Dad's Swallow Test

At about 1 pm, Justin from Hawai'i Patient Transport arrived to take Dad to Queen's Medical Center for the swallow test. It was raining; Susie insisted on holding an umbrella in the wind to keep the rain off of Dad.

Susie holds the umbrella while Justin loads Dad into the transport van.

Justin unloads Dad at Queen's Medical Center.

As we signed in I noticed they have cards in different languages so that patients who are not fluent in English can request an interpreter.


When we were in the exam room I asked the imaging technician if I could take photos for the blog; she said photos weren't allowed. She said they had people taking photos of procedures and staff without asking permission to take photos of the people so they instituted the "No Photos" rule. But I think because I asked & I wasn't showing people, they let me take photos, saying, "My back is turned, I didn't see what you did." They were really nice. (But I'm not listing their names so they don't get in to trouble.)

The test materials, L to R: thin, nectar, canned pears, and cracker with soft center.

Screen shot of video of swallowing.

The speech pathologist and I spent a bunch of time talking before the test. I told her we think the problem was the straw because he had fewer problems after we stopped giving him straws, but we decided to go ahead with the swallow test because it took so long for the VA to approve doing the test! Dad passed, but the speech pathologist still gave me a couple of recommendations to make things easier for him. She will be writing up a fuller response for the staff at Maunalani who would then talk with Curtis & me.

While we were leaving Jamie, the return driver, had us wait at the end of the porch while she brought the transport van up. We were standing next to 3 vending machines while we waited and I noticed something unusual in one of the vending machines. They must be having a problem with the vending machines.

Can you spot the unusual item in the machine?

It looks like the infrared motion-activated cameras that we used at our mitigation sites to document wildlife use.

Because of the very gusty winds throughout my morning walk I saw a lot less birds; once again there were no mynas or bulbuls in the African Tulip Tree. A couple of birds that I did see flying were frequently going sideways. The only regular I saw was Kelly driving by. I met Caroline and Olive; they live at the top of Lurline.

Nine minutes before sunrise on Maunalani.

Ten minutes after sunrise on Sierra.

Today was recycle bin pick-up day and it was very windy as well as drizzly. On my morning walk I earned a bunch of karma credit; I closed the lid on 38 blue bins! If it's a sunny day, I don't close bin lids so that they can air out. But if there's precipitation or it's threatening, then I close lids. It was nice to see that the lids were still closed when I drove by later in the morning. If the bins are knocked over, I don't pick them up because the wind will likely blow them over again and besides, less rain will get in them when they are on their sides.

There were so many bins with open tops on my walk today.

There were also a lot of bins blown over by the wind.

During my cool down stretches it was really raining hard! There were also less birds. And the ones that were around were taking shelter.

The gusty winds are blowing the runoff up the driveway!

It was raining so hard, Leahi was not visible.

A pair of Common Mynas took shelter under my car.

Dad was done with breakfast when I arrived. He couldn't remember what he ate or didn't eat. CNA Sharmaine said he only ate a little of the fried egg sandwich & papaya but drank all of his Breeze and Plus supplements.

I took the Subaru in this morning to find out why the Check Engine light was on. Yesterday they had asked me when I filled up gas and I thought it was earlier in the week; it turns out it was on Tuesday after I returned from breakfast with Curtis. I let them know that; it turns out it was the gas cap. Apparently in certain models of Subarus you have to make sure the gas cap is on very tight, otherwise air gets in to the system and creates something like a vapor lock which affects the sensors. (Scott the customer service guy seemed very relieved when I interrupted him as he started to explain what happened, by saying, "You mean like a vapor lock?")

Look! No warning signs!

I passed this on the way to the dealer. I saw this back in October but did not have as good an angle on it so here it is again.

Although I got back from the Subaru dealer with enough time to do my mid-morning walk, it was raining when I got to the parking lot. I waited for about 5 minutes but it didn't show any signs of slowing down or stopping, so I headed in during the rain. It took a while to slow down to a walkable rate, but by then it was too late for me to start, especially since I needed to make sure Dad ate and was ready to go to his appointment.


Lunch today was Pork long squash, Steamed rice, Tossed salad, Sweet corn haupia, and Portuguese bean soup. I have decided to see if I can find recipes to link to the menus, obviously they won't be the menus that the staff at Maunalani uses, but it will give you an idea of the dish. Dad did not eat much of his lunch or supplements.

It continued raining after lunch.

Dad & I got back to Maunalani about 3:45, well after the start time for my walk. But it was raining so I would not have walked anyway. So I just went home, ate dinner, took a shower, and got ready for bed.

Lots of Rain This Morning

When I left the house this morning I had to set the windshield wipers to the lower continuous setting; that tells me I would get soaked while walking. In fact, if I am on one of the two lowest intermittent settings that is what I consider walkable weather, any more precipitation than that and I would get soaked by the time I finish my 37 or so minutes of walking. I made a special stop at the ditch to see what it looked like in an active rain event; it was great! The water was all the way across the channel! Later, on my walk, it was back down.

At 7 while it was raining.

Half an hour later after the rain had stopped.

While I was driving up Lurline from the ditch the rain started to slow down. By the time I reached the parking lot it had stopped. I saw Kelly & Abby on the way up to the parking lot; they must have started in the heavier part of the rain, Kelly appeared to have a waterproof jacket on. For most of my morning walk it was dry; right around the time my phone said I had completed 1 mile a light drizzle started to come down. I ended up walking the final half mile in the drizzle; Kelly drove by as I was on the way up Lurline. He & Abby were the only regulars I saw today. For the entire walk it was very windy and I did not see many birds. There were no birds drinking the nectar in the African Tulip Tree flowers.

One minute before sunrise on Maunalani.

Fifteen minutes after sunrise on Sierra.

Dad ate about half his papaya this morning but only a couple bites of his scrambled egg. He drank all of his Plus and about half of the Breeze. RN Sierra and I discussed the fried egg sandwich; she will request it starting tomorrow and try it for a week and see whether he eats more of it than he has been.

The staff here is very nice. Apparently someone left a water bottle in the 1st floor bathroom that I use for changing. Two people stopped me to ask if it was my water bottle! By the  way, it's not; my water bottle has a label that has my phone number on it. The water bottle was a gift from Suzanne.

As I was about to start my mid-morning walk, CNA Janae said it was windy; but it wasn't as windy as it was in the morning. There were also scattered clouds so it was partly sunny. There were a lot more birds during the mid-morning walk than the morning walk (46 vs 180 individuals, 10 vs 18 species); I think it was probably the difference in the amount of wind. I got a great photo of a pair of Zebra Doves; they are smaller than the Spotted Dove, are more bluish than the pinkish tint of the Spotted Dove, and have "stripes" along their back rather than a solid grayish color.

Zebra Doves (Geopelia striata).

Lunch today was Shepherd's pie. Seasoned broccoli florets, Tossed salad, Ambrosia, and Chicken & wild rice soup. Dad did not eat any lunch or drink any supplements; he just wanted to sleep.


It was raining before my afternoon walk but by the time I started walking it was dry and sunny! At least until I got down to the park. I had just past the parking lot when it began to pour! I took shelter under a large Formosa koa for about 10 minutes; it didn't look like it was going to stop so I decided to retrace my steps and go back to Maunalani since I was not at the farthest point in my walk. So I started back up in the rain; it didn't seem like it would stop but I should have waited another 10 minutes.I got kinda wet in those 10 minutes but got some great photos of water rushing down the swales.

Looking out from under the Formosa koa (Acacia confusa) at the rain.

Runoff in the swale adjacent to the park.

The ambient temperature this morning was colder than my A/C setting in the car. The ambient temperature was also colder in the afternoon, too. Basically, I was using the A/C to warm me up! But I really needed more; I wish we had the tub again. But the walk in shower that we replaced Mom's tub/shower combo with was much better for her.



When I started up the car at Maunalani several warning lights lit up on the dash panel. One was the Check Engine light, another was the cruise control light, and the final one was the X-mode light; which I had to look up in the Owner's Manual to find out what it was and how to turn it off. The manual says, the "X-mode is the integrated control system of the engine, AWD, and Vehicle Dynamics Control system, etc. for driving with bad road conditions. Using X-mode, you can drive more comfortably even in slippery road conditions including uphill and downhill." The manual also said I needed to go to the dealer. So I headed down Maunalani and pulled in to the Subaru dealer; I have an appointment tomorrow morning. They said they would give me a ride up to Maunalani so I can accompany Dad to his swallow test.

The X-mode warning light is the one that looks like an SUV on a bumpy road.

After dinner I texted friends and relatives in cold places after watching the weather report on the news. A minute after I texted her, cousin Tomiko was calling; she was stuck at home in since classes in Wisconsin were cancelled due to the cold. I had sent her a New Year's package (i.e., a late Christmas gift ...) that included Kona coffee and kulolo mix; she said she would make them so she could make believe she is in a warmer place! Robert, also in Wisconsin, texted back that he was doing fine getting around the complex he is in because all the buildings are connected so the elders don't need to go out and brave the weather. Only problem was that the Tribe was shut down for 2 days so there were no meals being prepared so he had to do his own cooking. Nikki said it was still cold & snowy in Michigan but they were doing fine. Bick said her mom in Michigan was staying home so she was avoiding the traffic mess as seen on the news. And Suzanne in Virginia said it was a "balmy 8 degrees. Still dropping!" She sent these photos. It looks beautiful but that's too cold for me!

Hauʻoli lā Hānau to Jennie & Kevin!

Thelma's Restaurant

We have not been as consistent in going to Tuesday breakfast for a number of reasons; we went this morning. Because eastbound traffic was very bad we headed west and looked over our list of places to try. Thelma's was one we spotted while driving by a few months ago and it was 6 minutes away so we decided to take a chance on it. Curtis had the Thelma's Breakfast Special, I had the Eggplant Omelet with Tinapa & Garlic Fried Rice. They were excellent! We plan on checking out more Filipino breakfast places, like the Kambingan Restaurant a few doors down from Thelma's.

Thelma's Breakfast Special with lechon kawali. 

Eggplant Omelet with Tinapa, which looks like a halalū to me.

By the time I got to Maunalani, Dad only had his supplements and papaya in front of him. I have no idea how much of the eggs he ate this morning. He was also ready to take his nap between breakfast and lunch so I lowered the bed for him.

The mid-morning walk was my first walk of the day because I went out to breakfast instead of doing the morning walk. It was overcast and very windy; according to the forecast it will be windy for a few more days. I saw a lot of birds, especially Java Sparrows, sitting in trees & shrubs.

This is Kelly's gate; it is too bad it no longer opens. I like the aesthetic of this gate, I will be sad to see it go.

RN Sierra said Dad had difficulty swallowing his pills this morning so she crushed his ibuprofen and put it in chocolate pudding. He didn't have a problem swallowing it. She said she would make a note to give Dad his pills crushed in chocolate pudding until the results & recommendations come back from the swallow test on Thursday afternoon.

Lunch today was Cheeseburger on bun, Hawaiian coleslaw, Banana pudding, & Seafood chowder. We discussed how Dad was eating more when the sandwich was just cut in half and not in smaller pieces; it seems the fork was giving him problems. CNA Jessa will talk to RN Sierra about putting a note about changing his breakfast to a fried egg sandwich to see if he will eat more when it is presented that way.


Before I started my afternoon walk I went to the 2nd floor landing to see how bad the precipitation was; it looked kinda wet from Dad's room. It was wet, but I decided to change into my walking clothes and check it out as the time to start got closer. It was drizzling lightly when I started, but it quit after about 5 minutes. By the time I got down past the park, my shirt was dry again. But then it started to drizzle when I was at the farthest point on my walk and it never stopped; I got soaked. By the way, I threw my green Seattle Sombrero in the car after my aborted attempt to walk with the new hat; I used the green hat for walking today and it kept my head dry.

What things looked like at 2 p.m.

At 3 p.m.

Runoff on Lurline.

The ditch.

The green hat is soaked but it kept my head dry.

What it looked like at 3:40 p.m. There is less precipitation.

As I was driving to Curtis' house this morning the air in the car felt warmer than when I was walking to the car; it was. I keep the temperature in the car at 72 degrees F because this is the recommended temperature when transporting birds. The outside temperature was 70F. Later, when I returned home in the evening, it was even colder outside, it was down to 67 F; rarely are early evening temperatures cooler than early morning temperatures. That cold front is really messing up the weather here!



For dinner I heated up a nice big bowl of corn chowder; I'm glad The Potential Most Favorite Roommate made such a big batch of chowder so we have a lot of leftovers. Because I was a little damp from my walk I got a little chilled even though I changed out of my wet walking clothes before I ran errands. Salad would not have helped keep me warm tonight.

Oh, I had poke with my chowder.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau to John, Maggie, & Kathy!