I called my 50 year old brother today. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer last week and has scheduled surgery. He had me laughing so hard, tears were rolling as he was telling me about the day of his biopsy. Laughter lifts my spirits in whatever form - even a prostate cancer story. Brothers - got to love 'em.
I am always nervous about "running to the store" or "running to the post office" even though both are only blocks from our home. Leaving RD alone is not a good idea. It takes only minutes for his blood pressure to drop upon standing and then fainting is inevitable. However, I took that chance today in order to get a flu shot (free drive-thru flu shot clinic). Our neighbor is a nurse and she's my stand-in when I make these quick runs here and there but she wasn't home this morning. My mom is another back-up but she had company this morning. My sister is a nurse and lives about 5 blocks from my house but she was at church so I was out of options. I made a run for it (a drive across town). Fortunately, the line was short with no wait time at all. I was back home in 15 minutes. RD was fast asleep in his chair, safe and sound. Produces too much anxiety for both of us to make it worth it.
I was anxiously awaiting a scheduled appointment for RD with a new psychiatrist in town. Our local medical center did a media blitz to advertise his areas of expertise. I was excited to see one area of specialty was dementia - diagnosis and treatment. After an hour long appointment mid-week, I learned the following: no known cure, no new treatments other than the medications my husband already takes, life is difficult for everyone living with or caring for someone with dementia, medications to control hallucinations, delusions and paranoia have severe side effects with dementia patients, and I need to take care of myself. Wow! Who knew! Cancel future appointments.
Our roof was totaled in a hail storm some weeks ago. This is the first time I've had to handled something like this on my own. I called our insurance agent, she sent an adjuster, adjuster arrived and evaluated the damage, wrote a check on the spot and explained what I needed to do next. A roofer came by to give me an estimate yesterday. We sealed the deal with a handshake. My insurance company will give a 25% discount on the yearly premiums if I invest in a more expensive 50 year shingle. Wish I had someone to talk this over with right now but I'm going to go it alone and figure I won't screw things up too much.
While talking with the roofer and moving around the house, I didn't get the backyard gate shut tightly enough and the next thing I knew our dog had escaped, probably singing "Born Free". He certainly ran for it. With the help of a neighbor and a sweet boy on a bike, we managed to locate the escape artist in the next block, taunting a fenced dog. Amazingly, I feel quite happy experiencing something that feels normal like looking for my dog. I couldn't be upset with him when that excursion felt so good to me.
Our dining room table looks out into the front yard and street. While eating lunch today, RD told me there was a zebra in the street in front of our house and asked if I could see it too. What to say, what to say.... after a long pause I admitted I could not see the zebra but took his hand and told him I wish I could because it was probably a wonderful animal to see so close up. He smiled and agreed.
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