6 November 2013: Wednesday -- power outage, WIFI reconnect, Dad's diagnosis, Doug consult, Superior Vena Cava (SVC) Syndrome ...

What a morning. Heard a pop outside, a small explosive sound and the power went out and mom's machine began buzzing. I turned it off and started up the supplemental oxygen and then called 911 since I did not have the number handy for DELMARVA Power (I do now) and got tremendous response from two Mill Creek fire department trucks, one driven by Krissy and the other, bigger truck (and he was tall, too), Scott. We went to the backyard and I showed them the power pole that I thought might have been the source for the outage and Scott retrieved the number of the pole (each one has a unique identifier), which Krissy copied down, dutifully.

Mill Creek Fire Company3900 Kirkwood HighwayMarshallton, DE 19808302-998-8911

 

He insisted, once I told him about mom on O2 to provide their oxygen container, which he switched from ours. Later, I called DELMARVA and left a message on their automated call line. The power came on soon thereafter and I received a call from them. No idea what the problem was ... didn't stay on to hear any, if there were any, details. 

Lost our WIFI connection as the blue light was not on and could not find Dutchman on the selection list on the iPhone or the iPad. Went to the Web and searched "Belkin troubleshoot no blue light" and came up with iYogi and an Indian technician, Andrieshik (sic) Jain, who was just terrific. Knowledgeable and upfront about the problem, he took control of my computer screen and in less than an hour had literally cleaned up the problem and had me back with WIFI and Internet connectivity to my iPad and iPhone. There was a charge but he was also upfront about that, too, and even got the amount cleared with a supervisor ... they billed by Amazon/Chase VISA $119.99 for two services and loaded a Malware program that I can run weekly to clear up problems on the computer. Thought the money was well spent. I was glowing in an after-service assessment of the work with an online questionnaire. 

http://www.prweb.com/releases/iYogi/Internet_Security/prweb2960084.htm

Mom moves from the hallway into her room just before getting pain
medication as dad follows her into the room. We were expecting a visit from
the case manager nurse from Delaware Hospice this early, brilliant, summerlike
November day. 

Two important calls from dad's doctors today. The first, from Dr. Maged, concerned mom's INR blood test which came back as 1.9. He said to continue the dosages of Coumadin as previously determined ... switching each day from 2.5 mg. to 5.0 mg. The other call was from Dr. Grubbs who first discussed things with dad and then called back to advise me of the plan regarding the corticosteroid administration. It is not indefinite due to dad's diabetes ... we need to watch his blood sugar and make adjustments accordingly with his insulin amount ... but we will try it for 5 days and see how the swelling from the SVC syndrome is affected. He is to take the drug, which I forget the name to all the time, prednisone (thank you, once again, Google), once a day with some food. He can take it this afternoon, which is quickly dissipating, with a little food and again in the morning with his Cream of Wheat. In the meantime, I HAVE FINALLY LAID OUT ALL OF MOM'S MEDICATIONS FOR THE WEEK and dad won't have to assemble her nighttime meds anymore and that has tragic intonations. He will continue getting his own meds for bedtime. Here is a picture of all the meds that she takes during the day. It is considerable.

Wednesday is empty as this picture was taken on Hump Day but the meds include Vicodin, metoprolol, xanax, lasix, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, One A Day Vitamin (every other day), Coumadin, and Fergon (iron supplement). Administration takes place four times a day -- morning (6 a.m.), noon (pain), mid-afternoon (Coumadin/metoprolol), evening (pain, anxiety, sleeping pills). 

Just finished a note to Susan that I enclosed with the book I'd borrowed many months ago by Rev. Dr. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship. I also enclosed a picture of Dancer in the stream near the park and mansion of Rockwood, not far from the home of
Bob and Alice and Mt. Pleasant High School.

Dad ate well tonight. He finished his Holland rusk with liverwurst and some milk. As a result, he took his first dose of the corticosteroid, prednisone, two tablets of 10 mg. each for a total of 20 mgs. Well, it's been a fascinatingly diverse day starting with the power outage and ending, soon, with a walk. The day has been absolutely gorgeous and so warm, closer to 70 than 60 degrees. May it be so. We may have rain tomorrow but the weekend is suppose to be clear and beautiful.  

5 November 2013: Tuesday,

• 

  7:55am
  

  Joseph O'Hara
  

  
  

  hello Rudy! Just wanted to tell you how wonderful you are for taking care of your parents. That's God's work for sure. Jamie and I were speaking the other day and we agreed you might be the nicest man on earth. you are a good man!

  God Bless You!
• 

  8:01am
  

  Rudy Nyhoff

  You are so incredibly kind Joe, but the superlative might be going a bit too far. I'm a nice guy and what I'm doing is worthwhile but it is also so necessary. I really have no choice but in having no choice, believe it or not, I have been granted great liberty and thus great joy in taking care of my parents.

  I appreciate your reference to god and I use the lower case not in disrespect but to let you know that as a humanist -- an agnostic, atheist, whatever you want to label me -- my belief system is set within human interaction and compassion and love. In no way do I discount or look down upon theistic systems of belief, but I look at life and its meaning from a different perspective. It is my heartfelt belief, though, that in the end, our belief systems come to the same result and that is the care and loving of those who have loved and cared for us.

  Thank you again for you and Jamie are just wonderful people and it is a great honor to call you my friends.

  In loving humankindness, rudy

  After a Day Break ... A Dancer Photo on 11/5/13

  Just-behind-the-ears pet by my neighbor Chris puts Dancer into a relaxed pose. She just loves attention.

  
  

  We got Delaware Hospice at the right time. Dad is having it rough. He is getting more confused and he's coughing more sputum and his demeanor is just less positive. He still asks about mom and just said "nothing serious" after I went down to the bathroom upon mom's call and got her the dress that she'd laid out on the bed and handed to her in the bathroom (carefully covering up any view of my mother's body from the bath ... in the words of Schultz ... "I (saw) nothing."
  
  But now I hear the lawnmowers working and they'll be in and out in 20 minutes.

  
  

  Called Dr. Grubb's office and left a message for his triage nurse, Michele Glick, and she got back to me, not long after I'd spoken to Liz and then to Robert Leroy Jones. She left a message and I phoned her right back and actually spoke to her. She is quite a nice person. The doctor ordered prednisone for dad and phoned in the prescription to Pathmark Pharmacy. I took a short nap and then told dad, who was little taken aback that I hadn't told him earlier but he forgave me and I went on a few errands that included the pharmacy, where the Indian (?) pharmacist, Darya (?), who works with Ed, actually went out into the store aisles and tracked down the iron supplement that I needed, Fergon. So nice of her. I then paid, using my new debit card for the first time, really, and the old/new PIN number that I'd just changed at the Wells Fargo up Limestone Road by banker Christine Pinnock. I also deposited, for the first time, a check into our joint checking account, actually dad's, which was the refund from the car insurance that was sent to us when I was placed on the policy ($322.00).  

  
  

  On a strange, coincidental note, I read the article in the November National Geographic issue, the 125th Anniversary Photo publication, about the cost in human lives and misery of the precious metals taken from the Democratic Republic of the Congo early this morning, before the News Journal arrived (it was a little late this morning). Well, today, one of the most well-known, notorious groups, M-23, has given up. They are responsible for 1000s of abductions and placement of children into warfare and into slave labor mining the soil for elements that run our fancy electronics in the 1st world countries. It is good news but many rebel groups still terrorize the people of that country.
   
  
  

  

  Boys' brigade: soldiers from a Congolese rebel group. It is estimated
  that there are tens of thousands of child soldiers across the world Photo: AP
  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/4360268/Child-soldiers-the-brothers-trained-to-kill-each-other.html

  
  

  Just had a good walk of 2.5 miles that was punctuated by 4 calls to family -- first Nick, at work who'll I'll call later; Lindsay, who is planning to come up after Thanksgiving my plane (will arrange flight this week); Doug, who is planning to drive up the week of Thanksgiving (perhaps Nick could accompany him???); and finally, Susan, who I briefed on the Hospice situation and checked in on her work with the Church -- busy as always but really enjoying the preaching and working with her parishioners, Jan will be getting a treatment tomorrow and is being challenged by the chemo but mom is there and I'm certain a great comfort, Susan calls and she gets texts from her big sister. So good to be batting 1.000 with calls tonight to family. And had a good walk, too. Well, it's time to say goodnight and make sure that dad is comfortable. As Susan remarked, there will be challenges and I will need to be adaptable. Blessed be and so be it. May it be so.