Mom and March

 Hi All,

Mom and Dad's anniversary was March 9th.

Weird around here without Mom. I think it was Buffy who said to me about Dad, "Sometimes don't you just miss them so bad you can't stand it?!" and yes, that is very true. Comes up out of the blue. Mom hadn't been feeling well for a few days prior, but it had happened before and she always bounced back, so even though she had been on hospice for a long time, it still felt like a surprise. That must sounds nuts! I was home for lunch that day, and it seemed like she was picking up speed, even ate a better lunch than she had in previous days, but later that afternoon she was gone. Her bath aide showed up just after she had passed, she was surprised too. She confirmed it for Joe that she had passed. The nurse was in the area and she came right over too, and it was so nice that they were here to take care of everything. Mom loved the visits from Ashley, her bath aide. Even the kitties were forlorn. She had made all her arrangements beforehand, and told me if I didn't honor her wishes she would haunt me. LOL  She would not like these pictures either! 

No more worry about Mom, but Joe's lung cancer diagnosis is no fun either. Joe seems to be doing well with his chemo. All I can get out of him is that he is maybe feeling a little tired. He seems to be tolerating it really well. He had chemo yesterday, a PET scan next week, and then another chemo scheduled for the end of the month. I hope the chemo is working. We will find out after the PET scan. He is still smoking, but has cut down considerably . . . he has oxygen in his room now, so no smoking in the house. I can't yell at him all the time, but sometimes when I hear him coughing, I'm piping up with all these helpful tips. OMG I'm so annoying. At least I acknowledge it. His treatments are in New Lenox and John and I have been taking turns, since Joe doesn't drive out of town. He had chemo yesterday and I was thankful to get home before all that weather started.  Joe will celebrate his 65th at the end of this month. Not caring for mom is letting Joe get a lot more rest. If mom needed something at night Joe waited on her since I had to go to work. I feel like the first month after we both were just getting caught up on sleep. 

Morris was sure lucky with the weather! I feel so bad for the Kankakee people cleaning up in that wintry mix this morning! It was nice not to worry about Mom too, there was no way we could have gotten her into the basement, plus she had told us she wouldn't go anyway. Stubborn she was! 

Thank you for all the prayers and cards for Mom. Much appreciated and helpful. 

Just in case you didn't know, I love my job and my boss is up for election for Regional Superintendent of Schools. The primary is March 17th and I would ask that you please pull a Republican ballot and put your X by Meghan Martin's name. She is doing a wonderful job as regional superintendent. She is the best qualified for the job, and is already doing a fine job at the position. I would love to stay at my job until I retire, but we need to get Meghan through this primary. There is no opponent to face in November. I could not work for her opponent for a multitude of reasons, ugh. She annoys the hell out of me.

John and his cats are doing well! He is busy with work, keeping up with his exercises for his leg. I can sneak over there more often now, I was always worried about mom and didn't stay long. 

Joe, John and I are doing well. It has been a long winter and I look forward to getting outside and doing some gardening. This little taste of spring we had was lovely, but this return to winter! Ugh. 

Best to all!

Kay ☘

I'm Back

I don't know why I stopped writing. I don't know what happened in the last year. It flew by. Nobody told me that when I got old even winter would fly by. 

John is busy and happy at work, and keeping up with his exercises and is getting around well after his horrendous femur break. Icy, slick weather is still frightful. His kitties are good. I haven't been going over as much because Mom needs a little more attention now, and it is hard for Joe on  his own. I still squeeze in an overnight here and there. His beautiful kitties are doing well. He had a mouse issue. In defense of his felines, the mice were in the attic, and the kitties can't get up there. Issue seems to be resolved now. 

Mom is holding steady. Mom and Dad's anniversary was March 9th. Occasionally after a night of bad sleep or two she gets a little cantankerous, but who doesn't really? Her appetite is good and to my delight and amusement she almost always has a feline companion in bed with her. She has Misty trained to lie where Mom wants her. When Misty is with me she likes to be on my neck or head. And only when I am lying on my back with my laptop propped up on a pillow playing my favorite word game. Misty eats to live. Gigi lives to eat and will  not leave me alone in the kitchen. Both cats are a source of great amusement and are doing well. They are enjoying having the windows open here and there. 

Joe will be 64 later this month! I don't know how he got so old. He does very well helping with mom and has a cataract operation to schedule. He likes going out for breakfast and/or lunch. 

My job is good. I got a new boss. I will surely miss the old one, though the new one promises to be wonderful as well. My coworkers are a real treat, caring and goofy, just really good people, and I'm very lucky. There is a new county building going up soon (allegedly) and we were told our office would be moving into it, then we were told we were not, and now we are. I'll believe it if/when my desk gets moved. My biggest fear about the new building is a thermostat that works. My coworkers seems to run freakishly cold, so they are not perfect . . . lol. 

As for more recent events, I ended up at the ER with an ankle injury. I was going over to my friend's house in Braidwood. I was carrying a 6-pack of beer and my baked beans and my purse. She has stairs and a ramp and I always take the stairs. Always. For some reason I took one step up the ramp and heard and felt something SNAP in my ankle, along the outside in the back. Ouch. I decided to head home while I could still walk. No beans, no beer, no laughs, no fun, no games. It was so painful I went to ER, I could barely move. Nothing broken, ortho I saw later thought maybe I pulled a little piece of bone off or something. I had been kind of limping around, my knee had been sore on that leg for a couple weeks and nothing like favoring a body part to mess up another one. Anyway it continues to improve, I booted it for a bit, and took it easy and iced it, yada yada yada.

When I got to the hospital I went in the little triage room and this young lad checked me in. He looked like he could be in a boy band. I told him my tale, and didn't think a thing of it until later when I decided to look in the patient portal. That kid wrote in my report that I was carrying a case of beer and baked beans. It was a 6-pack! I got to the ortho a couple days later and he came in reading my report and kind of laughing. I go way back with this doc, saw him way back when I was playing softball, and I said "It was a 6-pack!" and I'm not entirely sure he believed me. 

Further investigation in the portal, in the social history section, revealed that I have 2-4 drinks per month. OK.  Then in the next line it says "Pt has 4-6 alcoholic drinks a day." WTH. That was never true! LOL  Apparently consuming that much alcohol could have a negative effect on my health. No chit man.  This stuff is in my permanent record! So I've decided I need to find a new hospital and start fresh.

I got together with some old softball friends last weekend and had a great time. Pizza and beer and laughs. I had my ankle story. It was suggested that my family avoid ramps at all cost, since a ramp was involved in John's injury. Another friend had face planted on her bathroom tile floor, turns out she had influenza A and was sick as a dog, and then had the shiner to beat all shiners. Nothing broken though. Another friend is going to the doctor to have an MRI on her knee, and the other is going for a plantar fasciitis issue. I told the ones that are going to our favorite ortho to tell him it was a 6-pack, not a case! One out of five had nothing going on! what kind of ratio is that? I find it bodes well to have a good sense of humor while growing old. I didn't think I would have any concerns about a permanent record at this age. 

I'm glad the foul weather missed us last night. It did cause me to put new batteries in flashlights and things, a springtime ritual. I hope it missed everybody else too. 

Have a good St Pat's!

Kay ☘

More from the Infirmary

Nothing earth shattering to report. 

John continues to rehab. He has had a couple of doctor's appointments, stitches out, x-rays. He is having physical therapy at the house a couple of times a week. A slow, painful process. Another doc appt this week at Hinsdale Orthopaedics, and we'll see what is next. His kitties will be glad to get him home, and I'm sure he misses them too.  My kitties will miss him when he goes. They love having another person to alternately entertain and ignore. 

I forgot to post this, but a while back, before The Fall, I came home from work and it looked like the house had been ransacked. In every room something was knocked over, messed up, just general chaos. Everything was off the top of my dresser, lamp knocked over, stuff like that. I asked mom and Joe what happened, but they were seemingly oblivious to what must have been a somewhat noisy event. I think quite a bit of napping goes on during the day lol. Went into mom's room and Gigi got up from her sleep on the top of the cat tree with a piteous meow, and I noticed she was wearing a hula skirt? No, not a hula skirt but a handle from a gift or shopping bag, around her round belly, with some of the bag hanging from it. LOL  Poor kitty. 

Mom is holding pretty steady, but has a pressure sore on her heel. Yikes. Nothing too bad, we are keeping a close eye on it with the help of the nurse and bath aide from hospice. Some changes in her meds have improved her leg pain and her sleep. Or maybe, due to my relocating to the front porch, I just don't notice as much when she is up at night. LOL

John is sleeping in my room, and I'm on the front porch. Sleeping in the unheated front porch is fine. Now that stretch where the wind chill was like -40, that was rough, and I ran the space heater. Only one night did I get up to use the facilities and coudln't get back to sleep because it was too cold, and I retreated to the couch. Mom's old bed is out there, having been displaced by the hospital bed, and it is very comfy. On the worst nights I have a triple layer of blankets, one electric. On regular nights one blanket is fine. One blanket is my preference even in the heat. One of the cats insists on sleeping out there so she does disturb me when she wants to be waited on, but other than that it is quite pleasant and cozy. And quiet lol. And there has been so much mild weather. Crazy weather. 

Having my 7th anniversary at my "new" job this week. Sure has gone fast. 

I like my Hyundai Tucson. It does quite nicely hauling John to his appointments. I somehow got a podcast on there that plays all the time. I can't get rid of it. I feel like Lester Holt is my passenger, speaking in his smooth, calming voice about murders and such. Life is so interesting. 

John and I have been watching miniseries on Netflix, usually about 6 episodes. Crazy number of them available. John is also hooked on Wheel of Fortune now, not by choice. LOL  I'm not sure how John feels about the Mallaney Menu, but we have more veggies in the fridge now, and we have Big Salads a lot. 

Mom and Dad's anniversary on the 9th, they were married in 1959. 

So I'm off on Thursday to take John to his doctor appointment in Western Springs, and we have been having lunch at Portillos and stopping at Trader Joes, so it turns into kind of a fun day off for me. Not so much fun for John when they are trying to increase the bend in his knee . . . ouch!

Have a good week all!

Random Things During Convalescence

Random conversations around the Mallaney household:

John: "There is a random thread on Reddit about the 'pooh stick'. I never read it though."

Kay: "Would you like to see the pooh stick?" (Toilet aid delivered from Walmart-still in box. Whew, he doesn't need it).

John: "No."

*******************

Mom: "How is John's arm."

Kay: "His arm is fine. He hurt his leg."

Mom: "Not that John, the OTHER John."

John, later: "I'm glad I don't know Other John because i don't think Mom likes him very much."

*******************

Kay: "OMG remember that recurring nightmare I had about a blizzard and power outage and being trapped with the family in the kitchen keeping warm with the gas oven/stove? It could really happen now, because you are here!" Please don't worry, we are well aware of the dangers of using a gas oven/stove for heat. I'll make sure there are brownies or a turkey or something in there. Thank you for your concern though. I think Bernie was in that dream too, so it is probably very unlikely to happen . . . probably. 

******************

John: "I've never seen anyone so happy to go to work."

*******************

John has been sleeping in my bedroom. I have moved to the front porch. Kay, quickly trimming her annoying bangs before work with a battery powered clipper thing holding a trash can under her head to catch the trimmings: "Last time I did this I shaved off most of my right eyebrow."

John: "That is the strangest thing I have ever seen. I would just use scissors."

Kay: "Scissors!?"

*******************

Kay, peeking in crack in bedroom door in the dark, trying to to see if John is awake/needs anything.

John, quite startled: "ARGHHHH OMG a floating white face in the door!"

*******************

Follow-up appointment for John with surgeon a week from Tuesday.

Beautiful outside, but too bad it had to snow for it to happen.

Kay, signing off from the Mallaney Infirmary

12 lords a leaping . . . 16 screws a screwing and 1 steel plate . . .

 I know it has been ages. Life had been fairly boring and routine (a good thing!). Since last post I got my car back from the body shop, it was not unscathed by the storm after all ($5,000); mom went to her "vacation" at hospice and hated it; Mom turned 86; and, John slipped on Mom's wheelchair ramp leaving from Christmas, landed hard on his right knee, and did a number on his femur! It was raining and wow it was bad. The ER sent him home recommending an ortho consult after patching him up and giving him pain meds. He was in tremendous pain. Got into ortho on Thursday. Doc immediately contacted a trauma surgeon at Good Samaritan (Dr. Dougherty - awesome!) and the surgery happened on Friday. It was long and complicated but John is put back together now. Now on to recuperation and therapy! It has been a whirlwind for sure. Thankful for an excellent surgeon and I'll keep you posted!

Kay, looking forward to boring times again!

July

I know. It has been ages. Here is what is happening around the ranch . . . 

John had a birthday in July. For his treat he chose a lime cake . . .? Interesting. No german chocolate to be found, no carrots, something different. Well, it was delicious.  How bad can something with cream cheese frosting be? He came home for a nice meal (Naf Naf Grill, yum!) and cake, and a good time was had by all. 

I had a birthday in June and received this from my lovely coworkers. 

Poor Misty had a lump removed under her front leg. It cost $900. She just got her stitches out and the lump was benign, yay! That is her, taking it easy. Misty likes to get high. She is always looking up at the top of the fridge, or high shelves, anywhere she can get high and look down upon us lol. 

I got a new car in May. I really wasn't in the mood, but the plan was when mom's car bit the dust Joe would drive my 2010 red Rav and I'd get a new car. I'm 61 now, and gosh I thought it would be nice to have a newer car when I retire, all paid off, as opposed to a 20 year old car. Well it happened, mom's car bit the dust. Here is to 0% financing on Hyundai Tucsons. John has had  a Hyundai forever and had great luck with it, and 2 of my sort of OCD friends bought Tucsons, so I have to figure they did some research and stuff, so what the heck. I just make that assumption because I do not want to call them and hear about the decision.  The very fact they purchased the vehicle is enough for me.  Despite my protestations about buying a gray car I did, indeed, buy a gray car. Amazon Gray. I don't know what it means. Getting a colored car is harder than it should be. Everything is white, black, gray or silver.  Fine to look at but I do not want to own those colors. The only other color the salesman had at the Hyundai dealership was red, which I do not object to, but a little change sometimes is nice. We were walking to the red car and I saw this one. I said what is that weird color. He told me it was Amazon Gray, and that it was unusual in that in certain light it had a greenish tinge. I said, "Wow, kind of grayish green, like a zombie!" To his credit, he didn't seem too alarmed by that observation. I like the car, though it is a trifle fancy pants for me. I'm still getting used to all the buttons and features and it really wants me to keep my hands on the wheel. Last week I realized there is indeed a gas gauge, and I don't just have to use the "120 miles to empty" words. Whew. 

Yesterday, after Friday night's storms, I woke up to this:

Somehow the car appears unscathed by the heavy falling branches. How that fell between the car and the fence and didn't ding up my new wheels I do not know! That sucker was heavy! Joe and I were dragging it to the curb, ugh it was hard. Esp when you are lazy and way out of shape. This man and his son driving by saw us struggling. Hopefully he didn't hear me cursing. He stopped his truck and he and his son popped out and  picked that thing up and carried it to the curb. Bless them! Good people. 

John went off on another his adventure in July, so I checked up on his kitties while at the same time keeping an eye on my good friend's cat over by Coal City. I was a multi-county cat sitter there for a while. Anyway, it was nice for John to have an adventure not marred by some unfortunate event, like a drunk roomie or food poisoning, or altitude sickness, any of that stuff. Until it was time for him to come home, and it was stormy weather here and his flight got canceled and he had to stay overnight in NY on his own dime.  Could have been worse, but still. So close to a troublefree adventure. Maybe next time. LOL He did get to fly home first class from Washington though. John's cats pretty much ignored me the whole time I was at his house, but they are cats and I totally understand. I know they were happy to have me there tending to them, fluffing their blankets and important stuff like that. 

Mom is holding steady. Love the nurse and bath aide from hospice. I found out the other day about respite care.  It hasn't happened yet, because there is no space at the hospice in Joliet, but mom can spend 5 days, and get all her meals and stuff.  All we send with her is her clothes and meds. She could do the respite care at one of the nursing homes here in Morris, but the hospice in Joliet is very nice, according to everybody, so we are waiting until she can get in there.  Mom is looking forward to a change of scene too, and will be a nice break for Joe and me. Joe especially, since he gets up in the night with her since I need sleep for work. So mom's "vacation" as we are calling it hasn't happened yet, but hopefully will be soon. This all came about because I was asking the bath aide about extra care in case I take a vacation. My friends are renting a house in Florida in February, so we shall see. 

Joe has cataracts and needs to have those taken care of. He had a birthday in March. But I think that was on the last blog post? God forbid I should repeat my exciting news  . . . lol. 

The historical society came to take some old school records off our hands, and I found Uncle Jim's high school scores.  Kind of hard to read, but in case anybody needs more confirmation, the Mallaneys are not only good looking but intelligent as well. 

Best to all.

Kay ☘

February - March

Started this in February . . . but it was so boring . . . 

Here is the February:

I went out Saturday night! Walmart and St. Vincent DePaul were pretty much deserted. 

Aunt Becky, from mom's side, passed away. It was so nice to see my ageless cousins, even at such a sad event. Lots of childhood memories. In my mind Aunt Becky and Uncle Jack had "The Party House" when I was a kid. We loved going to their house in town, a block from the park, best friends just a stone's throw away, an interesting upstairs! Of course they loved coming to the farm! LOL  Nice memories. Both houses had a good picnic table under a tree and beer and were very kid friendly. 

Mom had a catheter put in. Nurse suggested it, mom was tired of being wet all the time. Wow, what a difference. Mom started sleeping better, she was much more comfortable, everything seemed so much easier. Until it went on the fritz. Nurse comes once a week right now, we'll get it ironed out. 

Cats are good. Much amusement. Much pickiness when it comes to food. Maybe John has the right idea. He gives his cats one flavor cat food, a can at a time, and they don't get another until the bowl is empty. I'm not that strict . . . it is like a buffet in there lol. I'll get it figured out. Happy kitties are very important. Just so they don't get big boned (fat) like Finnegan. 

Looking forward to long weekends the next two weekends. I love long weekends. 

Now back to real time in March:

Mom got the catheter taken out. It was leaking and she said it was uncomfortable. Oh well. At first she loved it. Other than that she is doing pretty well. Appetite is good. Joe said Mom is gaining weight. I don't know about that, but good. She was getting too bony. I'm not even sure I have bones. The hospice nurse and bath aide are lovely. Finding a cat on mom's bed more and more often, which tickles me.

She did have a bit of a bug for a few days, right around St. Pat's, so I missed my party. She had it coming out of both ends and she was pretty miserable. I had a DUI dream the week before the party, so maybe it was just as well. I mean a naked sobriety test on the main Street in Morris, what a nightmare. What would Freud say about that? I don't think I want to know. 

Not much else new. I had my first taste of Lou Malnati's pizza and Lou's salad. Good eats. That salad . . . wow. How did I get so old without eating Lou Malnati's I wonder . . . ? My coworkers were stunned by that fact. Also that I haven't seen Star Wars, or read Harry Potter. Stuns me that The Birds isn't their favorite movie, and they weren't allowed to watch the Twilight Zone or Dark Shadows as children. Or Creature Features! One is a couple years older than me, one is 9 years younger. And in the other room are a 24 year old and a 39 year old. The 24 year old is coming out of her shell. I pretty much made her talk to me, she was a trifle shy. The other day I had a slow time, so I was taking a quiz on Facebook. One of the questions was "Do you like change?" She asked me what question I was on, and I told her. She then inquired "Do you like change?" and I said "No! I do not!." Then she said . . . oh my gosh cracked me up "I don't either! Once I threw it away." Oh dear. How funny. Then, another day, I made a comment about someone being "harried and harassed" and she asked me what that meant. It did not occur to me until later that I could have told her anything I wanted and had a bit of fun. I'm slipping I guess. And when I asked her what the young people were going to be doing this weekend and she mentioned the bar, I was horrified by the price of beer these days, just like Bernie used to be on the non .50 beer days. It is nice to be amused at work lol. I used to be the oldest, but now I'm the junior senior. 

I was also John's guest at the Sunday Brunch over at Gaetano's Vault in Streator. It was outstanding. Breakfast food, dinner food, desserts, drinks. Wow. I had this St. Paddy's Punch, vodka, OJ and Blue Curacao . . . with sprinkles. Then I had some boozey coffee with my dessert. With whipped cream. I should have camping coffee every day. And bananas foster french toast. I didn't get a pic of the lunch type food. There was an omelet station too, but I can't eat everything. It was fun to see some of my favorite co-workers of John's too. We got to sit together. Good fun. That pistachio cake too, wow. 

Speaking of cake I'm about to go frost Joe's birthday cake, he is 62 today. Crazy. How did we get so old? We will have his favorite pizza tonight, we all love it, and Mom is looking forward to it.

My car acted up for a while, the back door wouldn't open. I was just dealing with it and then, one day, when I unlocked the car it sounded different somehow, and boom, the backdoor would open again. I had inquired at the garage about getting it fixed, but it was an ungodly amount. Recently I looked at the new car inventory in Ottawa and, while I thought I was discreet, somehow my car found out. Now the back door and the rear passenger door won't open. Ugh. We'll see how long this little snit lasts.  

And Happy New Year! I see I totally missed January, probably no news to report. And that is fine, around here no news is good news!

Kay ☘