Thursday 9/8/22

5:49am I think I had the worse nightmare of my life. I was still living with my parents. We were watching some kind of TV show about gays. My dad was ging on about they should kill them all. Then we can got into a fight! He called me the  t f word and that I was a no good bum. Then we got into a real shouting match.

I was very upset and had to get away from my father. I went to my room upstairs. But I could hear all kinds of noises and shouting. Things quieted down so I went back downstars. I found my entire family, including my brother and his kids kpplying dead on the floor..

Then the aide came to wake me up. I had a very nice  aide. She gave me a sponge bath and changed me. I was in my wheelchair by 5:20. I’m up for good but wish I was back in bed.

9:07am I talked with Chocolatechip before breakfast. We talked very briefly because I wasn’t too alert. I fell asleep after our conversation. I slept in my wheelchair until they served drinks. I had two cups of nice hot coffee and this time two orange juices. I felt refreshed and renewed after my morning coffee.

I had a good breakfast. I had pancakes and scrambled eggs with hot oatmeal cereal. It tasted pretty good this time and I ate it all. Shortly after breakfast Darla, from PT, came to take me to the gym.

I did pretty good today. I did three exercises, three sets of fifteen kicks, side to sides, up and down.  We did stretch exercises as well. I did ok on my right legs  but my left, the bad one ,hurt like hell. I spent about a half hour in the gym.

Darla was taking me back to my room. She started talking about knee replacement surgery. I emphatically said no. She said I would feel so much better. Again I said no I do not trust doctors. I said I’m a stubborn man. I’d cut off my nose to spite my face.

I talked to Chocolatechip when they left. I told her about how they want me to get a knee replacement. There is a lot of work in PT she said. Plus elderly people have a hard time in  recovering from  operations. I said my main fear is it getting infected and I’ll have to get another operation She had to go so that ended my conversation.

5:04pm I was without phone or Internet service for a long time. I started to think they cut me off for not paying my rent. But aides kept telling me that they were upgrading services today. Both would be working intermittently. I felt kind of out of sorts because the Internet is my connection to the outside world. 

I had a good lunch. I had BBQ chicken, scalloped potatoes, a dinner roll and spinach. It was delicious except for  the spinach. I tried to eat it but just cannot tolerate spinach. I had two cups of coffee and a fruit punch. Coffee was barely warm but I drank it anyways. 

I was getting a tad bit anxious after lunch. But I must of calmed down because I got very sleepy. I fell asleep in my wheelchair and slept a good bit this afternoon. I was pleased to discover phone and internet services restored when I woke up. I immediately called Chocolatechip.

We had a nice long conversation. Chocolatechip was still upset about yesterday. She said she phoned Dixie, head of case management, demanding an explanation and said she will document the incident. She also left a message to Shirley Stemple, head of Healthways. This only made her angrier because nobody from Healthways returned her calls.

We also talked about getting to Walmart and Dollar General. I said get one of you daughter’s, Anne or Theresa to take you. Chocolatechip wondered if she should make two trips or do everything at once. I said since Healthways is so unreliable I would make one trip.

We had a nice talk until Chocolatechip got hungry. I started to look at books on Amazon. I ended up buying a couple. I bought a three volume boxed set bio of Winston Churchill. It was buy William Manchester.  Then Eric Foner was  bought a couple books by Eric Foner. One was called The Firery Trial and the other The Second Founding.

I was book shopping at Amazon until supper. I had two pit beef sandwiches with cheese, tater tots and pineapple bits for desert. Then I had two very weak coffees and a fruit punch. I drank the coffee anyway. 

I called Chocolatechip after supper. We had a nice conversation until her bedtime at 6:3/pm. She was getting usleepy. I said I’m going to stay up and read.

8:47pm I read the first section in Chapter 12 Blockades and Beachheads of Battle Cry of Freedom. The author talked about the first naval operations of the war. He focused on the construction of the Monitor and Merrimack and their battle off Hampton Roads Virginia. I thought this was interesting and never get tired of Civil War history.

I bought another book Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. This is about Abraham Lincoln and his Civil War cabinet. This makes the fourth book today. I know I said no more books but I just cannot help myself. I only hope the nursing home doesn’t find out about these purchases. 

I do not think I’ll reach my reading goal tonight. I have fifteen more pages to finish the chapter. I’m kind of tired and was falling asleep a little bit ago. But I hate to stop in the middle of a chapter. So I’m going to give it a shot.