Digging out

Maggie checking out her new driver

Maggie and I are both adjusting nicely to her being back in school.

She is seeing her friends, meeting her new bus driver, getting to know her new teacher and a new aide in the classroom and learning lots of things. In fact, she informed me last night that the Quail is the State Bird of California, a fact of which I was previously unaware.

I am getting back in to the schedule that I seem to need to function. It took me a lot of years to admit that because I like to think of myself as someone who goes with the flow;  but the truth is I like a schedule, especially when it comes to Maggie. It makes everything else easier. I spent the past few days digging out from underneath the piles of paper and work that has accumulated during the past few weeks when I didn't have any time to get things done. Bills have been paid, the dog has been to the vet, the men came to change the windows etc etc.  I did get all the legal work I have to do into one organized pile, but I left Maggie within reach and she decided they would be better on the floor. And she thought that was hilarious! She is very helpful.

This afternoon after Maggie arrived home, I helped the nurse get her situated and we did the procedures together. At the same time I was trying to locate the property tax bill and finish my malpractice insurance renewal. Done and almost done. I had to stop because I had to get to the bank before it closed. Perhaps order will be restored next week.

I ran out of the house on my thrice weekly run around the neighborhood, the bank, the cleaners, the pharmacy, the supermarket etc etc. The stuff has been sitting at the cleaners for weeks.  As I was leaving the house, the nurse handed me an empty bottle of one of Maggie's prescription meds.

I brought it with me because the pharmacy was one of my stops. Most of Maggie's meds are automatically renewed and with luck, the refill would be waiting for me when I got there. As I waited for the man in front of me to finish at the window, the clerk noticed me with the empty bottle and laughed. She said I hope you got a cart.I didn't really get the joke until it was my turn. Oh yes, that med was ready and so were several others. I definitely needed the cart.

We are stocked up now, but there will be more. There is always more. 

 I will be digging out for a while yet. In fact I can only hope it will be done before Christmas vacation 

Warning: Wild Weekend ahead!!

Lots going on around here this weekend. There are dinners and picnics and graduations and Bay to Breakers. Fortunately the sun came out for the first time in days, so perhaps we can enjoy all - or at least some of - the activities without the miserable gray fog we've had in recent days. I do wish these things were spread out over different weekends so we could enjoy everything, but it's a busy time of year and there are lots of things going on.

Graduation time is busy even when there are no graduates in your house. This weekend alone there are three graduation events, one nephew graduating from college, one from high school and our good friend Lexi from law school. We have to miss the one for Jeff, my nephew who is graduating from high school. We just cannot be in three places at once. I'm certain he will party heartily without us and know we wish him well.

It is very difficult to organize Maggie's care when there are busy weekends with a lot of activities. She still needs all of her things right  on schedule, even when the schedule is crazy. Generally we divide and conquer, Steve hitting one thing and me another, but that wouldn't work this weekend. I had to beg on Jeff's party because it's in Santa Rose and I just cannot get there with Maggie unless I have Steve or someone to help me.  There is a dinner tonight for Matt, my nephew finishing USF and we will leave Maggie home with the nurse. Tomorrow there is Matt's graduation ceremony and a picnic and then Lexi's graduation ceremony and a dinner following. I don't think we are even expected at  Lexi's ceremony and I had to beg off from Matt's ceremony because I can't get a nurse for that and get one for the dinner. And taking Maggie to a lengthy and crowded graduation ceremony is not my idea of fun. Nor is it hers.

Fortunately the picnic is within walking distance from us in Golden Gate Park. Maggie and I will walk over there and join the fun so she can see the cousins, aunts and uncles and Matt's friends who will be there. Before that, though I have to take her with me downtown to get some law books I need. I plan to have Tim walk around with her while I'm doing my legal thing and then we will be back here before the picnic even starts.

Sunday is Bay to Breakers and we always walk into the park to watch the throngs of runners go by. The elite runners do the 7.6 mile race in about 25 minutes. The hoards of other runners take quite a bit longer. We are guaranteed to see lots of costumes which are very entertaining and several naked bodies, which are not. (I'll spare you the pictures of the naked runners)

It's not like things let up after this weekend either.  Memorial Day weekend is the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge and we will be hitting a few of those events, and then more graduations the next weekend. and the weekend after that. Maggie's last day of school is next Friday. I have to ramp up Camp Mom again too.

I need a nap.

And in case I forget, I have to congratulate all the graduates: Matt and Jeff and Lexi this weekend, and Jack and Nick whose celebrations are in the next few weeks.

Nursing dominoes

Our foray out of this house for four days is completely upsetting the nursing apple cart.

It is Monday through Thursday, which is generally the most stable part of the week for us nursing wise. We will be gone for four days, or eight shifts. If we were home we would have two nurses covering those eight shifts. Neither of them is really in a position to commute across the bridge, so I had to rearrange. That created a domino effect. Those 8 shifts required changing about 30 shifts. These two could cover some weekend shifts and the weekend nurses on both ends of the week, who are better able to make the commute will cover the weekdays.

I had to cajole and make concessions and agree to pick up people at the BART (Rapid transit) station., but as of this moment, I think every shift is covered. Of course I will believe it when everyone shows up, but for now I can relax.

Did I mention the house where we are staying is in a sunny area and comes equipped with a pool?  I guess I have to add sunblock to my long list. GREAT!

Swimming is dangerous for Maggie because we have to be certain her trach stays out of the water. That's easy enough to do if there is more than one person to get her in and out of the pool.

Oh. And I don't have a trach.

It will be worth it.

Logistics

The logistics of my life and very involved. A simple thing requires many steps and considerations before it an happen. Today is a good example.

Poor Brisco, the wonder dog, is injured. We didn't know what was wrong but he started limping over the weekend and by Monday morning it was clear something was VERY wrong. Steve took him to the vet and she discovered a deep and infected puncture wound on his upper leg, wiht a large abcess. He is recovering now, but we have to medicate him and irrigate this nasty wound a couple of times a day. Brisco is relegate to the cone of shame while he recovers.

Today is his follow up appointment. They want to make sure it is healing correctly and, if not, they will have to put a drain in to clear out the infection.  I think it is doing well but I have to take him to make certain. I don't think I have the wherewithal to handle surgery for the DOG.

The appointment is at 1:30. Any other day that would be perfect timing. Maggie gets home around 3 and her nurse arrives just ahead of that to get everything prepared. Except Wednesday Maggie gets out of school early. She generally arrives just before 1:30 and her nurse gets her at 1:00. Except today I told the nurse to come at 2:00PM because I have to go to a wake tonight for Steve's Uncle Tony who passed away last week. I'm not positive I could be back here for the nurse to go home at 9:00 so I'm having her come 2:00 to 10:00.

Maggie could come with me to the vet. It's just a few blocks away. There's just one step up to the entrance and I could probably get the wheel chair in there with very little problem. Probably. But the office is set up in this strange configuration and one exits through a narrow hallway that would be problematic. Not insurmountable, but problematic.

I don't need problematic.

 It's supposed to rain all day, it was hailing a few minutes ago. There is no parking near the vet. If I don't take Maggie I can just walk down there in the rain, but I can't do that with her. I would have a hard time explaining to the pulmonologist that she's sick again because we went for a walk in a hailstorm.

I can make this easier.  I don't want to worry about anything else.  One call to the vet and the appointment is changed to 4:30. Maggie will be here with her nurse and I can dash out with the dog for 30 minutes.

Perfect.  It's so simple.

Can't Get There From Here

My freedom is directly linked to the length of Maggie's school day. I have to have all my errands and fun done by 3:00 PM every day. Once she gets home I have to be here. Yes, we have a nurse here but Maggie is a two person job these days. Once she gets home and we get her out of her chair and settled, I can get out for about an hour or so, but I have to be back in time for the next transition to the chair or next procedure. It's a drag, but generally it works.

Once in a while I try something very ambitious and push the envelope a bit. I made plans to go to Sacramento today, which is almost two hours from here. I can take care of things there and be back here by 3(ish). Ambitious, but do-able. Of course that means everything has to go right.

Getting in and out of San Francisco means you have to cross a Bridge. And the fastest way to get to Sacramento is across the Bay Bridge. Because of a stupid accident on Tuesday, the Bridge is closed. That means the 100,000 + cars that use it every day have to find some other way to get into and out of the city.

When I say the accident was stupid, I mean just that. A repair done over Labor Day weekend failed and a 5000 lb chunk of steel fell from the top of the bridge. Horrible, but amazingly only one person was just slightly hurt. The reason it fell? The engineers forgot to account for the vibration of the bridge.

Really? An 8 mile stretch of roadway suspended high over the San Francisco Bay with howling winds and thousands of cars trucks and buses crossing it every day might vibrate? In earthquake county? Who knew? Sheesh! I can feel that thing vibrating when I'm sitting in my car. And I was and English major.

I almost cancelled my trip because the excess time makes this ambitious trip impossible to complete. We have to go north across the Golden Gate to get East to Sacramento. So does everyone else, and it will be S L O W going. But I need to get up there. Steve can't come home early because he has some hearing. I called around and made arrangements to have someone here, but I'm not 100% confident that will happen. I told the nurse even if all that falls through and I''m an hour late, Maggie will be fine just sitting in her chair.

Wish me luck!