Cypto-hondriac

 That is not a real word but I thought it fun enough to use as a title. Hubby has some severe aphasia from his stroke so sometimes words come out backwards and sometimes they come out the opposite from what he intended.

He will say 'she' when referring to 'he', often when referring to someone or to a pet. This has been ongoing since 2018 so I am pretty used to it. Since we've been a pretty close couple for many years, I pretty much know exactly what he wants to say or what he is trying to communicate.

However, I often let him work it out for himself which is what he prefers. Once in a while he will give me a glance [during a doctor's visit for example]. That glance is HELP! I can complete his words for him then.

We were talking with the nurse on his 6 month follow up when he came to this word. The nurse was reviewing his long list of medications when he piped up that this list made him look like a 'Cypto-hondriac'. 

He meant Hypochondriac. Funny enough, the nurse never blinked as he struggled through the word and she smiled and said, "We know you are not a Hypochondriac!"

When the doctor came in she did her thing and then asked if there was anything else she could do for him today.

Hubby asked for a shop...he kept struggling for a second and then got it out: A body shop for me? A new body?

She smiled of course.

Hubby hinted that he thought he'd gained weight. She looked at her file and said that he had remained stable for the past year or so. 

Then I saw something that I rarely see doctors do. She reached over and patted his leg and told him.

"Rich, you will be 76 this soon and you've earned the right to eat exactly what you want to and what you like."

I thought that was very kind of her to say.

I will note that my husband is in Palliative Care. Palliative Care aims to treat a patient with a serious illness for the Quality of Life until their death ... with attention to the care partner also. This will usually also involve a social worker to assist with questions and issues.

It is not hospice which is quite different. 

I feel that it is a kinder and more gentle type of care for elderly patients with a serious illness.

Well now

No Slime Today

Aren't you relieved?

I believe this is a purple finch. Hubby has been spotting them and I am usually too late with the camera to catch them.

Catching it in flight was completely an accident.
 

Most of the afternoon I hung out on the porch and did weeding and watering those plants that don't get much moisture because they are so close to the porch that the eaves keep the rain off them.

I was awaiting a return phone call after being shuffled around by the VA Community Care People. 30 minutes after being transferred 3 times, I got voice mail.

Community Care is sometimes frustrating. Communications between a non VA provider and the VA itself is tenuous a best. A medication was ordered for hubby two months ago. He still had a 'rescue' inhaler so it wasn't a vital medication.

However, the non VA provider followed her instructions that the VA provided and ordered the medication. It went 'somewhere'. I followed up by contacting several people and finally landed on a person who said she'd handle it.

That was 4 weeks ago. So I looked up hubby's info in MyChart and noted that the CC gal had called the local doctors office and gave the clinic the info for faxing or calling in meds.

The local doctor's office used HER name in ordering the medication. The VA pharmacy said no one by that name worked in that pharmacy. And that is where it was dropped.

So there was miscommunication between CC, the pharmacy, and the local doctor's nurse.

I need to draw them a chart on how to order meds, I think. 

Today I made more phone calls.

The solution was simple, whoever wrote down the fax number for sending in medications, wrote one digit off. A 1 instead of a 7. Or perhaps the handwriting was sloppy? Who knows?

Well now.

So it goes. 

Navigating Health care sure takes a good deal of effort on any person's part.

Knees, Appts, Creativity.

So.

The knee has not resolved itself at all. I just figured I'd get out and 'walk it off'. I went to CrossFit a few times last week and even did the 22WOD. Eh. That may have been a mistake but I was careful. It felt great to do it with my good friend and partner. She is awesome and strong!

The swelling in the knee is gone. For the first time in my life I can really understand what it feels like to have knee pain. See, I didn't want to acknowledge the injury and just figured it would go away like the other time I smashed it against a boulder.
I'm mad at my knee. It should have gotten better. Really.
If I go outside and pull my pants down and yell at it, will it help?

Okay, bad image, right?

Today is going to be one of 'those' days. Calling the VA Community Care folks to see where the claim from 2018 still stands. The hospital just sent a nasty letter which is normal for them. They are a huge conglomerate and of course all phone calls are handled by a person who is 'not' in charge and 'doesn't' know anything.
These phone calls require at least 20 minutes on hold and many transfers.
I think I need an office assistant just for dealing with appointments and care.

Rich is doing mildly better so that bump is resolved for the moment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some fun with editing photos.
Since I am not out hiking at the moment...
I am studying some funky photo effects and editing.

Dispersion Effect:
I really want to nail this down as I think it would be fun. I think instead of 'chunks' of dispersion, I like the birds more. Using bat brushes would be fun too.

Double exposure ~ done in camera:
I need much more experimenting, but it is sort .. of neat!

Pencil sketching skulls:
This is part of my skull collection. I like it, but dislike the white edges that Painter does.

Pencil sketching mixed with the original photo:
I really like this one a...lot. 

Well, off to work. The mules want to eat!