All In The Family...
Dennis is doing better day by day. Today he got his catheter out and he now has to get out of bed to pee. (He doesn't travel far because he's still wired in several places.)
With better health, Dennis is becoming very irritable. He doesn't remember much about his first couple days, so he thinks he's not progressing fast enough, I guess.
The doctor prescribed some muscle relaxers today. Dennis drifted in and out of sleep all afternoon, talking crazy and gesturing wildly all the while. The combination of the pain killers and the muscle relaxers really sent him to a different place.
I made Dennis promise that he'd call the nurses when he has to get up in the night. Then I told the nurses that they'd better check on him frequently because I was afraid for his safety if he tried to climb out of bed alone.
When I got home, I discovered that the water heater is leaking -- badly. I turned off the water and electric to it and tried to sop up some of the water that's on the floor, despite the plastic dish-with-a-drain that the water heater sets in.
The clothes drier quit working the day that Dennis got home and I haven't had a chance to get a repairman out here for it yet. I don't want to say that "surely nothing else can go wrong", because it might!
I've been keeping my sanity at the hospital by reading. I've been wanting to read my new book of Willa Cather short stories, but they require more focus than I can muster under the circumstances. So instead, I've read two juvenile books, It's Like This, Cat by Emily Neville and The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster.
Today, I took along All Creatures Great and Small by James Harriot. I'd forgotten what a heartwarming and amusing book it is. I enjoyed it so much that I think I'll re-read another of his books when I finish this one.
3 comments:
Hi Gen.
The Herriot book was a great choice. I recommend also PG Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster stories. I've just read one called The Inimitable Jeeves, featuring interlinked short stories. Very light and quite funny.
James
I'm glad that Dennis is making progress - it's a rotten shame that he had to be in that position in the first place. As for the James Herriot books, we have spent (some while ago) a wonderful vacation in the Yorkshire village where the t.v series was filmed - I didn't realise until my wife told me! Occasionally on PBS there are odd episodes of the series (at least there used to be) if one comes on you should watch it as they are very gentle, entertaining and true to the books.
Oh, here we go again with our paths crossing. Lately I have had such a craving to re-read the Harriot books myself and remembering how much I loved the PBS series.
I'm sorry so many things are going wrong all at the same time. Things do seem to gang up now and then, don't they?
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