The past couple of days have been challenging – good and bad.
One thing that has been getting on my nerves a bit is having to try to write to you here via my phone rather than getting on my computer. All kinds of problems associated with this, so even though I am doing the best I can, I appreciate your patience.
Our next delivery of IKEA furniture is the 14th and I have asked that we put together the computer table first and get my computer up and going as soon as possible.
Our visit with Harvey today was heart wrenching. He didn’t recognize us, care that we were there, and didn’t try to communicate, so it basically a wasted trip. The worst part of this stroke is the cognitive decline and lack of ability to communicate.
We stopped at the immigration office on the way home and got Harvey’s medical visa. This makes him legal! It is renewable every 3 months. We are still waiting for something on mine, but we are making slow, steady progress on trying to get my retirement visa which we can renew in one year.
The auction on our home in AR was yesterday. Mixed results on that. Brian is in contact with the auctioneer to find out what the next step is. After 37 years, it is hard to walk away, even though the upkeep on the place had become way too much for us. Part of me is relieved – the other part sad.
More good news – as of next Friday I will have a lady who will clean my condo weekly! She cleans Brian’s place and has just agreed to do mine. We got a bunch of cleaning supplies today. I have never had anyone come clean before 😀
I got a massage this morning. She found all kinds of knots in my back and neck. It was wonderful. AND she agreed to do weekly massages on Fridays at 10:00! Spoiled, happy me!!!
My friend Marsha sent me a really cute picture to go with the holiday, but the saved photo goes to la la land 😡
We went to the gym (day 2 for me). I walked for about 32 minutes and bumped the speed up from 3.6 to 4 in increments. I felt fine. The bottom line was I walked a mile. 🙂
We’ve had breakfast and I am waiting for the people to come install Internet service for me. When they finish, we’ll copy some stuff and send it DHL.
Then, if the time is reasonable, we will go visit my husband in the nursing home.
❤️ Shout out to Laufrain and David, who are celebrating an anniversary today!
We went to the hospital first thing this morning. Harvey was up in a chair. The first thing he said to me was, “I need to be in the chair.” He looked confused when I told him he was already IN the chair. The staff brought in a wheelchair and took him for PT. When he came back, they were trying to get him back into the bed. He clearly motioned for me to come help. It was funny and a hint that my guy is inside there somewhere.
Brian and I stopped at a clothes store that we recently found that has clothes good for Brian. He bought several things, then insisted I get two kind of silky buttons- down -the front blouses he thought were pretty. 😀
We went to another place for a coffee. I told him that I really love Chiang Mai because it’s a feast for the eyes. High rise really expensive buildings and then a group of little stores with colorful, textured roofs, straw basket lids decorating the ceiling or some other creative touch. It’s a good thing he holds my hand when we are walking because I am agog at all the wonderful sights around me.
Chiang Mai has many beautiful, impressive buildings. This wiring is impressive in quite a different way to me. This is one of the neater ‘bundles’ of wires that are common here. Some are truly humongous.
I thought my husband and I ended up with snarls of wiring when we lived in the states, even though Harvey did a neat job at the beginning of a project. We would do something else that really replaced a prior generation of something, though, and he didn’t remove the previous wiring. So eventually, we had a snarl, neither of us remembering what the wiring was FOR…
Some of the bundles along the street are really amazing. I would really hate to be an electrical person trying to add to, or modify anything in these bundles.
Happily, the wiring in our actual building is quite neat. Even though we have had several lightning storms since we’ve been here, there have been no losses of power. Maintenance is taken quite seriously. All it takes is a phone call and someone comes up. I haven’t had to contact anyone since I’ve been in the air bnb. I have really enjoyed my stay here.
I love the way that businesses spring up around here. Real entrepenurship in action. One of these days when we’re not pressed for time, I want to walk around our neighborhood, taking some pics of the small businesses that are across the street at the back of the hotel and in the block surrounding the building. There are some food booths and other things I haven’t had a chance to identify.
There is a 7-11 near our building. That’s a big selling point around here. Thai people LOVE 7-11’s. There is a constant stream of people at all hours of the day and night shopping there. There is a glass wall with a door between the 7-11 – divided into pharmacy type stuff on one side and a regular 7-11 type place on the other side.
I don’t think I told you, but you have to have a special key card to use the elevator in the building. This is an added security thing. You can also use it to access a private bathroom off the lobby for condo people in the building. I feel quite safe here.
The lady who runs the office for the building in the daytime asks Brian how his dad is doing often as he is keying in a request for a Grab into his phone. She is so nice and everyone genuinely seems to care about him trying to take care of his parents.
We just had a breakfast of pork strips and a dragon fruit. Delicious! We’ll head for the hospital a bit later, hoping Harvey will recognize us and to monitor his progress.
This is part of my beautiful room in Laos. This hotel was really well run. The people were friendly and helpful, and great places were within walking distance of the hotel.
We went to the hospital today, as usual. Sadly, Harvey didn’t recognize us. He was sitting in a chair, though, when we came into the room. A therapist was there with mental and physical small ‘games’ to work on verbal skills, hand-eye coordination, emphasizing use of his left, or weaker, hand. Then the big muscle physical therapists came in and took over, doing all kinds of chair exercises, then helping him walk down the hall with an aide on either side and a ‘belt’ for them to use to make sure everything went well. He walked down the hall to the therapy room and did more exercises. He was pooped when he returned to the room and slept through lunch. He has real trouble standing up straight and holding his head up.
We left about 3pm. Brian cheered me up, taking us to an art store in the mall. We got a big sketch book full of paper, two regular pencils and an eraser, and a plastic container of 24 colored pencils. I’m planning to use some of my time trying to draw some of the simpler ‘learn to draw’ images on Pinterest, as well as YouTube videos. I want to just work on it every time I get a chance, just delighting in the act of trying to create an image, rather than worrying about the result. I may fill all the pages of the sketch book and toss it in the trash, replacing it with another to try again until I show some improvement. It will be a joy. 😊
While we were out, we crossed the street from the mall and went to a church type building that was filled with shops. It was quite lovely, with way too much to see in one walk-through. We stopped at a coffee shop and both got citrus-y cold coffees, perfect for the temperature outside.
Brian will be here soon with a salad he’s ordering for us to go with the roasted chicken chunks and fruit we have left over from yesterday. YUM!
We are narrowing down the options for a nursing home for Harvey. We have two main candidates that look good so far. We plan on getting some more answers from each of them and then will probably go visit very soon.
Closing on the condo has been moved to Wednesday, cutting the timing really short. I’m supposed to check out of the air bnb on Thursday, so it the closing doesn’t go as we hope, I may be asking for people to pay me to STOP singing on the street in order to get another air bnb hopefully in the same building until I CAN move.
This was one of our favorite places to eat on our recent trip to Laos (pronounced “Lao”). It’s in Luang Prabang. It was within easy walking distance from our hotel.
“Small family owned cafe serving health conscious food, smoothie bowls, lao favourites and refreshing sodas. Base menu is 100% vegetarian with many vegan inclusions. Specials highlighting organic locally grown produce as well as vegan desserts. Chicken available as addition however is cooked separately.”
Our favorite, which was low carb, was called a “Brunch Bowl.”
There is a fried egg, roasted veggies, and some cauli-rice. Delicious.
The people were friendly and it was always doing a good business, though it closed at 5:30 each day. We went at 4pm so we wouldn’t keep them from closing on time. We went a couple of times. Wonderful place.
This is graphic, but I think this is an ingenious part of almost every public and private bathroom in Asia.
I’m not sure what the actual name of this is, but it is commonly known as “the butt blaster.”
As the name implies, you use it to clean yourself after a movement. This results in much less use of paper and a much cleaner you!👍
On the other end of the spectrum, we went to a fingernail salon yesterday. I had never had a manicure, so this was quite a treat.
When I was finished – I am so elegant now with fingers and toes pampered and painted – we found a bathroom. It was little more than the main part of a toilet, with no seat to sit on, and no toilet paper. I was glad I had some Kleenex in my tote. The flush didn’t work, and no place to wash hands.
There was a woman sitting outside. Brian paid her. When we got out of the area, I found out that it cost 28 cents U.S. money for both of us. This poor woman is trying to make a living. There wasn’t much traffic in the area, so her income couldn’t have been much….
Please forgive the quality of this photo. Pictures are a real issue on my new computer because I can’t go to a site yet and ‘save’ the way I have always done. It’s also quite a challenge to get the pictures I have finally managed to save to ‘open.’ Some images I save go off into the ozone somewhere, probably never to be found again😳.
Brian will help me with this, once things have tamed down, but my pictures are not the priority until Harvey is recovered enough to come home.
I do wish you a very Happy Easter, whether you are dying Easter eggs and then hiding them for your kids and the neighborhood children, going to church for a beautiful celebration, or just celebrating the day quietly at home.
Brian and I had breakfast earlier. We will do an errand and then head for the hospital, hoping to see an alert Harvey who will be glad to see us, able to swallow better today and not need to be reminded to swallow so often, able to feed himself a bit (remembering not to hurry so much), and able to sit up, with a straighter back and with his head up, enjoying the gorgeous view out his window for as long as they ask today. Hopefully he will be able to engage more of his muscles to aid in his standing with the help of the physical therapists, plus move arms and legs on command. I also hope his confusion is less and that he’s able to stay awake mostly during the day, rather than sleeping when people come to work with him. A lot to hope for, I know, but I would really like my husband back, feeling good, smiling, and able to enjoy life.
I wish you a happy day, surrounded by those you love, celebrating together in joy.
They removed Harvey’s feeding tube today!!!! HOORAY!!
Also, they did another therapy session while Bri and I took a break. We asked him if he sat up and stood up and he said “yes”. He was awake and alert when we entered the room, and squeezed my hand, plus one other part I won’t mention which really proves he is definitely “in there”.😂
If you look VERY carefully, right over the mountains and beneath the clouds in the center of the photo is a rainbow!
I lost it again today. One of the nurses asked Harvey to sit on the side of the bed. It took two nurses to get him propped up, but they did it and he was able to straighten his back a little and lift his legs and right arm on command. Then they wanted him to sit like that for 15 minutes. Brian set the timer on his phone and sat down beside him. We all talked (and Harvey nodded from time to time) about what we could see out the window.
Then Harvey moved his right arm again and that’s when I lost it. He put his hand on Brian’s back and started patting and rubbing Brian’s back. It was so beautiful it made me cry.
Harvey is now asleep. There is another session of therapy scheduled now, but I doubt anyone can wake him up now.
A nurse also asked about either trimming his beard or shaving him. Brian said “okay” but we aren’t really sure what we agreed to 😊😟🙃
This is the real estate agent who is helping us. She is just one example of the slim, good looking people I am seeing on a day to day basis here. The young women dress in a way that clearly show their slimness and style.
If you’ve read the blog for a while, you know that I am weight-challenged and trying to lose the lard. I have no clue what I weigh now. Brian and I are eating low carb, and we have gotten the hospital to switch and do the same for Harvey. When we move into our condo some time at the end of the month I hope, I will try to get some scales so I can see if I am making any progress. Since we are basically sedentary at the hospital each day, we are eating a healthy breakfast and then dinner. Hopefully this will result in less of me. Update on Harvey – So far the low carb switch is helping. Harvey was alert this morning. He had a good swallowing therapy session this morning, following directions and even spooning a few mouthfuls himself. He does forget to swallow, though.
Fingers crossed that he does well on the other 2 therapy sessions today. Day before yesterday was a complete bust. Wanted to sleep, couldn’t follow directions. Yesterday was much better, though it was really hard on him.
Today we have an appointment at the local visa place. We’ll then go to the bank, and then to the hospital.
We will talk about low carb with the therapist who feeds Harvey, plus the head nurse and the doctors who come to the room. It makes no sense to US to give him daily shots in the stomach to try to bring down his high blood sugar while feeding him a high carb diet both in the therapy feedings and the nutrient bags he’s still getting via the feeding tube.
We have seen the delirious behavior before in the states when he was drinking a bunch of chocolate milk and eating potato chips. This behavior wasn’t repeated at ALL once he agreed to quit cheating and we went to a strict low carb diet. Right after breakfast yesterday, he was out of it. He didn’t know we were there yesterday. He didn’t react to commands.
We have lots of details to handle outside the hospital and inside. We will try to do as much as possible on each of the areas.
Otherwise, the water festival is a thing of the past for another year. Workers were taking down the scaffolding used to protect the front of the huge mall Maya during the festival. I have truly never seen that many people in one place before. The Grabs are no longer having to detour around the area as much as possible to get people where they are going. There were still a huge number of people walking around, but that is the norm in Chiang Mai. I find it fascinating to see everyone, see what the people are wearing, where they are congregating, watch in amazement as the Grabs dart through the lanes of traffic as the motor scooters and motorbikes dart in and out, everyone seeming to know how to navigate, when they need to stay in there lane and when it’s okay to dart out. Only the motor scooters dart in and out. All others are very calm, taking every opportunity to change lanes when needed, but remarkably competent in getting where they are going.
This is my husband being fed his first semi-solid food since his stroke by one of his physical therapists. She focuses on the ability to swallow reliably and safely. She has been working with syringes of water, for example, patiently asking him if he wants some. He opens up like a baby bird and she squirts it into the side of his mouth and then waits. Sometimes he swallows right away. Sometimes he just sits there with the water in his mouth seemingly ‘forgetting’ to swallow. She is working with him every day. He’s getting a LOT better. Today he pointed to the bottle of water, wanting her to give it to him. He’s not ready for that yet, but it made her laugh.
He actually enjoyed the yogurt today. He asked Brian to take a picture of him eating the yogurt. It really surprised me. I jumped up and took a quick pic, too, of his ‘baby bird’ imitation. He was also able to say ahh, oooh, eeeeeh, and la-la-la, plus sticking his tongue out, holding it out while she counted to five, then doing it again. He made her laugh again when he remembered the moving his tongue to the left and to the right and back again, doing it before she instructed him, showing off a bit.
Other physical therapists were there today, but the most difficult thing they had him do today was sit on the side of the bed. They worked his right arm and both legs, too. We are all protecting the site of the installed pacemaker on the left side, just under his collar bone. He’s supposed to keep his left arm down and keep the whole area still.
That’s like telling a two year old to be still. He is constantly trying to bring the left arm and hand up for some stupid reason. He usually can’t tell you why, but he does it over and over, causing either Brian or me to leap up and patiently explain to him again WHY he needs to keep his hand down and not to do anything with his left arm, protecting his wound. He nods, agrees to be still and then two seconds later, we’re explaining again. He’s also after his feeding tube. We keep explaining that the feeding tube can be removed when he shows good improvement in his swallowing. He forgets and tries to grab it again. And AGAIN, he flails his right hand around. The back of it has several IVs attached and needs care and being still. Yeah, right.
Anyway, the doctors are all pleased with his progress and he was moved back to his private room this morning. Brian and I were at the hospital in the ICU before 9 and didn’t leave until the night nurse we hired came at 8pm. We didn’t eat dinner until around 9.
While we were waiting for dinner to be delivered, I tried again to cancel our AT&T account. We lost access to our online account because the first thing they wanted was to send a text with a code to our phone. Since neither is a working number now, it was impossible to get past that in order to put in our user name and password. When I would CALL, the call would drop off mid call. ARRRRGH!. Brian changed the setting on my phone from local internet to Blue Tooth – slower, but possibly more reliable. I spent over 25 minutes talking to a total of three people before reaching Ruth, a truly wonderful lady. She asked to speak to my husband, and I explained our situation. She took pity on me and got the account canceled, plus gave us good wishes for my husband’s recovery. Mission finally accomplished!
The doctors were talking today about letting my husband go home Thursday. We politely said that we were in no position to care for him until he was able to eat something, make at least some intelligible speech so we knew what he needed, and could at least walk with help to the bathroom and back. I will still need to arrange for help in our air bnb for awhile until he is able to help me some. I’m trying not to worry about that now. My mantra is one day at a time.
It’s amazing how your focus narrows when your life is upended. Now I watch like a hawk to see if my husband starts to lift his left hand so I can jump up and stop him from hurting himself or the wound. I watch every sip of anything that goes down his throat, or when he coughs, to make sure he swallows and doesn’t choke. I strain to hear or try to read his lips to try to understand what he’s trying to say. I see every little bit of improvement from one day to the next. My world revolves now around the hospital, my husband and our son.
Thanks to all of you who have expressed good wishes or your prayers for his recovery. You just don’t know how much it means. ❤️
Thank you to all of you who are bearing with me, only writing about my husband’s health lately. Please just skip over these and I hope I’ll be back soon with my more normal posts.
This is day 3 of my husband’s surgery for a stroke and fall. He is doing better. The surgery cleared the two arteries in his brain that were completely occluded and damage from the blockage was minimal, the doctors say. They are now focusing on his low heartbeats per minute and low blood pressure. This improved yesterday, and I’m hoping it will today, as well, so they will be able to take out the breathing tube
I long to hear his voice, hoping he can speak. I hope he is alert enough that we can explain his situation more clearly, see if he is able to walk without problem in the near future, and what the doctors recommend.
Our son and I are spending almost the entire visiting hours at his side, except when they are doing something where they ask us to leave for half an hour or so. There is a waiting area right down the hall. Otherwise we are watching the monitors, watching him, seeing the good care he is receiving, and are available if a doctor comes and wants to talk with us.
No one can no the future – even the good doctors. We are all essentially waiting and doing all we can for him. We are there every time he opens his eyes, taking his hand, kissing his forehead, letting him know he isn’t alone. It’s sad that they are having to restrain his hands and feet, but it is essential now that he not disrupt the equipment. He tends to flail a lot when not restrained, putting himself and the equipment in danger.
Brian and I enjoyed a nice delivered breakfast of eggs and cheese, bacon, and a salad. We then took a walk to the laundry farther out, out by our koi pond, since the one in the building was closed. He showed me that he weighed the bag of laundry on a scale. There was a chart on the wall re the cost of the weight. He put the ticket with his name, phone number and email address and the payment in a bag and then put the bag inside the tied up laundry bag. Then there was a chute where you dropped your laundry. He says they will call or email him when the clothes are ready to be picked up. Interesting system!
We visited the koi for a bit and then continued our walk around the block. We will leave again in a minute to get a Grab to take us to the hospital for the day.
I hope to bring good news, and more regular blog posts in the coming days. Thanks again for bearing with me during this scary time.
we are at the hospital for day 2 since my husband fell in the bathroom and suffered a stroke. He had surgery to remove blockage in the arteries in his brain, thankfully before significant damage was done. I will update when I have more information
I think I told you that the total time of travel from Greenwood, Arkansas to Chiang Mai, Thailad was 48 hours, but I would like to share more of the trip with you.
We drove to the Fort Smith airport and waited for the first leg of our journey. We actually went through a pretty good security check. I showed my magic card that gave information on my pacemaker implant, plus my ID bracelet and they skirted around some of the xraying. Apparently, the security check was good enough that we didn’t have to do more until we were in Bangkok, Thailand.
This was a short one hour flight to the Dallas/Fort Worth airport, where we waited again. We had to do a lot of walking we weren’t expecting to GET to the railway or whatever they call it that will whisk you to the next gate. It was a bit much for two old recently sick people.
We then flew the LONG flight – 14 hours – from DFW to Doha, Qatar. This was in the lap of luxury, our first ever business class flight. We had good food, comfortable recliners that eased into all kinds of positions for maximum comfort, including the makeup into a bed by the attendants, with a nice pillow and the best blanket I have ever slept under. I think I showed you a picture or two of the seats we had, with my husband and I sitting side by side and across from our son with the partition removed. We basically slept most of the flight after enjoying the amenities.
All of the airports were nice, but this one at Doha, Qatar, was spectacular.
This was followed by another pretty long flight, from Doha, Qatar to Bangkok, Thailand. Another nice business class flight, not as nice as the first one, but nicer than any other flight I’ve taken in my life, 2nd only to the one to Doha.
We were met in Bangkok by a team of experts hired by our son to meet us, handle the baggage change, customs check, security check, and all the other things required when landing in the main hub city in a country. Even with all that my husband’s energy gave out and we needed to find a wheelchair to get where we needed to go.
We left the Bangkok airport only minutes before the earthquake. The pilot came on saying that we would have to turn around and return to Bangkok because the Chiang Mai airport had closed. Our poor son was then trying to figure out what he would do for accommodations there, booking a new flight to Chiang Mai, meals, and more. The pilot came on again saying the Chiang Mai airport had reopened and we were resuming our flight there. Whew!
Now we find we MAY have to fly to Laos to the Thai embassy there, to get a magical stamp on our passports that the banks here will like so they will let us open bank accounts. Then we should be able to take the bank account information to the visa people and get a retirement visa. Fingers crossed!
This is my husband with the eyeshades our son Brian got for him. I laugh every time I look at him.
We have been trying to rebuild our strength after being sick for so long. We are essentially building up from nothing, so making it around the “block” this morning was really good for us.
We found a koi “run” on our walk this morning. It was long and narrow, with running water and nice shade, plus protection from things falling from the trees overhead. We rested and looked at the beautiful fish.
Most of them were about 16 inches long. There was a white one, several orange ones , and several combinations of colors. Lots of small ones, too.
We enjoyed them for quite a while. Such a treat!
Note- my son said I look funny typing on my phone with one finger, and that I should be using 2 thumbs. So this post has been typed with my 2 thumbs – still looking funny.😜
You must use bottled water for drinking or cooking.
You must concentrate on staying hydrated. We drink water with every meal and then sip water constantly throughout the day.
There is only hot water in the bathroom shower. There is hot water heater hanging on the wall of the shower that you can dial to the desired temperature.
Tap water is used for all else, including washing dishes. I was kind of shocked, but our son Brian told us that is common here. He has been doing that for 9 years and is quite healthy.
Everyone washes dishes by hand. Much of what we are eating is ordered in, so very few dishes involved. Brian cooks for us and washes the dishes right away. This is to discourage any teeny tiny ants or other bugs. Brian said if he doesn’t wash and dry all surfaces quickly, he sees the tiny ants. I saw some on the counter around the sink in our air BnB, and quickly followed his lead. None since thanks for hanging in while I am laboriously using one finger on my phone to send you one post.
we went on our new routine walk this morning. Suddenly I was sweating, dizzy, and needed a bathroom fast. We got a Grab and got back to our Airbnb fast. After some time in the bathroom, drinking some cold water and resting in front of a fan, I was fine. I was amazed by how many people stopped, wanting to help.
Later we went to “the big mall” to try to get some 🙂Skechers Step-Ins for each of us. They have good cushioning and good tread for our walks. They will also be easy to take off and put on again when we leave them outside or just inside the door of a private home.
We went to sign the contract at what will be our condo in about 3 weeks yesterday. I took several pics. I also finally managed to display a pic while trying to do the blog with one finger on my phone!
There are lots and lots of things we need to learn here. It is delightful and exhausting at the same time.
One thing is remembering to take our shoes off before entering a private residence. Mostly we either remember or our son reminds us. My husband came up with a good idea for us. – we are going to try to find Sketchers Step In shoes for both of us. These are the ones you don’t have to touch to get them on or off, and don’t have to bend over. Then the biggest thing will have to do is REMEMBER!
All is good here, except we tire in record time and need lots of rest. Today we went to a used book store store. We went to the mall to open bank accounts, but found the bank wanted us to have permanent visas before they would open an account. The visa people had told our son we needed a bank account in order get the permanent visas. He is going to try to figure out how to get around the problem. Meanwhile, he meets with the realtor for our condo at 3. He will come get me so I can see what will be our place in 3 weeks! YIPPEE!!!😄
I am going to rest a bit before that. We just enjoyed homemade chili with cheese and sour cream from our son’s friend’s wife😋
Feeling lucky to be alive, with our son, and starting a new life in Thailand
We got our phones fixed today at the “small mall”. Which was humongous. We took a Grab (equivalent to Uber) and my son had figured out where the store was to try to make it easy on us. It is like a small, glittering very expensive city. We had to show our passports, sit for pics, etc. We signed up for a data plan paying ahead, kind of like a debit card. I now have an account app on my phone. They will let me know when my balance is low so I can transfer funds to “top it off” when needed.
The best part is that the basic payment per month will be around 250 baht or $18/month. (We have been paying $159.00 a month on our account.
We are pretty trashed, so we are going to rest now and then have dinner at our son’s place tonigh
After 48 hours of travel time door to door, we are safely in the AirBnB in the same building as our son. We feel lucky we missed the earthquake in Bangkok by mere minutes. Our son did a masterful job of making the trip as easy as possible, but my husband needed a wheelchair to get to the last two flights. He chose wrong on travel shoes, and they gave him problems several times, including one fall on an escalator
Business Class is beautiful, and I could get used to the luxury very fast😛
we basically slept from the time we got here at 4 until about 5 this morning. It is Saturday, March 29th, at 6:46am here.
Our son went back out for supplies. My husband crashed and I talked with our son awhile. We will go out later, if my husband is up to it, to get something done to our phones. It will take some walking, but Brian says the mall has a bunch of places we can sit and rest.
We are in the indescribable airport of Doha, Qatar, waiting to board the next flight to Bangkok. I have decided I could easily get used to business class. We are still functioning after a 14 hour flight. Good food, bathroom close by, and stretching out with a pillow and great blanket are amazing. From Doha to Bangkok is another 6 hours, but I think we have business class on that, too 😁
Today will be a whirlwind of activity. We are trying to find a book on the Marines my husband wants to take. We hunted for it yesterday. I scoured the living room this morning about 2:30 when I couldn’t sleep. I will do the same with our office and our bedroom, but hope of finding it is dimming.
I am almost completely packed. I will add last minute things and then will check it for weight.
My husband has piled some things on top of his suitcase . Our son and I will work with him to get him packed.
When he gets up, I will shower and dress for the trip. I will strip our bed and put the Sleep Number purchase information in the middle.
Tim and Lisa will come after lunch to get the TV they bought from us.
I am still among the land of the living and am finally feeling strong enough to try to get one blog post written this morning.
There are lots and lots of changes going on around here, due to the sudden events of the past 2 weeks or so. I appreciate your bearing with me on things I’m having to do differently as I adapt.
To summarize the events of February, my husband and I both were diagnosed with Flu A (husband flu plus pneumonia. Me flu plus bronchitis.) at our walk-in clinic on the 6th. The doc there strongly suggested I go to the ER due to low blood oxygen. We went home and I called a friend, who drove me to the ER. I was admitted there, transferred to the ICU, had two operations in three days due to my heart stopping beating, one for a temporary pace maker and the other for a permanent one. I was released on the 12th.
I asked our son to come home from across the world from us. He dropped everything and traveled 24 hours to get here. He has handled all the cooking, cleaning, medications, animals, taking care of us beautifully. I honestly don’t know what we would have done without him.
We are both improving very slowly. I am on oxygen, but am trying to wean myself off of it as I can.
Yesterday our new bed came and the fridge guy came to look at the ice maker in the new fridge. The bed will be fine, though we both need to do some adaptation. The tech ordered a part for the fridge, so that will be handled eventually, too.
The most impactful thing from all of this is that my husband and I have always planned carefully for future scenarios, not wanting to be caught flat footed. We honestly hadn’t thought about the fact that I could croak first. This has upended everything. We also never planned for both of us to be sick at the same time, and that upended anything that was left. I have to admit I am rocked down to my core on this one. I could handle being the survivor, but I seriously worry about my husband’s ability to function by himself.
This will take a lot of thinking and replanning, and possible scenarios we never even considered before.
Again, thank you for taking the time to read all of this. I hope to be able to get back to the regular blog posts starting tomorrow. I’m trying to give myself some slack, though, since I tend to give out at the slightest effort, and will need to work to build my stamina again.
Meanwhile you’ve been on my mind and I hope you’re doing well.
Good afternoon. Just one message to you today – if you’re reading this, thank you!
My life since the 6th has been a scary one – dignosis of both my husband and I at the walk in clinic in Greenwood of (Flu A with pneumonia with my husband and with Flu A with bronchitis for me.) My blood oxygen level was so low at the clinic the doc there insisted I go to the ER in Ft. Smith. My friend Carla took me because my husband was way too sick. From the ER, I was admitted to the hospital because of my labs and symptoms. 3 days later I woke up with a group of nurses around my bed, asking if I was “all right.” They told me then that I had techically died several times that night, my heart simply stopping for several seconds each time. They arranged a transfer to ICU, where in the middle of the night I received a temporary pacemaker. 3 days after that I received a permanent pacemaker. I was released home on the 12th.
My husband is home, too, and is making good progress after a 14 day course of antibiotics.
When our son asked if we wanted him to come home from across the world from us, I selfishly said, “yes.” He has been here, taking wonderful care of us for a few days now.
I am on antibiotics, steroids, stopped several of my regular meds until further notice.
Yesterday at my follow up primary doc’s office, I simply collapsed trying to stand long enough for a chest x-ray. As of yesterday afternoon, I am on oxygen. I can now breathe for the first time since being released, (maybe a slight exxageration) and I slept for the first time. Breathing should not be underrated. I enjoy doing it a lot, but prefer it not to hurt and to get enough not being afraid I’ll faint. )It was fabulous last night to be able to lie back and really relax, getting the air I need, shut my eyes without nausea and then panic panting trying to catch my breath over and over all night long.
I am definitely in celebration mode here. Happy and relieved that my husband is a bit stronger each day. Relieved and grateful to Carla who dropped everything to get me where I needed to go. Delighted our son is here, taking good care of us, and able to concentrate on being happy I am alive to type.
Quick note. I am in here until further notice. I have FlA, bronchitis, shortness of breath, low blood oxygen. I went to the emergency room yesterday and they admitted me to the w. I have no clue what the plan is. They are giving me breathing treatments. I ate last night for the first time since last Thursday I will try to send messages
We weren’t able to get help Saturday. We’re still a mess. We’re planning to try to be at the walk in clinic at our regular doc’s office at 7:30 tomorrow.
We had to leave the house early without food or coffee to get blood work done for our routine doctor appointment on Wednesday. We did errands after that.
I think I told you about my husband being delighted about the county road people cleaning out our ditches. There were trucks at the bottom of our driveway as we left. I talked with one of the men, thanked him profusely for the good job the crew was doing. He said the ‘artist’ of the group was Darryl and that they might be here today and tomorrow to finish up.
We decided to get a gift card for a pizza for the men as a thank you, and got it while we were in town. I found Darryl when we got home and thanked him. Apparently the only time they hear from the public is when they are upset, so my thanking everyone was a real surprise and they seemed touched. I also gave Darryl the gift card. At first he refused, but I just stared at him until he took it. I’ll also write a letter to the department. I don’t know if they put the letters in the employee records or are just pleased, but I want to make sure they know what a good job they are doing.
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It didn’t snow or ice overnight, so we had no trouble getting around. We got our trash down to the bottom of the driveway and no one fell on their head or injured themselves. Now, hopefully, we can relax the rest of the day, though the weather forecast is warning of possible problems on Thursday now. UGH.
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My husband’s projects are beginning to wear me to a frazzle. First, lately, it was the porch camera light bulb. I finally officially gave up. I gave it at least twice as much time as my husband did and we finally decided we could do without it. Second, was the gadget for the TV. After two days of real challenge, frayed nerves, and more, we finally got it installed and working. NOW my husband is having trouble with a computer program called Family Tree Maker. We have used it for years, but suddenly it says it was shut down incorrectly and it won’t open. We were online with a tech all afternoon yesterday, trying to follow her directions. Nothing was solved. I don’t know if my husband will insist we tackle it again today or not. I am needed as the go-between to type, answer questions from either my husband or the tech, try to follow the directions, etc., so I can’t just escape, though it would be nice….
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I finished the etched vase I’ve been working on and just listed it on my Etsy site.
Our day has really flown by and I’m just now able to finish my first post of the day. I’d better get my computer hot! Have a great day!
creativeartworksblog 