2026 Life Logs, Day 216: A Full Day
Date: Tuesday, August 4, 2026
Weather: Beautiful Day; High Temp 80, Low 62 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Shadow and I were up early to take our walk before I left to take neighbor Andy to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston for a scheduled heart ablation. We left at 7:45 am, and when we got to Route 24, Andy wanted to stop at the service area to get one last ‘liquid fill-up’ before the surgery. I waited in the car and immediately I saw a message from Bridges pop up on my phone. It just said to call the nurse on duty as soon as possible. Patsy was found on the floor beside her bed again this morning for the third time in seven weeks. That got my heart pounding. When I called, I found out that Patsy was fine, but it is time to investigate renting a hospital bed with a special scoop mattress that is supposed to keep people from falling out. A job for next week.
Andy returned to the car, Patsy was fine, so on we went. The trip took two hours door to door, but that is about par for the course at rush hour. On my way home, I drove a little out of the way to stop at the Wrentham Outlets. I really needed a pair of shoes other than sneakers. One pair was $80, but if you bought a second pair, it was half price. So now I have new summer casual shoes. The ones I have are about 8 years old, so it was time.
I stopped at Bridges on my way home, but Patsy was getting her hair done and I couldn’t visit with her. I wanted to check out the ulcers on her feet that were reported to me last night, but I traveled on home as I had to be back there at 4 pm for a support group meeting. I could check out the ulcers then. Shadow and I had some nice playtime outside in the sunshine and then it was time to go back. But just before I left, I saw another message pop up on my phone. This time it was a Bridges Facebook post featuring the artwork of my sister Patsy from the morning. Someone was working with her one-on-one and she painted a fruit tree in bloom on a green hillside. I was amazed. Her hair looked awful, but I was impressed with the artwork.
I am so pleased to see that they have her doing things like this. But the hair … this week her hair set lasted 6 days instead of the 4 days the week prior. That was an improvement and maybe I am just going to have to get used to a couple of bad hair days for her each week. The only alternative would be for me to transport her out to hairdresser every Friday as the Bridges hairdresser only comes on Tuesdays. In the scheme of things, this is not the priority right now. But Patsy has always been meticulous about her appearance, so I want to help her continue that tradition.
After the support group at Bridges, I visited with Patsy and took off her compression stockings to take photos of the two ulcers to send to my friend Jane Woodin, a retired visiting nurse. Patsy’s primary care is coming to check on these sores tomorrow and an order has been initiated to get a visiting nurse to visit to do wound care. Neither spot is terrible, the one on her left heel better than the one on the right. But when you have diabetes, ulcers like this can easily get out of control. I am so thankful that the CNA’s at Bridges noticed these places and reported them right away. But Jane wanted me to document what they look like now and so she could give me advice on what needs to happen. Thank you, Jane, for your sage advice.
Tomorrow morning after an Indivisible Steering Committee meeting and an oil change, I drive to New Hampshire to have dinner with Detta and Tom Porat, and maybe their son Matthew. I was Matthew’s first grade teacher and it would be wonderful to catch on his adult life. Then on Thursday morning, I drive on to Boothbay for the Celebration of Life of Jed’s Aunt Sue. And then I will head home on Friday.
