheels, should I need to be.
Then, in the past few weeks, my dear dog ‘Daisy’ has
given apparent evidence of the beginnings of a slow decline; after all, when
she adopted my late mother and me, the vet then said that she might already be
1.5 to 2.5 years old, and this November 17th ( her arbitrary
birthday!), she’ll be thirteen.
If you happen to go to my profile page, I have there
posted two photographs of Daisy, taken about three or four years ago. Suffice to say that she no longer resembles
the full-coated, somewhat aloof dog at the time, but, since she has been
trimmed, looks more like a large ‘Jack Russell’ terrier, but more skinny.
In addition, she is now blind in her right eye, and
has the beginnings of cataracts in the left.
About which, there’s nothing that I can do, as the operation to remove
her cataracts costs roughly $3,500.00 (which
I don’t have), and, even if I could, at her age she might not survive the procedure
(which I don’t want!!!!!).
So I made an appointment for Daisy to be seen by a
Dr. Weston, who has a mobile vet practice, and can come out to the house.
Fortunately, Dr. Weston was pleased by what she saw,
but added that she believes Daisy to have an enlarged heart, a possible leaking
mitral valve (all associated with age), and arthritis, in addition to a severe
allergy to fleas, and to so many, other things.
Now, my dear companion is on about six medicines,
which I have to crush, add water to, and give by syringe (without the needle),
as should I attempt to try to put the pills down her throat, she fights like
seven demons, or sprays me with liquid medication, or…most usually, just ‘pa-too’s’
it out on the rug.
With the Dr.’s visit, AND the medications, the bill
came to $302.00, which I—perforce—had to throw on the old credit card; but I
love Daisy so much…she’s been my little pal, and my buddy. Usually, when I eat, she eats; when I go to
bed, she saunters in after a while to curl-up on the rug beside my bed.
I really do think that happy dogs can smile, and
Daisy’s smile makes my heart happy!
And then, there was last night, and a chopped-up
attempt to sleep; maybe I just have too much on too little a mind, but I made
the bed a combat zone, kicking-off pillows, throwing aside sheets and blankets
(as I cannot seem to cool down, or to get very comfortable).
Necessarily, my dreams were a pastiche of colors,
sounds, movements distorted and painful.
Nightmare followed nightmare, as does the moon, the
sun.
However, once in a while, a kinder God will visit
upon me some pleasanter dream; and in the one just before I awoke, were choirs,
dancing in exotic, many-colored robes, all having a wonderful time of it. Until—in my dream—I found myself
singing-along with them!
And what might this happy lot be singing? I know, because I remember most of my
dreams. It was to the late Bob Marley’s,
“One Love”.
And for those of you unfamiliar with the song, I
will try to copy the You Tube link for you.
I hope that this link will transfer from Microsoft
Word, to MDJunction, as it is an engaging tune, in this case, recorded on
multiple tracks, with performers and singers around the globe in perfect synchronization.
In other news…several days ago, one of my good
friends (who lives in Tampa, Fla.), and who is a rabid Democrat, asked me to
compose a poem, regarding the upcoming Republican Convention to be held in
Tampa, sometime soon.
And while I am quite a-political in my notions, and—further—have
most strenuously avoided any reference to politics, or specific religion, lest
I cause arguments (I figure everybody either has, or will develop their own
feelings on these subjects), I only mention it here, because it was difficult
to write, but I did finish it, and had it put out in the mailbox—today—in hopes
for a Monday delivery.
The rest of the day has been given over to pain, and
penitence, pestilence and poverty. I had
hoped—maybe—to order-out for some Chinese food, late this afternoon, but the
place I have ordered from many times, before, no longer delivers. Shit.
So, now, looks like it’ll be another damn Saturday
night, having to suffer-through my own abysmal cooking abilities. Sigh.
Sheesh, sometimes (well, actually MANY times), my dearest friends, that
being severely agoraphobic AND not having a car proves to be a royal pain in
the ass.
And…if you will kindly excuse the dreadful pun, I
rather had a ‘yen’ for some Chinese food, c’est soir.
However, my question to you, my dearest friends, and
most kind readers is this:
How do YOU spend your weekends, especially THIS
weekend? Are you going to go out, maybe
grab a bite of supper? See friends? Go to see a movie? Or do you plan to just relax, stay home, and
take it easy? Do you have a regular
weekend routine? Or will you just ‘wing
it’, maybe staying inside, in the relative cool, watching TeeVee with family,
or, by yourself?
I would very much appreciate it if you might
respond, in the ‘comment section’, below. Maybe it’ll give me a few alternate
ideas, on how to spend a weekend!
But
regardless, my most wonderful friends, please, please always know that I love
you dearly!
‘Zahc’/Charles
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