Monday, April 29, 2024

Hospital stay

I have been wondering if I have the energy to write this post. 

Every time I successfully hoist myself off of the toilet seat I feel grateful. 

I have been in the hospital for over a week. It started a month ago? I don't even remember when or how. I started feeling so tired I could hardly leave the sofa. I would get up to do something and just give up and lay back down. It was hard to think, to talk ... and last week Bri drug me off the sofa and said you are going to the hospital. 

I had also had a cold/cough for awhile. I had weeks where I was super sensitive to smells and any smell would make me throw-up ... but of course I had not food in me so lots of dry heaving. The rest is a blur. 

The initial scare was that my sodium level had dropped to a dangerous level, hence, the not having energy or being able to form a sentence, so I got started on a a bunch if IVs. My arms look like pincushion. At a certain point they simple could not get a good IV port through a vein anymore. 

I was ordered for Nurse Rachett to eat bacon, and drink veg broth. Bacon, which I quit eating ages ago I started forcing my self to swallow ... Nurse Rachett insisted I eat the bread to because it has salt. I have sort of quit eating bread. 

The funny thing is, I though me eating radishes and bell peppers was for the healthier me. But true I was not getting enough protein. But then we came to the main issue I had ended up being pneumonia, lungs full of what my Dr delicately described as pus. Xrays later and a bronchoscopy where you could see all the fluid and God knows what else. 

Well, my mind took a dark turn that second night, I thought about how I was not going through any treatment, and how Matt would take it all, Not sad but just logical process. The next day Bri and I talked all morning about all the will and power of attorneys and all the paper work they had, made sure where it was, medical directives ,,, Bri is like me, was like to start off at the worst scenerio and work our way up. 

Anyway ... with that all out of the way ... I started eating 3 or 4 meals a day ... forcing whatever Nurse Rachett said. Oh, I had also lost a lot of weight and they weren't happy with that. So a week of being woken up every hour for blood test, blood pressure, temp, changing out IVs ... I am back home. The nursing staff was sooooo wonderful, patient. 

They are still waiting for the cultures to grow so they can see what kind of nasty shit is in there. I am on antibiotics for awhile. Bri stocked up the kitchen with lots of food for me to eat. But I have some energy back. I walked around the house, did dishes and little things. I am very weak, hence my fear of getting stuck on the toilet. 

The kids were my rock. Bri at the hospital, face-timing during meetings. She was checking My Chart all day seeing what the test results were. They have gone off the softball tonight. The girls just a crazy as ever.

They went to Costco earlier today and I said ,,, get a big chocolate cake. Still trying to figure out when and how my sodium got so low. But it all feels like too much to think about in depth, will do that later.

Tuesday, April 02, 2024

That time of the year to think FLOWERS

Justine Smith, florist extraordinaire. 


 Make your own Paper Petal Press

Kate Kato, Botanical Studies


I don't know who did this but I want it.
 
 
The Paper Heart makes Honeysuckle sing! (with instructions)
 
 

And then there are those flowers not of this world. By Malaysian artist Noreen Loh Hui Miun. More about her here and her Instagram.



 

Monday, April 01, 2024

Easter eggs, candy, homemade cinnamon rolls and ham for dinner

We had a very good Easter here in the Miller house. We had a morning-Easter-basket-candy-sugar-high, followed by a few melt-downs, homemade cinnamon rolls. The kids took the dogs to the dog park for long walk and they came home made a delicious dinner. 

For some reason I am hooked on Fruit Punch Gartorade and Hot Spicy V8 juice. I should make some raspberry ice tea. You know when you want something more than water ... well Coke or sweet fizzy drinks just don't do it for me now.

The day before I had bound off the sofa to save a bird from Oscar's mouth and pulled my back in the process. Bri grabbed up the little bird and we thought all might be well. So with Salonapas stuck to my back and the heating pad on high ... I stayed very still for a few days. Today is the most gorgeous, sunny day. It seems like everything started blooming at once. 

Bri and Mason have gone shopping, leaves the house very quiet. The dogs are illegally sleeping on the front room sofa, waiting for them. I can hear the wind chimes, an airplane taking off, an fire engine coming down the hill. The house creaking a little bit. It is nice to be really quiet. 

We  had another family "talk" about the future. State Farm had called to inquire about my Life Insurance status and offered to give me some quotes. I took notes and talk to the kids about it later. It is very expensive. Bri asked exactly what would I be getting for and I said I guess mainly so you guys could pay off the house if there is anything to pay off, you know things like that. They both agreed it seems like a waste of money and both said, we are getting the house and what ever money is left over ... it will be enough. We did decide to talk to Fidelity about maybe taking a little bit monthly and putting it into a separate account for college funds. Which also brought me to circle around to the will, trust and all the end of-life documents, DNR and such. All of this conversation makes Matt very uncomfortable. Thankfully, Bri understands fully what I want.

I don't want to spend a lot of time thinking and talking about this stuff with the kids but I do want to make sure we are all clear on my wishes. We were caught so off-guard with David's sudden death. It is important to have these discussions. 

My friend Elana just called. We check in with each other about once a week. Mainly to talk about the state of political upheaval. She is proud of my posting on FB every stupid little thing that trump has done. I do occasionally post some great art but normally I keep my FB open for my political rantings. I did really enjoy trump's bible sales infomercial. She wants to say, do more but she does not feel brave enough. Hey, I get it. She is Jewish and is feeling a little vulnerable right now. Really, anyone who isn't white or American, Christian should feel vulnerable right now in this country. I tell her ... I will post the outrageous stuff for YOU! I remember telling David I was going to quit FB and he said absolutely not! This is our Hitler's Germany moment ... and what have you always said about speaking up!

So if you ever want to follow me on FB to see the PISSED OFF kim version ... @kimberly.carney.artist/ ... come join my party. This first one is my favorite this week!




 

He posted 77 all-caps rants on Easter Sunday!


 
I almost forget to post this important video from Steve Schmidt. I love all of his videos but this one is the best. At one point I doubled over in laughter when he talks about the depths a trump’s depravity but at the end found myself crying. I feel like this is what the nation feels like right now ... confused, high and lows, hilarity, outrage and sadness, disbelief ... all in a matter of minutes.

 

 
I love this guy's work - Daniel Martin Diaz. I sometimes wish I was just starting out filling my house with art. Problem now is I have NO wall space for art. But I can still enjoy it! Every inch of the art there is something interesting to see.