by Judy Handley | Jul 16, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 197: Complete Stand Still
Date: Thursday, July 16, 2026
Weather: Sunny ‘til Mid-Afternoon, Then Smoky; High Temp 80, Low 62 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
The phone rang just after 7 am. It was my sister’s diabetic nurse telling me she had come into Patsy’s room and found Patsy sitting on the floor beside the bed for the second time since she has been at Bridges. She was complaining of pain in her leg, so they called 911 to get her to the Falmouth Hospital. I threw on some clothes, took Shadow out for a quick morning walk, and headed to the hospital. Then I sat in ER Room 25 until 4:30 pm when we finally got to go home. When they came in early on to take her for a CT scan, I went to the hospital café to get a breakfast sandwich for me and one for Patsy, plus some yogurt for her, and a cup of coffee for me. But even though she is diabetic, she was not allowed to eat until all tests were completed. Well before noon the doctor declared that he could find no problems, but he was not going to release her until a PT appointment could be made. I have tried for two weeks to get that done, and magically I got a call before 1 pm today confirming that Bayada could see her on Monday or Tuesday. The hospital Case Manager had to verify that and then she could be released. But because she could not stand without assistance, the doctor really didn’t want me to transport her home. I finally agreed to using ambulance transport, but I know that is not covered by her current Medicare Advantage plan. But as of August 1, she will be on Medicare with a BCBS supplement and I will no longer have the hassle of trying to finding care with a Medicare Advantage contract.
So, overnight, I went from a roller coaster ride to life at a complete stand still today. I did drive home in the early afternoon to let Shadow out and get a pair of pants for Patsy to wear on the ride home as she was brought to the hospital in just her night shirt. Otherwise, I sat beside my sister for 8 hours. The ambulance transport arrived around 4:40 pm and we all got to Bridges just after 5 pm when everyone was having dinner. We put Patsy directly into her wheelchair and I wheeled her into dinner. I guess all is well that ends well until the next incident. But Falmouth Hospital does not get a good grade from me. Not until late afternoon did anyone ever ask who I was or seek information on my sister. Neither the doctors nor the nurses were aware that she is currently wheelchair bound or had memory care issues, no one ever checked to see if she needed to go the bathroom or needed her Depends brief changed, and no one ever offered her even a cup of water. Maybe my standards are too high, but I did not find it a patient-friendly place to be.
by Judy Handley | Jul 15, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 196: Roller Coaster Ride
Date: Wednesday, July 15, 2026
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Steady Breeze; High Temp 82, Low 66 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
No matter where I turned today, I felt like I was on a roller coaster ride … my sister’s issues, Indivisible, even the World Cup semi-final. I spent the day trying to finalize plans for changing my sister’s health insurance, preparing for an Indivisible Falmouth monthly meeting, watching a little soccer, tracking my sister’s glucose numbers for the first full day, and everything seemed to have highs, then lows, then highs again. And the bigger problem seems to be my inability to balance all of this. I literally don’t feel like I can think straight anymore. Handling my own life has been a little crazy this past year, but now adding my sister’s life to mine is a lot. Yesterday my sister’s Power of Attorney asked for a monthly budget, but I don’t have numbers for him. I have to switch her from North Carolina Medicare Advantage to straight Medicare with a Massachusetts supplement. But since she is no longer walking, at least for now, I am having to go with doctors and dentists, who come to Bridges. And the ones who come there are not all covered by Medicare. If I were to pay for dental insurance, it would be useless, unless I take her out to a dentist. I had to choose between 3 healthcare management teams, but I am struggling with the one I chose to get physical therapy for her. So, I was on the phone today, not just with Blue Cross Blue Shield, but with dental offices, physical therapy offices, Bridges, the RN who has been dealing with her diabetes, in order to find the answers to this and to that. Just when it seemed like something was going to work, then it didn’t. Plus this being the first day of me tracking her glucose numbers put me over the top. Her numbers go up and down and my phone dings with high and low warnings all day. She goes from numbers in the 100’s up to the 300’s and then back and forth all day long. With Indivisible, just when we think we have thought of everything we need to share with members, new things keep popping up by the hour. I want to ride on a swan boat on a placid lake, not on a roller coaster. But the roller coaster seems my fate right now.
by Judy Handley | Jul 14, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 195: Back to Work
Date: Tuesday, July 14, 2026
Weather: Partly Cloudy and Windy; High Temp 786 Low 71 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I was all over the place today. I had a 10 am Board of Library Trustees meeting that unexpectedly lasted until noon. I flew home to eat breakfast/lunch, and was then off to see my sister. I did not get to see her yesterday, but she was great today. When I left she was going on a virtual field trip to see the tall ships in Boston. The Life Enrichment folks at Bridges are amazing. They keep the residents engaged in creative activities all day every day.
While sitting outside with my sister, I sent a text to my friend Karen Baranowski asking about Peter. He had a knee replacement last week and it was a rough week for both Karen and Peter, with very little sleep for either one of them and a lot pain on Peter’s part. But in response to my text early this afternoon, she said they are back on track and invited me to stop by on my way home from seeing my sister at Bridges. So, I did. Karen and I had alone time on the porch to ‘debrief’ while Peter was inside working with the physical therapist. I was so glad to see first-hand that they both doing fine now.
Then I was off to the grocery store to buy things for a taco dinner with the Goldpebbles. Heather had Select Board tonight starting at 5:45 pm and was still going strong at 11:20 pm when I turned the local FCTV broadcast of the meeting off. I was watching because there was a presentation and then a vote tonight to put the debt for the proposed East Falmouth Library project on the November ballot. Jed had a Board of Health meeting beginning at 5:30. So, I was in charge of dinner for the boys. I dropped the groceries at Heather and Jed’s and took Ollie to the Falmouth Country Club for a golf lesson at 5 pm. Then I went home to play with and feed Shadow and pick up more supplies for dinner. Back to pick up Ollie and then to Heather and Jed’s to fix dinner. Sam had just arrived home when Ollie and I got there. He went to Boston today to see the Amerigo Vespucci tall ship and was headed back out to play soccer at the high school and pick up Jonah and bring him home after Jonah’s soccer practice. Jonah and Sam got home around 8:15 pm, just as Ollie and I were eating dinner. The sweaty soccer players both took a shower and joined us and then Jed got home to have a late dinner with us as well. I call these busy Monday nights at the Goldstones ‘rolling’ dinners. Something tells me things are getting back to normal. This kind of ‘all over the place’ day sounds very normal to me!
by Judy Handley | Jul 13, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 194: All Over the Place
Date: Monday, July 13, 2026
Weather: Some Sun, Some Clouds, Windy; High Temp 78, Low 68 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I was all over the place today. I had a 10 am Board of Library Trustees meeting that unexpectedly lasted until noon. I flew home to eat breakfast/lunch, and was then off to see my sister. I did not get to see her yesterday, but she was great today. When I left she was going on a virtual field trip to see the tall ships in Boston. The Life Enrichment folks at Bridges are amazing. They keep the residents engaged in creative activities all day every day.
While sitting outside with my sister, I sent a text to my friend Karen Baranowski asking about Peter. He had a knee replacement last week and it was a rough week for both Karen and Peter, with very little sleep for either one of them and a lot pain on Peter’s part. But in response to my text early this afternoon, she said they are back on track and invited me to stop by on my way home from seeing my sister at Bridges. So, I did. Karen and I had alone time on the porch to ‘debrief’ while Peter was inside working with the physical therapist. I was so glad to see first-hand that they both doing fine now.
Then I was off to the grocery store to buy things for a taco dinner with the Goldpebbles. Heather had Select Board tonight starting at 5:45 pm and was still going strong at 11:20 pm when I turned the local FCTV broadcast of the meeting off. I was watching because there was a presentation and then a vote tonight to put the debt for the proposed East Falmouth Library project on the November ballot. Jed had a Board of Health meeting beginning at 5:30. So, I was in charge of dinner for the boys. I dropped the groceries at Heather and Jed’s and took Ollie to the Falmouth Country Club for a golf lesson at 5 pm. Then I went home to play with and feed Shadow and pick up more supplies for dinner. Back to pick up Ollie and then to Heather and Jed’s to fix dinner. Sam had just arrived home when Ollie and I got there. He went to Boston today to see the Amerigo Vespucci tall ship and was headed back out to play soccer at the high school and pick up Jonah and bring him home after Jonah’s soccer practice. Jonah and Sam got home around 8:15 pm, just as Ollie and I were eating dinner. The sweaty soccer players both took a shower and joined us and then Jed got home to have a late dinner with us as well. I call these busy Monday nights at the Goldstones ‘rolling’ dinners. Something tells me things are getting back to normal. This ‘all over the place’ day sounds very normal to me!
by Judy Handley | Jul 11, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 192: Holding My Breath
Date: Saturday, July 11, 2026
Weather: Gorgeous Day; High Temp 83, Low 61 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I desperately wanted to go to Boston today to see the parade of tall ships as they sailed into the Boston Harbor. But I would have been going by myself, and last night I decided that I just didn’t have the energy to do it. Mark and I saw the Parade of Tall Ships from the water in 2000 aboard Skybreaker. The USS Constitution had to be towed, but as it passed by Skybreaker, it was the thrill of a lifetime. And then Sam, who bought Windbird in 2016, met me in Boston for the Parade of Tall Ships in June of 2017. So I have seen this spectacular event, but today was special because it was in honor of the 250th. My friend Midge Frieswyk did go today, and she sent some phenomenal photos. I enjoyed this parade of tall ships vicariously.
I spent part of my morning going for a nice long walk with Shadow and then worked on planning for this week’s Indivisible Falmouth’s monthly meeting. Then I went to the Saturday rally for democracy on the Village Green, came home to have lunch, went to Heather’s to have her help me with more technology issues, got to say welcome home to Ollie, and then I was off to Bridges to see Patsy.
It was a gorgeous day, so we had a nice walk in the garden. She commented on the beautiful blue sky. I told her that color of blue is what I call Cape Cod Blue and that now that she lives on Cape Cod, she will see more of those blue skies. That seemed to please her. So, I am holding my breath in the hope that Patsy continues to make the adjustment to her new home.
There are so many things I still need to do to get my sister’s medical issues settled, so that constantly weighs on my mind. But for the third day in a row, she has been in such a good mood when I go visit, and she looks so good. I am holding my breath, thinking this is too good to be true. But for now, I’ll take this new Patsy. She talks with me and tells me very ‘interesting’ stories that I know have some base in reality, but she has no sense of time or place. But the Life Enrichment staff at Bridges actually got her to play Bingo today and they said she seemed to understand the game. Since she moved to Terra Bella in North Carolina in 2021, no one has been able to engage her in any sort of activity. Again, I am cautiously optimistic.
I have spent way too much of my evening watching soccer. At 5 pm the England vs Norway played. The entire living room at the Goldstones were cheering for Norway, but I stayed home this evening to watch with Shadow, and I wanted England to win for no specific reason. Maybe I chose them in honor of my daughter-in-law Jo who is from England. England won in overtime and then there was just time to go outside with Shadow and come into fix dinner before the Argentina vs Switzerland quarterfinal started. For this game, Argentina was my team because of Messi. The are the reigning champions and I would like to see Messi and company win one last World Cup. They won tonight in overtime and will play England on Wednesday.
by Judy Handley | Jul 10, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 191: Happy 93rd Birthday to Patsy
Date: Friday, July 10, 2026
Weather: Partly Sunny, Thunder Shower Tonight; High Temp 82, Low 66 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I started my day by having a breakfast ‘meeting’ with a good friend and then I was off to Bridges to have a birthday lunch with my sister. Just the two of us ate together in the library-game room. Today’s lunch was salad followed by grilled salmon topped with a mango and champagne grape salsa, with smashed Parmesan herbed (from the Bridges’ garden) peewee potatoes and roasted Brussel sprouts. Not bad. I gave her one of those Hallmark popup birthday cake cards to decorate our table, but then they brought in a real cake and we sang Happy Birthday.
After lunch she had a pre-arranged Facetime call with her daughter Janet who lives in an assisted living facility in Ohio and she had a call from her sister-in-law, also named Judy. After lunch she was off to a ukulele group performance. I left at that point because I had a Board of Library Trustees’ meeting back in Falmouth, but I do think she had a happy birthday.
Once home from the meeting at the library, I spent an hour on the phone dealing with medical ‘red tape’ associated with trying to get PT for Patsy. After that, I needed a change of pace, so I listened to a couple of Heather’s podcast, Not a Climate Scientist, and to yesterday’s Indivisible weekly call, What’s the Plan? I definitely needed to think about something other than medical issues, and I really enjoyed the ‘change of scenery’.
I saw on Facebook that Ollie had a good last full day of Scout summer camp at Camp Yawgoog in Rhode Island. I am not sure what a Bow Cap is, but evident it is a positive thing to receive. “Finally, to the important business of the Bow Cap! Today’s holders, Bowie and Jay, selected Ollie as the next recipient. They praised Ollie for the way he consistently mentors our younger scouts, whether demonstrating CPR, explaining how town government works, or simply taking the time to teach and encourage others throughout the week. Congratulations, Ollie—well deserved!” I will have to get the full story on this when Ollie returns home tomorrow afternoon.
