Columbus OH

Adrienne has chided me for going so long without posting. So even though I normally don't post from Columbus, I will fill in the intervening days for her.

Admittedly, for the most part, those days have not been pretty, and it is hard to develop much enthusiasm for reviewing them. Wednesday (April 9th) started off free of crisis. Paul was out of the house doing God knows what with the friend who had been staying in the basement. Bobbi went off to DRC's central office, so in her absence, Lew surfed. The meter lady came by to check the gas meter -- ho-hum. Bobbi returned and set out lunch and Lew cleaned up afterwards -- just as we always had, even while we were in Florida.

But then it hit big time. Lew went down to a basement room we had not seen since Christmas -- and found that Paul and/or the friend had stored some illegal materials there. When Lew showed them to Bobbi, she too was upset and angry, and immediately tried to contact Paul on his cell phone -- no answer.

A couple of hours later, Paul returned with the friend. Bobbi and Lew confronted them at the door and ordered them to get rid of the stuff -- which they immediately complied with. However, Paul was surly and angry, treated us as if the incident was our fault, and avoided us more than ever.

That evening after Bobbi made her usual phone call to her mother (Audrey), she observed that her mother had sounded weak and confused on the phone -- a symptom which she attributed to the new chemo mother had started the preceding week. She phoned her brother (who lives in Jackson just two blocks from mother) and asked him to check on mother. Mother already had an appointment scheduled with her oncologist the morning of Friday (the 11th), so everyone including Bobbi's younger sister decided mother should keep that appointment and the various new symptoms be addressed at that point.

Friday morning Bobbi drove to the oncologist to rendevouz with her mother. She returned about lunchtime to explain that the oncologist had decided to admit mother to the nearby upscale hospital. Paul also stopped by about this time, and Bobbi attempted to get him to go see a therapist, but he angrily dismissed the idea. So Bobbi returned to help her mother with the hospital admission. She did not get back to the house until after 9 PM.

Saturday (the 12th) Bobbi went to the hospital early, joining her sister and brother. An MRI was done and showed metastases (from her 10 year old breast cancer) in her brain -- the cerebellum to be specific. The metastases had squeezed off the flow of cerebro-spinal fluid, causing pressure to build up inside her brain and compromising its functions. The on-call oncologist ordered immediate large doses of steroids (which decreases the inflammation and shrinks the brain) and started arrangements for radiation (also to shrink the metastases).

The next day (13th) mother already was showing improvement. It has continued slowly but steadily since. Then Paul really suprised us by volunteering to be grandma's 24/7 private duty nurse (he had the time because he was out of school this quarter). The hospital provided him with a bed and he stayed in grandma's room, fetching and carrying and helping her with anything she desired. And he has continued to do a super job of it right through today. He said he enjoyed this work, so Bobbi and I encouraged him to turn his schooling towards some form of nursing.

Monday (the 14th) the hospital started radiation and continued through the week. By Friday (the 18th) they had finished enough and grandma had improved enough so that she was transferred to a nursing home on Saturday (the 19th). Paul continued to attend her faithfully in the nursing home, the same as in the hospital. The three children also continued to take rotating shifts, so that during the day grandma usually had two people with her.

The next week (21-26 April) she was transported daily to the hospital for more radiation treatments -- a procedure which went smoothly. Not so the nursing home. As grandma continued to improve, she became much more aware of her environment, and more demanding. Of course the food was institutional (= terrible), delivered late, and delivered cold. Fortunately, grandma had Paul to run interference for her and demand better service. The home also was understaffed, so that grandma soiled herself on more than one occasion before the summoned staff arrived. Definately not a five-star facility.

Finally tonight (the 27th) Paul phoned to explain to Lew that grandma was showing bilateral dependent edema. Obviously, the push to hydrate her had succeeded all too well. Paul had raised her feet on a chair, but I explained to him that the feet had to be higher than her heart, so he went to get her put to bed.

While all this was going on, grandma's children and I all had commitments to cope with. Rotating shifts, Bobbi managed to go to her prison hospital each Sunday and Monday, Pete to his newspaper most days, and Rhonda kept her insurance business under control with the limited time available. The dogsitting duties defaulted to Lew, who also had a couple of Deaf clinics to conduct in Columbus and Dayton. Of course, Bobbi and Lew always made 4 PM mass on Saturday.

So the crisis management that always seems to dog our stays in Columbus continues on. Surely it cannot be good for us, psychologically or physically. So as usual we look forward hopefully to the next time was can get on the road again.

Columbus OH

Ugh! A month down the tubes. A month of management by crisis -- all the reasons Lew despises Columbus. Our "work week" always started off at a high point, with the signed mass. The next two days Lew vegetated and caught up on email while Bobbi worked at the prison hospital (while we were gone, DRC had cancelled her contract effective 1 April, but she is continuing to work without pay.) In between, Lew saw (Deaf) patients two days in Columbus, and two days in Dayton and Piqua. The other days were devoted to medical appointments, one a day. And Robert and Paul brought us their series of crises. Out of town? Not a chance.

And after the blizzard, it rained. And it rained. Every few days, a cold front would waft over the area, preceded by two days of more or less intense rain, followed by one day of clearing. Spring? Only in the last two days has the sun shone, the ground dried out on the surface, and the temperatures warmed up enough for Lew and the dogs to be outside with the Airstream door open so Smokey could sit in it.

Not that all was gloom and doom, with no postitives. Smokey continued to heal from his surgery; he and Lew took two one-mile walks every day. He gets feistier and feistier, so we know he is feeling good -- and we are so grateful.

Audrey and Bobbi are a different situation medically. Audrey had to go back on a rather aggressive form of chemo, which really compromised her mobility and independence. And finally she got nauseated and began to puke. Fortunately, her oncologist was prepared and placed her on a very effective medication that had her feeling better within hours.

Bobbi continued to have difficulty with her right shoulder, whip-lashed in our collision last October. Before we went to Florida, a very skilled AT had worked patiently with her and obtained significant improvement. But while we were gone, the orthopedic group forced them out of business -- and our magician-therapist had her baby prematurely. So we came back having to start over. But last week, the first PT we were able to get in to overstressed both of us, exacerbating both our symptoms and setting us back at least 3 months. So come the 22nd we have appointments with a new provider. We shall wait and see how that goes.

So Lew now spends his time trying to get a few days in a row free so we can go out of town -- but it is an uphill battle.