Friday, March 4, 2011

Renegotiating

     Carol is working long hours at her job.  I want to reduce stress for her.  I decided it wasn't fair to simplify my life at the expense of complicating hers.  I offered to do half of the cooking.  She pointed out it was kind of extreme for me to go from doing all the cooking to doing none.  She said it would be helpful if I would cook occasionally. I am doing somewhere in between.
     One of my favorite dishes is cajun rice and beans.  I had been making that with sausage which is hard to chew.  Shrimp substitutes nicely.   It is easy to make a veggie version.  Thanks to my friend Hyojin for turning me on to the automatic rice steamer which turns itself off.  Chili is also easy to cook with the meat separate and is satisfying.
     I had been doing pharmacy runs for various of my medications.  Carol said it would be easy for her to pick them up on her way home from work.  Waiting her turn wound up taking a half hour.  I offered to ask my friend Dick to take me to Group Health after our standing lunch.  He said he would.  The bus home from there comes fairly frequently.  I think the wait might be less during the work day.
     Group Health decided not to cover Ensure, because I am not having trouble absorbing nutrients.  I am going to appeal because I think swallowing difficulties are a medical necessity. 
     Fortunately, my friend Elizabeth, who is a nutritionist, says she can come up with high calorie, high nutrient milkshakes I can make myself, cheaper than Ensure and more healthy.  The only issue is that I am limiting milk, because people with HD who don't drink milk do better than those who do.  She is creative.
     The latest on my sister is that there was a brief moment my brother decided he didn't want her to move into the nursing home in Boulder she was planning on moving in to because he was intending to go there, too.  He was afraid they would have a fight and be stuck there together. It has a Huntington's ward.  I thought my brother had priority, because he is the one of us who has stayed in our home town.  My father thought my sister's needs trump, because she has no place else to go.  He talked my brother into it, saying the facility is large enough that they could each have their space.
     Joan managed to get there safely by train.  She moved into the nursing home, yesterday.  There is a two month residency requirement.  My father is paying the non-resident rate, which is expensive.
     The present moment is fragrant.

2 comments:

  1. An eventful week, Marian! I continue to admire your resourcefulness and good sense. Life is complicated at best, but you and Carol are finding good ways to make it simpler.

    I hope Joan's move to Boulder will work out well for both her and Tom. Fingers crossed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very satisfying the way the title fits all the different parts of your blog entry, Marian!

    ReplyDelete