Moving Home!

Not the best night, to be starting the move home, with a huge flashy boomy wet thunderstorm outside. Well, maybe we'll get the majority of it moved... after the downpour ends.

The nightmare continues

Someone (Mandy!) is happy to be Queen Of The Hill, on our pile of clean clothes that are waiting to be baked and washed, as we relocate to a new, hopefully bug-free room. Shortly after we moved to the 2-bedroom handicapped room, I started noticing itchy red welts appearing all over my body. It took way too long, to put together the obvious conclusion. Here's a trick: take the hotel headboard off the wall, and look in the nooks and crannies behind it. Now we're moving from the fairly spacious 2-bedroom to a studio. Aaaahhh!

K still at Swedish Hosp

They kept K overnight after dialysis yesterday, since it finished so late. With any luck, they'll discharge her in time to make her 1pm appointment with the prosthetic folks. She's really wanting to get hers adjusted. I headed straight to work this morning, in the hope of getting a covered parking spot, since Mandy's in the car again today. Success!

K Overnighted at Swedish Hosp

K's still at Swedish Hospital, slept some last night. I stopped by with her fuzzy blanket, a fresh baguette, and sips of Latté this morning. Her BP's still low. Should get Dialysis sometime today. Maybe she'll get out tonight if BP comes up. It's absolutely pouring rain now, as I contemplate running over to the parking garage where Mandy's sleeping in my car.

K admit to Swedish Hospital

K's foot Doc didn't like her low blood pressure today, and sent her to ER at Swedish hospital. The ER Doc didn't like it either, apparently, since they're admitting her at least overnight. I'm picking up the dog from the hotel, on my way to Swedish.

Teenagers everywhere!

The cast and crew of "Clue" just descended on us, moved into about 50 seats all around us, chattering up a storm. Takes me back a bit, to those days after the shows in High School, when we would do something similar, on a very much smaller scale... — at Village Inn.

Some hope

I walked through our house on Saturday, after the contractor said it would be ready to move back on Monday, and was incredibly disappointed at the poor quality of the work. Floor stain smeared all over all the baseboards, for example. With everything wrong, it feels like they've taken a perfectly good house, with some warped floorboards, and wrecked everything else. I composed a list of 15 problems and sent it off to the contractor on Sunday. Now there's a ray of hope. The contractor printed my email, met me at the house this morning, and methodically addressed each of my concerns. They may yet get it right.

Progress, finally! Hooray!

Finally, some serious progress on the house repair!

Repair work stopped

Our house sitter let me know she wasn't going to the house, because of the heavy snowfall and icy roads today. I called our house repair contractor, to make arrangements to let him in, and found out they weren't planning on coming, either. They couldn't even get their repair van out of their parking lot, because of the treacherous layer of ice everywhere. So today is a lost day, all around. Except I had no problem getting to my work, other than it taking twice as long. Go figure.

Repair work started!

I found out round-aboutly, that the repair work has started at the house. There was an innocuous note on the kitchen counter from our house sitter. "The water is off!" she said. Come to find out, the repair folks had come and removed the toilet and most of the underlayment in the master bathroom. They couldn't get the toilet water supply valve to shut off completely, so they had to turn off the main water supply for the entire house. After awhile, I realized that was a bad thing, not just for me using any bathroom, for also for the water heater, which could burn up with no water in it, so I shut that off, and the gas supply line to it. Then a funny noise reminded me that the hot water recirculation pump was operating dry, so I unplugged that. Now I think those things are a little bit safer for the next few days.

Moving back May 7 - What? When?!

Finally, K got an estimate for moving back to the house. May 7. Had to pick myself up off the floor after hearing that. We of course were hoping that once K had given her choice for the vinyl floor covering, they would start work immediately, and be done in 2-3 days. But now, the contractor says he can't free up a work crew until early May.

Mostly Icy

The snow depth's not bad at all this morning, with asphalt visible on the parking lot. It's pretty icy out there, though. Mandy found a nice warm place on the couch to cuddle up under her favorite blanket, while I was getting ready for work. She was pretty cute, peering out from under the blanket, keeping tabs on me, as I came and went from the kitchen. K's caregiver didn't make it this morning, due to the icy roads, so she's "home alone" today. Luckily, the podiatrist's office called to recommend that she cancel her 1pm appointment, so now she has a free day, which will allow her to sleep off the all-nighter she pulled last night.

Snow coming

I love this :-/ "Strong Spring snowstorm on track to impact Northern Colorado tonight through Tuesday ... Snow accumulations: 6 to 11 inches ... Avoid overexertion when shoveling snow ... Overexertion can bring on a heart attack—a major cause of death in the winter. If you must shovel snow, stretch before going outside." So, stretching can prevent a heart attack? Who knew?! ;-)

Rash

K developed a nasty looking rash around the upper parts of both legs on Saturday evening. Not sure where that came from. I guessed that maybe a reaction to laundry soap, but she said she'd worn those pants all day, and the itchiness and rash appeared very suddenly that evening. So we're pretty clueless. Her Leukemia medication (Bosulif) does have a known side effect of rashes, so that's a possibility. The rash seems to have peaked shortly after it appeared, and is now spreading out, getting lighter, and generally going away. We hope.

Visitors

We were happy to have John and Michelle come visit this weekend. We were all staying at the Residence Inn, which made it somewhat easier to see each other on short notice. K wasn't able to break the "up all night" habit, so she was sleepy during the day, and not as good company for her Brother as we would've hoped. And that's just the way it's been going, these days. I suppose I'm used to it, but I am definitely not comfortable with it. 

Another week in the hotel

I'd like to say we're going home today, but that would be an April Fool's joke. Maybe in another week. The contractor thinks he can free up a work crew by Tuesday, and then it might take a few days to get the most recent water damage repaired. But then the damage from the separate incident a few weeks ago needs to be fixed, and that will require yet another stay away from home, while the floors are being refinished. I'm hoping we'll be able to consolidate all that work, and just stay away until next weekend. I think that Mandy probably hopes we'll stay longer, so she can keep chasing the bunny rabbits off the patio in the mornings.

On a cheerier note

Happy Birthday! to our dear friend in Phoenix! We've been overwhelmed with the latest disaster, but we've been thinking of you!

Lovely snow, dammit

The thick heavy snow looks beautiful coming down. I just wish we didn't have to be moving from home to the hotel, in the middle of it, with a bunch of possessions, and the dog, in two cars. The forecast is for nearly a foot of this stuff, over the next day or so.

Back to hotel

It appears we'll be out of the house for a week, because of this new fiasco. K booked a room for the three of us at Residence Inn, until a week from Saturday. And, just in time for this latest Spring snowstorm that's bearing down upon us. Heavy sigh.

Yet another disaster

Unbelievable. We have a water leak in our bathroom. I just got two socks full of water, as I walked between the shower and toilet area. Turned off the main water supply. Soaked up a bunch with a towel. Peeled back the carpet. Started a space heater blowing on it. Called the insurance company. Talked to the "mitigation specialists," who will be out here in the morning.

Foot wounds

The podiatrist told K yesterday, that the three large wounds on her left foot are superficial. That's really good news, considering how strongly I was impacted when I first saw them. It's difficult for me to know how her back is doing, other than to say she still calls out in pain, when she simply changes position in bed.

Keep eating!

The good news, is that K has gotten lots of sleep the last several days. Unfortunately, it's because she is stuck in bed and can hardly move, because of the intense back pain that resulted from her fall on Wednesday and the four broken vertebrae. So she missed her Friday dialysis, and has been very dopey during the days, probably from the toxin buildup. To add to the fun, today she's wrestling with a double dose of her long term (24 hour) insulin from last night. Gotta keep eating, to keep her BG from going dangerously low. Her regular morning caregiver is in the hospital, so I had to brief the temporary replacement this morning as best I could, before I left for work.

Broken

So, I suppose it was the right thing, to go to ER. She has multiple spinal fractures, of the Transverse Process, in her T12, L1, L2, L3. Right where the bruise is. Apparently she fell backwards into her bedside table. Surprisingly, they said those particular breaks are not serious, and sent her home, with instructions to continue to take her pain meds.

She's so sleep deprived from staying up all night every night. She's just a zombie. She has lots of falls where she doesn't break something. Then once in awhile, she'll fall into something hard at the wrong angle, and this happens.

K bruised and...?

Oh great. It turns out K fell off the bed this morning, and has a big bruise on her back, that winds around her side toward the front, and severe pain, to show for it now. She just called me from DaVita, where Lorene dropped her off 45 minutes ago. They are refusing her dialysis, until she goes to ER and gets evaluated, so I'll be driving her over to Littleton Adventist Hospital. And yes, my tire is too low to drive. Shoot. I'm waiting for the handy electric tire pump to re-pressurize it now...

Leaky tire

And now I'm wondering if the car will let me wait a day, to have the tire repaired. It loses ten PSI overnight. Not sure what it'll be, when I get out there after work today. I'd really rather not change tires with a sore back. And Costco won't make an appointment until tomorrow. Heavy sigh. At least I've got the handy electric tire pump with me.

Tweaked

K didn't sleep again last night. I found her sitting on the floor by her side of the bed when I woke up. She asked for help getting to bed. Finally! I was ecstatic to help. The angle was awkward, I know I should've known better, but the bottom line is, she got to bed, and I've got a tweaked back today.

Flooded out

We've been living at the local Residence Inn for the past few days, due to a water damage problem on Thursday. When the laundry room sink overflowed, and the water kept running for some time, it soaked the Marmoleum laundry room floor and the hardwood floor in the hallway. It found its way into the heating ducts, and rained down in three basement rooms, soaking everything from tools to cardboard storage boxes to live electronics. It killed the modem that provided our phone and Internet service, and made an electrical outlet on the wall of the furnace room go dead. The house has been unlivable from the noise of a dozen fans and heaters all around, running all day and night, to pull moisture out of the floors and walls, and our possessions. It sounded like we were living inside a jet engine. The dog had a haunted look on her face, and was afraid to leave the bedroom just to walk past all those loud screaming fans in the hallway. So I was carrying her in and out, while carefully stepping over the 2 inch air hoses running everywhere. We finally came to our senses, and moved out to a hotel. After we moved to the Residence Inn on Saturday, it was so nice to be able to sit by the nice warm fireplace, while munching on snacks and quietly watching TV. The fans were removed yesterday, so we're moving back home today. Yay. Although it may be the short-lived calm in the eye of the storm. We'll probably have to leave again, when they refinish the hardwood floor.

Moving home

Moving back home today. Yay. Although it may be the short-lived calm in the eye of the storm. We'll probably have to leave again, when they refinish the hardwood floor.

Moved to hotel

We've come to our senses, and booked a room at Residence Inn for the next two nights. Mandy gets to come play too! Can't believe they're charging $100 extra for our well-behaved little sweetie to stay with us.

Nice visit from Jill

Our friend Jill from the San Diego area, who worked with Kristan at Charter Hospital back in the day, came to visit this weekend. I expected a mini-disaster, considering the series of sleepless nights that K has accumulated over the past few weeks. But it turned out very pleasant, and the two of them got to visit a whole lot more than I had feared. I picked her up at the airport on Friday afternoon, then we picked up Italian food at Romano's, and spent Friday evening having a big dinner with K, while she was in dialysis. I had a pleasant time dragging Jill out for some local walks on the local trails, and chatting along the way. We even got to play a three-way game of Scrabble on Saturday night.