Its a cold brisk day here in SE Michigan. Its grey and overcast with some wind. I just got home from making a run to a local drugstore where I had to get a raised toilet seat for Lori. She is losing her muscle mass due to the fact she can't really eat any solid foods. I had her take a multi-vitamin and will do so every day,she lost a lot of ground because of the UTI and the chronic vomiting. But now with this pretty much under control somewhat,we can work on getting her back on her feet.
Its 10:41 pm
Just finished her hydration (and then did Ginger's as well). The U of M have rolled out a new delivery system for hydration that has its ups and downs. First,the needles are now all plastic,this is good...they are smaller and easier to deal with and we don't need a sharps bucket anymore for putting our steel needles in.
The set up is actually a bit quicker as well...but the big trade-off is the time table for hydration. It has slowed down quite a bit which means a much longer time to deliver the fluid Lori needs. What was a 2 hour job now takes over 3.5 hours and that is even with the drip fully open. We are hoping to talk with the visiting nurse come Monday and see if we can get this straightened out.
The raised toilet seat has also proved to be a real benefit,she can lift herself off with with little effort. This is important because you don't want to go to work wondering if your spouse might become stuck. It may sound a bit humorous but it really isn't.
I was asked a question about what do we need....well besides a divine miracle,I was going to say "Nothing much". But as we have discovered,cancer is a very tiring and draining battle...and things you normally don't think about,they become very important. We go through trash bags,toilet paper,,dish soap,laundry soap,food like Boost/Carnation Instant Breakfast like nobody's business. I never really thought about it until I went down to our pantry and realized we are out of so many things we had stockpiled. Who knew,right? These are things the doctors and medical websites don't tell you about....
Friday found me heading back to the clothing consignment place "Green and Glamorous" for a second time.
I had already been once to drop off some items because we are now downsizing. We tackled the closet in the spare bedroom and found plenty to donate to Goodwill and to consign some Lori's nicer but older clothes. Green and Glamorous is run like a upscale boutique and you have to call and make an appointment so the owner can go over the items and see which ones will sell. I had called to set up a Saturday appointment but realized that I was working so I had to reschedule it. I asked if Friday would be okay but since the boutique doesn't accept appointments on Fridays,I thought I would have to go on a Monday. But the owner said she would take me,this was a real blessing to say the least. Lori and I finished tackling the closet and I loaded the car up.
I got there at 12:30 pm and was led to the back office where I met the owner,Starr Hunt,of the boutique.She is both beautiful on the outside as well as the inside,she reminds me of one of Lori's old co-workers,a lady named Karen,whom we called "Big Moo" with much love. Karen was Lori's assistant when she worked at the Sak's outlet in Fairlane Mall.
Starr was warm and very professional as we shared our stories,her store has been open for three years and has done very well because of the economy,women who want quality name brands yet at affordable prices have found that Green and Glamorous has both. Starr mentioned she is still working on creating several events to help market her store. I shared some of the ideas I have seen both on FB and Twitter. While the store does have a FB page,its not being used nearly as effective as it could it with only 297 "Likes".
But with Starr being the owner,buyer and event planner,one can see her plate is pretty thin. I mentioned that I would be writing about my very pleasant experience in her store and I hoped it help Green and Glamorous in the search engines! Needless to say,if you're in the Metro Detroit and are looking for a chic,hip women's boutique to shop at,head on over to Green and Glamorous in Canton.
This week also had us scrambling to get our taxes done,this was a first for us,first time we did them on the last day possible and the first time I went solo over to see our tax expert Jennifer. Despite our mountain of medical bills,receipts and over items..it didn't help garner a bigger return,in fact,we were like most of middle class America and got about half back compared to last year. Jennifer said many people were really stressing about getting their returns back and with the pay out dates being pushed back several weeks,it made for some nervous moments.
When I asked about the economic recovery,she laughed and said she hasn't seen it based on the hundreds of tax returns she has prepared this year. She said we basically have known,we are getting less pay,we have watched our wages stay the same or less (because we work less hours) while the cost of living has gone up. Things are not getting better,Americans are just adjusting their standards of living. This is why even today we are seeing larger companies struggle to meet stockholder's expectations.
It occurs to me that a key indicator about our economy can be found at your local tax expert,talk about having a finger on the pulse of the nation....
I finally am happy to report that I'll be posting a NEW "8 Questions With...." this week. I'm pretty excited to say the least (but then again,don't I always?). I'm interviewing freelance novelist Jan Romes this time around,this will be my second time interviewing a published writer as I interviewed Joan Lemon back when I started this blog here.
Well that is all I have for tonight....next post,I'll be talking about the folly that was and is Boston.
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