Photo by Jessica Hobo @ WandelInNL
Photo Description: Doctor’s hands hold a small device against Codee’s eye to measure eye pressure.)
Tuesday March 15th
I started doing chores after I was done with my breakfast and tea, when Jessica came to ask me if I wanted to go with her to the village. They’ve opened a pop-up shop that sells products to raise money for the Ukraine. The number 1 SP candidate on the list for local elections, was volunteering there. So we decided to go say hello and support him. Of course we also bought some products. A lot of vegetables, some hand gel, soap and among other things, 5 bunches of tulips.
After bringing everything home and making some photos, we took 3 bunches of the tulips to give to some neighbours we often see and talk to. I told them all I had come to spread some love when handing them the flowers. They were all very happy with the unexpected gift. The other 2 bunches we kept. One for ourselves, the other one we would give to Mom later.
We stayed by one of the neighbours for a while to drink a cup of tea. Jessica usually sees and talks to her more than i do. So it was nice to sit and chat to her and hear the things she talked about and shared with us.
After lunch, Mon came to bring me to an appointment with my eye doctor. At the previous check up, the pressure in my eyes was a bit higher than usual. So it needed to be re checked. There was a very slight change again. But nothing to be concerned about as long as I keep using my eye drops. Vision in both eyes is still the same. That made me happy.
I did get a prescription for a gel, which I can spread on my eyes to help with pain caused by dry eye. Jessica wasn’t sure how to apply it. So we called one of my nurses for help. Now that she’s seen how it’s done, she thinks she can do it herself. She will practice with guidance from the nurse tomorrow. I need to get used to having it in my eyes. It causes blurry vision and is very sticky. I’m not a fan of the sensation of it in my eyes. But if it helps the pain…
Wednesdsy March 16th
Early this morning, my sleep was interrupted. First I heard an alarm clock. Then the doorbell rang. One of Jessica’s SP colleagues had come to meet Jessica as they were going to do some last effort campaigning at the train station. Our doorbell is connected to two chimes, one of which hangs in the hallway upstairs. Both of our phones get notifications and the smart lamp next to my bed turns on when it rings. I certainly will never miss a visitor. Haha
After talking with Jessica, we decided I should rest to give myself time to recover from the busy day yesterday. She took over one of my chores to save me some energy and let me relax. Later in the morning, I helped empty the trash cans, as this didn’t require too much effort and a bit of movement is always healthy.
In the afternoon I watched a lot of YouTube while Jessica went upstairs to take a nap. She will go join her SP colleagues for the results evening at 10pm and won’t be back for a few hours. So figured rest was a good idea so that she had enough energy to enjoy the late night.
After dinner we watched a few of our favorite shows together. The nurse came around 8:30 to guide Jessica while she tried to put sticky gel in my eyes. She did a great job. The nurse said she can do it fine on her own and no longer needs to come.
At 9:30 I went upstairs to get ready for bed. Jessica got ready to leave. It was kinda weird going to my bed while Jessica was just going out. To fix the weird feeling, I FaceTimed with Emily for about 30 minutes. She had some things to tell. So it was good to catch up and it helped me relax so that I could fall asleep at my normal sleeping time.
Thursday March 17th
The dishwasher wasn’t full enough to be switched on, so I re-arranged my chores list – yes, I actually write all my chores in a list in my reminders app – and moved it to Friday. Since turning it on and emptying it after it was done was my only chore, I suddenly had an anti-chores day.
I crawled under a blanket and watched TV. Jessica was tired after her late night. So she sat on the couch under her blanket doing the same.
Just before lunch, my phone rang. It was one of the senior care nurses. ‘’There are a lot of sick staff and we are struggling with the planning. Would Jessica mind giving you your medication and helping you wash on Saturday’’? We said that we appreciated being politely asked with plenty of notice and Jessica agreed she would help. But only on Saturday. Sunday is her day for walking and from Monday, she goes back to work. So won’t be available to take over.
Lunch consisted of a warm garlic bread and even warmer chicken soup. Which I totally appreciated, as I had started to get a cold after spending time in the eye hospital for my appointment.
The afternoon was just as lazy as the morning. Although Jessica had traded her blanket for a Chromebook and did some stuff online, while I was on social media on my phone. At one point I video called with Mom. We had a conversation and practiced some sign language. She’s recently started to learn to sign by folliwing the GebarenChallenge. A popular online challenge where you can learn more than 500 signs in one year.
At bed time, we took the tube of eye gel upstairs so that Jessica could put it in my eyes and I could immediately lay down with eyes closed afterwards. That wasn’t a great success though. The gel has a habbit of curling back on itself at the nozel. I don’t think any of it went in my eye. Just a lump of it in my eyelashes.
Friday March 18th.
Since Jessica knew that she would need to help with my care routine on Saturday, she started working through her Saturday chores list, so that she didn’t need to do chores and care on the same day. I did my chores too. I like doing my share of the housework, although my tasks are light and limited because everything I do feels like a workout. So Jessica really does almost everything. I mostly only take care of dishes, because the dishwasher does the hard work. And Trash, although Jessica moves the heavy containers when they need to go out for emptying. I just fill them.
I needed to wait for a call from the doctor’s support assistant. She takes care of my diabetes and blood pressure and guides me through any treatment I need. This time Jessica also needed to be present during the call, because we had questions about recent changes in my numbers and about what we will do to control my sugar when I go for my next pain treatment in the hospital. I don’t need it yet. But I am starting to feel pain in my leg and hip again. Call went well. The assistant was pleased to see my numbers were becoming stable again and we got our questions answered.
We escaped out of the house after the phone call. On our way to the village, we saw our neighbour. So stopped for a short chat. We shopped for some groceries in the Aldi and went to the Action afterwards. I guess this shop is similar to Dollar Tree. Not that everything is €1. Prices vary, but products cost a lot less than in other stores and there’s everything you can think of. From food to toys and winter blankets to garden furniture. Usually you go for one thing and leave with half of the store in your shoppping bag. But this time we only left with 2 products.
In the evening we did eye gel downstairs while I was still laying in the lazy chair. This went much better. The nurse had given us a tip to get the curly gel off the end of the tube. If I blink, my eyelashes will pull it down into my eye. Why didn’t we think of that?!
Saturday March 19th
Cough, sneeze, snot. ‘’Were you in the hospital Tuesday’’? Jessica asks in a playful tone. ‘’No… Not at all’’ I replied. ‘’Besides, it’s not a cold. It’s Hospitalitis. Or was that Hospicron’’? We knew it was coming. I always get the snots after spending time in a medical facility. It’s become normal. So we may as well joke about it.
I have some small chores, but I’ll do those in the afternoon while Jessica is out giving out easter eggs to the public along with other SP colleagues. First I’m crawing under a blanket to get warm. Brrr!
Chores were quickly done while Jessica was out. I also shaved my head because the growing hair was making me itchy. I’d taken out my hearing aid just before lunch as I had sone pain in my ear. After shaving my head, I removed the ear piece from the hearing aid to clean it and left the whole thing in the dry box to dry. It stayed there all day. I gave my ear a rest, hoping the pain would subside.
Jessica came home and greeted me with a red basket of easter eggs. I took one and she shared stories about her afternoon with her SP colleagues. We spent the evening watching TV. 24 Hours in the ER, folliwed by Ambulance. Both real life series. Which are two of my favorites.
You may have noticed that this blog starts on Tuesday and ends on Saturday. From now on, I’ll post on Sundays. It will hopefully give my friends more of a chance to read as most of you don’t have busy workdays on a Sunday.
Hope you’re enjoying this style of blogging. I’m certainly enjoying writing it! See you next week.
CRS Life 