4 December 2013: Wednesday ... the pill (Vicodin) is not "stultifying" ... there is a "pill hierarchy" says Beth Kincaid at 1:50 p.m., when it comes the point where he can't swallow properly ...

Five Things I Am Thankful For This Day ... Wednesday, 4 December 2013:

The use of the word "stultifying" ... to cause (someone or something) to become dull, slow ...

1. Delaware Hospice for all they do. Had a great visit from Beth Kincaid who talked and resolved problems posthaste for my father. Such a gift.
2. Credo phone service ... it appears that the new iPhone 4S will work out as I phoned some friends today and the service was fine.
3. Elaine Crawford, who is a caregiver like me and who always has a gentle, wonderful tone to her voice. Talked to her for the first time in over a month and it seemed like just yesterday. So nice to touch base again.
4. Melody, also from Delaware Hospice, who heads volunteer services for the business of care at the end of life and her promise to see about a sitter for my parents this Friday night when I attend a concert in Wilmington with Linda Lucero.
5. For my father's incredibly generous donation, his final one, to the annual educational fund of the Delaware Academy of Medicine of $500.00. I wrote down his name as a person to honor for the donation. Self-serving? No, he deserves this recognition.
   
   Visit of Beth Kincaid from Delaware Hospice this early afternoon ... many issues were discussed and handled, I felt, positively and quickly. 

• humidifier bottle for the oxygenator (for the irritation he feels in his nose) -- Skeesha from DH brought the bottle and the long nasal cannula (2X) that afternoon. (On Friday, she brought a connector for the hosing and parked in the driveway, front pointing toward Pickwick and was just ready to leave when I arrived from a trip to the bank -- new checks --, Pathmark -- my prescription and some food items -- and Bachetti's -- Am. cheese, liverwurst, and Virginia Baked ham, all 3/4 lb.)
• saline nose spray, help it feel less dry
• longer line for the oxygen, they might have one at the office that can be sent out
• need to get a pill dispenser ... did not have that on her person, said Beth 
• coughed up blood yesterday ... size of a quarter ... Is it happening on a daily basis? (no, not regular)
• timing is everything, if it's happening a lot or increasing in amount ... Is it time to take you off the plavix? We don't want there to be a bleeding problem. (hasn't reached that stage, yet ... plavix is for the boomerang stents in his legs)
• Request for a sitter this Friday evening through Delaware Hospice -- Melody Klein or Ralph Plumley, who are the volunteer coordinators -- Beth has already sent in the message. Ralph started in "bereavement" and is now heading the "volunteer" department. (I got a call within 10 minutes ... Beth pegged it when she said that the call, on our home phone, was from Melody. It was. She had a boyfriend in Limestone Acres and is married now with 6 kids, said Beth.) She told me that she would work on getting a volunteer sitter for this Friday evening. Just an amazing outfit this Delaware Hospice!!!
• How is the pain in your back this minute? He did not complain and has not, although, later, he did ask for 2 Vicodin, which I supplied more than willingly. 
• And he says that he's still handling the steps. (I did mention the falls at the top or bottom steps, 
• Regarding BMs, he says that he can still make the bathroom but that will change and we will be looking at a bedside commode. (Later, he came down the steps in a panic and did not quite make the toilet. It was formed stool but still nasty to clean up. Took the rug to the wash and cleaned up the toilet area with the spray cleaner and paper towels under the sink. There was also some on the light socket from his hand turning them on -- he had been reaching to extract stool with his fingers and I think he cleaned his hands thoroughly). 

Just mailed Dad's last check to the Delaware Academy of Medicine for its annual fund drive in the amount of $500.00. Initially, he said to send $100.00, but upped the amount when I went back up in the TV room at his request. It is, serendipitously, the last check in this set and the insert asked whether the donor wanted to remember or honor a certain person, I had the presumption but no, the privilege, of writing my father's name down: Dr. Rudolph Nyhoff.

It will be his last donation to the organization he treasured.

Delaware Academy of Medicine Beginning in 1968, more than a dozen artists produced original watercolor paintings under the brush surname 'Gray' - beginning at the same time Gray's Watercolors became the working company name. Prior to that time, originals were produced under a half-dozen names/brush names. Any print bearing the signature of Paul McConaughy, Paul Andrews, Peter Sawyer, David Gilbert, Jack Westridge, or Wayne Johnson can be dated between 1965 and 1968. 

What is this fascination I have with the numbers 1, 8, and 6 which form the number 186, my zeta number of my fraternity, Lambda-Beta, of the national Lambda Chi Alpha. Was it the 186th chapter, University of Delaware, of the national? I don't know. But tonight, using one of my favorite apps on my iPhone, Digifit, I went 1.86 miles when I reached 4546 Pickwick Drive at the time of 8:16 p.m. Coincidence? Certainly, but if I believed in the supernatural, what would be going on?

Well, the Flyers just scored on the power play against the Detroit Red Wings to tie the score in the first period and I go to watch on the wide, HD screen of my mother and say goodnight to my beloved father. It has been one day to remember. Glad to have been able to document at least some of it.