Menu

My aide Tammy, a warm-hearted native of Alaska, has offered to help me make out weekly menus, to give me more control over what I eat.  The aides ask me what I want to eat for meals now, but a menu might smooth the process.  It could also help guide my grocery shopping.

So, we'll see how it goes.  At the nursing home, I chose my menu from choices it offered, but here I'll be in control of the menu and the food.

Power Chair

Everything seems to be on track for me to get the power chair within a few weeks.  That will give me more options to get out on my own.  There's a shopping complex just across the street I could visit.  I'm not sure if there's a movie theater in there or not, but if there is, I could go there.  The Monon Trail, a popular walking and jogging trail in the city, is around here somewhere, too.   Then there are basketball games and lectures and museums.

I'll have to get the hang of driving it first, of course, but I've driven them before.  I also have to get a feel for the battery.  I don't want to be out somewhere and run out of juice.

May Be Gettng Back To Normal

Yesterday I went one five hour stretch without urinating, and another nearly six hour stretch.  I tried to go while my afternoon aide was here, but failed, so I went from about noon to six without going.  Both stretches were painful towards the ends as I waited for the aides to get here, but other than that, there seems to have been no problem.  I regularly go four hours at night now without having to get up.  I think much of the pain is from muscles down there tightening up and screaming; it's not as bad at night when I'm sleeping and more relaxed.

Before I had the bladder cancer, I'd trained myself over the years to pee only twice a day, usually.  It was easier on Mom, who usually took me to the bathroon.  The cancer took that control away from me, making me admit that was one more thing I couldn't do for myself or those I love, and I hated it for doing that to me.  Now, the interval may be lengthening again.  If the pain goes away, too, maybe the bathroom will soon cease to be a focus in my life.

Guided By Computer App

My fearless team leader Janeeka took me to the dentist yesterday, and she navigated there by using an app on her handheld thingy.  I don't know which app it was, or what make the thingy was.  Anyway, it was amazing to hear instructions coming from the app and seeing how they matched up perfectly with reality.

That's the first step in a computer driven car.  The next step is a driverless car, and those are currently being tested in California.  For me and people like me, such cars would be a huge step towards greater personal independence.

Dental Appointment

I went to the dentist today and got a good report-- no cavities.  The hygienist said my aides are doing a good job brushing my teeth.

I might change dentists.  This one is in Noblesville because I used to live there.  I live in Indianapolis now, however, so driving to Noblesville to see a dentist doesn't necessarily make much sense.  I'm sure Indy has dentists out the wazoo.  We'll see.

Daisy

The family of my brother Jon has included Jon, his wife Angela, teenage daughter Renee, baby daughter Callie. and two dogs-- a Rottweiler named Gracie, and Daisy.

Jon and Angela rescued Daisy when they lived in Florida.  Someone had chained one of her hind legs to a tree in the forest and left her there.  She had a slight limp the rest of her life.  A yellow Lab/terrier mix, Daisy was a beautiful, sweet, paitent dog.  She had wonderful brown eyes.

Daisy was getting old, though-- Renee had grown up with her.  Recently, she had been ill, stopped eating, and in obvious pain.  The day before Thanksgiving Angela and Renee took Daisy to the vet and had her put down rather than let her suffer.  Her gentle presence will be missed by those who loved her.

Mom

Mom is in the hospital again, this time with an infection.  My brother Jon tells me she'll be okay, but she'll be in there a few days.  Mom has a weakened immune system, so it's not hard for her to get infections-- in fact,  I'm surprised and grateful that she hasn't gotten more-- but I'm so sad this has happened.

I still plan to go to Jon's for Thanksgiving tomorrow as he didn't say otherwise, but it won't be the same without Mom.

Desma Returning

I got the happy news today that Desma has been hired by Tendercare and will be working with me again.  She'll be with me when I go to Jon's house Thanksgiving Day, and I hope on a very regular basis after that.

Desma and I quickly developed a good relationship last month when I first moved here, and I'm hoping we can pick up right where we left off.

Fiddling With My Feet

Some aides, both now and at the nursing home, seem especially concerned about the positions of my legs and feet.  They'll move my legs around, trying to get them placed just so.  Sometimes, when I'm trying to use my legs to push myself up in a chair or on the toilet, they'll pull my feet out from under me.  I try to stop them, but it happens so fast that doesn't work.

I don't doubt they're trying to do the right thing, but if they looked at what I'm trying to do before grabbing my legs things might work better.

Thanksgiving

I'll probably be spending Thanksgiving at my brother Jon's house, eating turkey and dumplings and watching football.  I'll ge there by taxi, accompanied by an aide, hopefully Desma.

I've never done anything like this before.  It should be interesting.

Getting Warmed Up

For the past year or so, I've been having a hard time manipulating the mouse when I first get on the computer.  As I work at it I get better, but the initial several minutes are frustrating.

I'm not sure what the problem is.  It may be related to the CP, but older golfers talk about getting the "yips" when hitting short putts becomes a real challenge.  Maybe, at my age, my nerves aren't what they once were-- and they were never that good.  The more I work, though, the better I get, so maybe I just need to get warmed up.

Surprising My Aides

When I have aides who are new to me, they are generally surprised by how much I eat.  I'm not a big guy, so maybe that fools them, but I've always eaten well.  I imagine my appetite is connected to my cerebral palsy.  The CP makes me work harder than most people to do even simple things, work requires energy, and energy requires food.  I assume these aides are used to dealing with people far less active than I am, who therefore eat less.

New aides also tend to ask me if I'm tired-- which itself is tiresome.  They seem to want to put me to bed about seven in the evening.  Again, I don't know who these people usually work for, but I'm awake every night well past midnight.  I read in bed, and the reading does not involve comic books.  Maybe I look tired all the time, who knows, but in fact I have things to see, work to do, and a life to live.

New Urination Concerns

While I was undergoing bladder cancer treatments, I had to urinate extremely often, which drove me nuts.  Now, the other extreme is starting to be a problem.  I can go three, sometimes four hours now without needing the restroom, which is great.  The problem comes, however, when I can't go while an aide is here to help me into the bathroom.

Today, for example, I went when Jordan got here, a little after 10:30 this morning, but I couldn't pee again before she left, which is what I normally do.  So, I had to wait until Candace got here at 2.  That time span is not terrible, but I went to the bathroon as soon as she arrived, and I had to sit in there for over a half hour working through the discomfort and getting relaxed enough that I could go.  That was some after 2:30, and now I have to wait until Latisha gets here,  Tonight, that's around 6:30.  Candace did ask me if I needed to go again before she left at 4, but I declined.  That was a mistake.  It's nearly 5:30 as I write this, and the pain is starting to build.

President Lyndon Johnson had a favorite bit of advice he gave new political candidates.  He told them to go to the bathroom at every opportunity because, in political campaigns, you never knew when you'd get another chance,  I'll have to follow Mr. Johnson's advice for a while.

Good Sleep

I'm sleeping much better here than I did at the nursing home.  My new bed is much more comfortable than the one there.  It's also quiet here, which wasn't always the case there.  It's dark here; staff there often left lights on.  My urination is getting better.  I don't have to go as often through the night now, and when I do need to go I don't have to wait ten or twenty minutes for an aide to come.

Finally, there, I never knew when somebody might come into my room.  Sometimes it was to make sure I had fresh icewater, which I never drank.  Sometimes, it was to check my blood pressure.  Sometimes, it was to get my wheelchair and take it to have it cleaned-- which meant they'd also bring it back.  And sometimes, aides would just wander in and wander back out.  None of that here.

One Year Ago

One year ago this weekend, I entered the nursing home.  It was a tumultuous time for my family.  Mom was in the hospital, very sick.  Before it was over, she nearly died, had her gall bladder removed, had triple bypass heart surgery, and spent nearly three months in a rehabilitation center.  I was still undergoing cancer treatments at the time, too; I started a new round of treatment that next week.  All of that, plus other stuff, put our family under great pressure.

Today, I have my own apartment, and Mom is back living with my brother Jon and his family, where we both lived before the whole thing came apart.   I don't know how many times over the years previous I'd told Mom she needed to go to the doctor, but she wouldn't do it.  Finally, it took Jon's wife Angela simply taking Mom to the hospital to get the care she needed.  Angela saved Mom's life.

Election Results

So, the elections are behind us.  Mr. Obama won another term in the White House-- more easily than many experts expected.  The Democrats maintained control of the U. S. Senate while the Republicans kept the U. S. House.  Paul Ryan split a doubleheader, losing the vice presidency but retaining his House seat and, presumably, his budget committee chairmanship.

In short, after all the hub bub, the fundamentals of the situation facing America and who will have to deal with them haven't changed much.  Both parties, but especially the Republicans, had hoped for more of a mandate from the voters.  Reforming entitlements, getting the budget under control, and reducing the national debt will have to be done by people who've shown no aptitude for any of that so far.  We'll have to see whether the bunch just elected will put the nation before party and political career.

That's what patriots do.

Fried Eggs

Last night, I decided to have fried eggs for supper.  At the nursing home, it was always scrambled eggs, omelets, or egg salad.  Anyway, my aide told me she didn't know how to make fried eggs, which surprised me.

She then asked me how to fry eggs, which surprised me again.  But, I told her what I assumed about it, and between us, we got it done.  I figured it would be fairly tough to mess up an egg.  I don't know if we did it correctly or not, but my two eggs tasted just fine.

Bureaucratic Logic

Today is Election Day-- yes, I voted-- so let's look at what seems to be a bit of squirelly bureaucratic logic.

When I was at the nursing home, only nurses could give me my medications-- CNAs like Yodit were not allowed to do it.  Now, working for Insights, Yodit can and does give me my meds-- perfectly competently-- but the PAs who work for Tendercare are prohibited from doing so.  Maybe it's a matter of insurance policies and insurance rates and who pays what, but it's probably deeper than that.  Bureaucracies, whether government or private, try to protect themselves in various ways.  One way is to limit the scope of action of its employees tightly enough to rule out as many mistakes as possible.  That approach denies human initiative, wastes human abilities, and builds a process that is unnecesarily complex-- but it does all that in the name of safety.

The problem is, it's not necessarily the safety of the individual being served that's at issue.  Rather, maybe too often, it's the safety of the bureaucrats involved and the politicians who set up the process.  Even that kind of safety would be fine if it didn't put undue burden on people who have to make the process work.  Unfortunately, those people regularly pay a price for the safety of others.

Working Out The Kinks

This weekend we had a couple glitches with aides who were new to me.  It reminded me of my time at the nursing home.  A couple days each week I had what I thought of as the B-Team-- aides who weren't quite as good with me as my regular aides.

Anyway, Tendercare has been great about addressing my concerns, so I'm feeling good about the future with them.

Peapod Problem

I spent well over an hour building a list of products to buy on Peapod to meet the $60 minimum purchase requirement.  It's amazing how much stuff you can get for that amount of money.

Anyway, I got into the check out part of the process and discovered I need either a credit or a debit card to use Peapod.  I have neither.  So, for the moment, I'm stymied on Peapod much as I am on eBay.

PayPal and Peapod

I'm trying to get PayPal and Peapod set up so I can pay my own bills and do my own grocery shopping.  It's probably taking longer than it needs to, but I'm new at this.  The effort should be worth it.  Once everything is set up, I'll pretty much be in control of my finances-- such as they are-- and my diet.

I'll also be able to buy books online, of course, and get back to playing an online baseball game I love.  I'm not good at it, but I enjoy it.  The game's database has the stats of virtually every player in the majors from 1884 to the latest complete season, and you draft a 25 man roster, set the lineup, batting order, starting pitcher rotation, etc., and the computer plays a simulated game based upon the stats of the players in each game of a 162-game regular season.  Playing a season takes two months.  Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting back to that.