Hello my writing and reader friends. I’m back to my blog after declaring a blog break, which in essence, wasn’t much of a break, as I was still somewhat visiting blogland and social media – sometimes hard to stay away when I needed a distraction. Truthfully, my online life has been my sanity. And I didn’t appreciate Facebook banning me yet again, this time for one full week, for using free and clean speech.

Well I can’t really say that 2020 went out like a lion and 2021 came in like a lamb, because really, it still feels like 2020, so far, as a continuation of 2020. I didn’t get near the things accomplished as I had set out to do as the days seemed to vanish as quickly as they did before my break.

In the 2-3 weeks of my blog absence, I’ve had three hospital runs with my husband and spent much of the time looking after him. It’s really difficult to complete an article with several interruptions to my concentration, so my writing is still impaired. My husband has been incapacitated with his liver issues as fluid continues to build up in his torso and legs, rendering his legs obstinate and uncooperative sometimes just to walk.

It didn’t help that the condo above us did something wonky when they took it upon themselves to renovate their shower and didn’t follow protocols, so the result became our shower leaking from above and almost caving in the shower ceiling with water weight. The jackhammering of tiles now and the dust and the no use of our master walkin shower has become an added weight on me until they finish repairing it. We are left with the guest bathroom tub/shower combo and with the tub being a foot or so high, my hub cannot get his tree stump legs up to step in the tub. So I have come up with some funky ideas to get him in. After numerous failures I’ve finagled a way to set up the step stool in front of the tub, where he can hold on to the towel bar with one hand and onto my shoulder as I lift one leg at a time into the shower for him. No such thing as can’t in my vocabulary!

It also didn’t help when the hospital screwed up his first appointment our wonderful Dr. B had arranged for my hub to have a paracentesis (draining of fluid through the stomach by radiology with a long needle that draws out the ascites fluid), a mixup that had me wheeling him directly to emergency for relief. That turned out to be a nightmare as emerge docs aren’t well-versed in the procedure and they didn’t get enough out of him – because they didn’t use the proper draw method and attached an IV tube instead, letting it slowwwwwwwwwwwww drip into a bag. He needed approximately six litres drawn out (which normally takes about half hour to 45 minutes – I know this because it wasn’t my first rodeo, and after three hours of only a litre dripped, my hubby was fed up and demanded to go home. We did, but not before speaking with the ER doc and requesting he forward what transpired with my hub to Dr. B so he could rectify the proper missed appointment.

Dr B’s secretary Lisa, emailed me an hour after we got back home late that night asking, “What happened to the appointment we booked? How did he end up in emerge?” I filled Lisa in and she immediately faxed back Dr. B, who in turn communicated with the appropriate department and got my hub back in on New Year’s Eve afternoon. It seems like an eternity ago already because a week later he retained back all plus! So back to the drawing board, notifying Dr B. and he faxed in a new request with a standing order of draining every two weeks for my husband, until such time he stops retaining. Not so simple. A whole week went by before the hospital called back with such appointment. Another hospital mixup occurred with instructions. Only this past Friday the hospital called to book hubby in for a date this week. I pleaded my case about the delays and the state of my husband’s health, his big abdomen that begun laboring his breathing, and the prior mixups and asked for mercy. They stuck him in same day on an emergency list. My heart sang until the phone rang again and I was in rush mode to get to it when I seemed to have pulled a muscle in my calf, maybe a tendon? I could not walk. I still can’t! I hobbled around on hubby’s walker, got him ready, then took his cane so I could walk on one foot til we’d reach the hospital and I would push him around the various departments leaning on the wheelchair hopping all the way.

I was disheartened to learn they could only get 4 litres out of the 8-10 that were circulating in him. Leaving him with only an 8 pound loss instead of the 20 he was retaining. As of this writing he’s already gained back 4 of those pounds since Friday and next appointment isn’t til a week this Friday. Oye!

This is has all been very difficult on me – not to even mention how my husband feels. But the standing order made me very sad because the heavy duty diuretics he’s been on to help avoid this situation, are no longer doing a great job. One of his diuretics was the hero for keeping him fluid-free and we’d worked so hard for a year, four years ago, monitoring for the correct dosage. But as it stands now, that pill has been quartered from its original dose because the drug was elevating his potassium levels to a dangerous number. Thank goodness for our wonderful doctors who also have a standing order for me to take him to the lab weekly to keep watch. The lower dosage has brought down the dangerous level, but leaves him building back fluid. The other diuretic has been increased to the max dose but still not enough to keep from pooling. Thus, Dr. B had warned that he just may have to be drained every two weeks indefinitely.

It’s all been so disheartening for me, myself and I, but as I’m not here to complain, only update, I wanted to share how my new year has begun – where it left off, and keep you guys abreast of my chaotic life.

I’m still eagerly awaiting my new sparkling 2021 to begin, but I’m back, because really, visiting blogland and being around all my far away friends is a comfort, and often where I come to feel sane.

©DGKaye2021