Not Cold Today

I took the heated vest to the hospital this morning. We put it on Mom shortly after I got there, she really liked it. For the most part it kept her warm when it was at the lowest setting, 90 degrees F. But there was one point where she got cold, right after they changed her gown, that I put it on the 2nd setting at 105 F until she warmed up about 30 minutes later. The heated vest kept her toasty warm so she even removed some of the blankets they had given her that morning. At 90 F the battery will last about 10 hours; the plan is for Curtis to switch batteries before he leaves at night so that she is warm through most of the night. He will put the used battery on the charger, then switch it out the next morning.


You may have noticed she is still on the infusion pump, she was getting zosyn when the photo was taken. They also started her on the incentive spirometer again (at far left in photo). Before the pneumonia she was able to reach 1000 cc about half the time with the remaining reps at about 750 cc. Now with the pneumonia she can barely get to 500 cc.

Aunty Judy was there again this morning. She joked that she was going to come every day to eat lunch at the Sunrise Cafe! I told her that she has been lucky that the meals she has had are good since Curtis & I had a few meals that were not very good. Today, however, they had good meals; Aunty Judy had the pork tofu and I had the grilled monchong (Taractichthys steindachneri).

Grilled monchong with steamed vegetables and macaroni salad.

They mowed the golf greens this morning and the cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis) were following the mower, like it was a large metal bovine, catching insects and other small prey stirred up by the mower.


Curtis talked with Dr. Kamai this morning. He is contemplating giving Mom a transfusion because her numbers are dropping. But he had not put in the order today, so no transfusion today. It could be tomorrow though, the phlebotomist came in the early evening to collect blood for the cross match & give Mom the yellow wrist band for transfusions. Her lungs sounded "a little wet", so they started her up on the incentive spirometer again; we help out by working with Mom to do those.

Before coming to the hospital, I took the Subaru to McKinley Car Wash (across the street from McKinley High School). As part of the wash, they also vacuum the car out; they got all the sand out from the beach trips that Sarah, Kaia, David, & Randi made while they were here. (One of the guys vacuuming asked about all the sand.) All total, from the moment I drove up until I got back in to drive away it was 24 minutes; some of the on-line reviews said the wait could be up to 45 minutes because it is such a popular place. It cost only $15; next time I think I will add a wax to help protect the finish. I also have to take the RAV4 in and have it cleaned up.

Vacuuming, another worker joined him later from the other side of the car.

The start of the wash cycle. Continuing to the left inside the part of the building I am in is the snack display and cashier where you pay for everything before exiting to pick up your car; a well thought out flow pattern.

Almost done! They wipe down the inside, too: windows, dash board, control panel, & door panels.

For my snack today I got some whole wheat fig bars from Kokua. They are very nutrient-dense, but tasty! Fig bars were also one of my favorite snacks to take to the field.


Happy Birthday to Rich! Happy Skip the Straw Day and Happy Tortilla Chip Day! Get ready to celebrate Chocolate Covered Nut Day and Clam Chowder Day tomorrow.