Category Archives: Day to Day

This was one of those days that from start to finish – if I am actually finished (we’ll see – Miss grounded teenager happens to have a friend, as in boyfriend, over watching a movie).

The morning was spent in the OR.  Had two little patients who needed a lot of dental work. 

I was not looking forward to the morning.  I knew our anesthetist was not going to be fun to work with.  He is new and I have heard all kinds of scary stories about what it is like to work with him.  He is from some country in the middle east – of another large faith group. 

I knew that it would be perfectly acceptable for me to insist that he use a nasal intubation technique since I need the room in the mouth to work – in fact it is the norm.  Except he has not been doing this.  

Last night I was thinking of all the ways I could tell him how to do the intubation I needed.  Most of the ways I wanted to say it seemed fairly cutting – in fact most would have been really nasty and insulting.  I was thinking that I could accomplish my goal by insulting him or getting angry and walking out (leaving my patients bearing the brunt of all this) but that wasn’t really an option if I wanted to act like Jesus’s follower.  I don’t have the luxury of being right and being nasty at the same time.  At least I don’t think I can leave these kind of incidents out of my life if I want God to be in all of what I am and do.

God must have been hanging around in the corners of my mind as I wondered how I would handle this.  He knew that I was aware that this would count in some way for him.  I got there this AM and the guy was gruff but without a word from me, he did what I needed him to do.  Things went well.  He even asked one of the nurses in recovery her opinion on something.  I think I will try and find a way of telling the Dr. thanks.  Who knows what God is trying to do but it seemed to me as if God was there working behind the scenes on something.

Then I rushed off to Saskatoon.  I had to see one of the oral surgeons – a classmate of mine.  Not for a social visit either.  I have large sinuses and a broken tooth and … well, I no longer have a broken tooth and the sinuses are still intact.

Walking around biting on a wad of gauze sure puts a damper on Christmas shopping.

Got back in time to run over to the party at the pastor’s.   It is the place to be the week before Christmas. 

Now if the living room scene looks safe to leave, I will down a few pain killers and pack things in for the night.

Tonight’s visit was hard.  I don’t know that much has changed with Dad but it hurt me more tonight.  Maybe I am just tired.  It was hard to see him fussing with his restraints, disoriented and wanting to get up out of his chair but not able to do any of those things on his own anymore. 

There isn’t much more to say.  We did talk -such as that is – rather a convoluted conversation, much of it not making a bit of sense.  He looked at me a few minutes and then said, “It’s always good to have a visit from you , Linea.”  So he still recognises me.  Small comfort.  My heart is crying.

It is as if he is sitting there in his wheelchair outside the door to heaven, trying to figure out how the doorknob works so he can get through the door into that much better place.  Darn doorknob!  I wish he could get the thing open so he’d be free of those restraints.

One of the funniest stories I have read in a long time.  Thanks Bene Diction!  Anyone have a story that can beat that one?

It has been a busy week and so not a lot of blogging hs been done.  I’m just trying to keep up with myself, work, kids, family stuff. 

Lat night I thought I might make it to get a few things done and get to bed before 11pm. 

Daughter decides to bake muffins at about 10:15.  Ok, I say, if you clean up and run the dishwasher. 

I forgot – we were out of dishwasher soap.  She decides to use dish detergent. 

Bad Idea!!!!!!!

Hollers for mom.  Suds oozing out from the bottom of the dishwasher.  Suds in the sink coming out of the drain.  Bailing out the sudsy water.  Finally about 11:30 deciding to wait till the morning when hopefully the suds will have lost their fluff. 

Tired mom went off to bed.  Didn’t sleep well.  Got up early and dealt with the dishwasher. 

We’ll try again tonight – to get to bed early.  Oh yeah – meeting planned for 9:30 pm tonight.  Maybe a nap after supper.

Today my grandson, Kieran, was dedicated by his parents to God.  Blessed. 

His grandma thanks God – for Kieran and for many things about this day.

We (the staff at my office – especially me) order baking every other week or so from Lauralea.  She makes cinnamon rolls and cookies to die for.  Today, she almost did.  Not quite but wow!! does she have a huge goose egg on her forehead!  Slipped on some water on the floor and hit her head against the wall in the entry.

Tonight we were at Bible study.  Actually we are reading Blue Like Jazz together. 

Everyone was concerned about her poor head.  Someone thought she should go and get it checked out at one of the minor emergency clinics.  Me, being the health care professional, said that it was not likely that serious.  She did not loose consciousness, etc, etc.  So I suggested that she should be OK if Randall didn’t have trouble arousing her during the night.

Honestly.  I said it in all innocence.  It was just medicalspeak. 

Tomorrow is Remembrance Day.  The generation of the great wars is passing on.  As my dad slips farther away from us into Alzheimers, his WW II experiences become a larger part of his memory.  He didn’t talk much about the details when we were kids but we always attended a Remembrance Day service.  Now it is hard to know how much is real and how much story.  My grandfather was a veteran of WW I – left a leg over there in Europe but came home with a bride.  Both of them believed they were helping to fight for freedom and a just cause and I think I agree.  But both of them were gentle people and what went on in the wars affected them in ways they could not express.  They had a great respect for life and I imagine their war experiences contributed to that.

Yet these wars did not end all wars as they hoped.  Will they ever end?  We must pray for peace in our world and work towards it. 

And today as there was a lull in the fighting French and other foreign nationals were evacuated from the Ivory Coast.

Some interesting links:
Vetrans stories and letters – the Canadain Forces have some on line archives which can be accessed here.
I found this letter fascinating.

I was able to find my grandfather’s records online as well.  He was a Bombadier in WW I.  Wounded at Ypres before the German forces began to use gas.

And in the Ivory Coast…

These are hardly my favorite thing to do.  But the report card gave me enough reason to make this evening a priority. 

For the first hour I spent 45 minutes waiting – then a ten minute interview.  Then another wait.  Three ten minute sessions spent with the teachers out of two hours of my time.  I needed to do it but it always seems like there should be some better way to organize this. 

I did take along a good book – the one by Annie Dillard that I quote from below.  Sit and block out the surroundings for a few minutes, read, move along down the row of chairs till it is my turn with the teacher.

And while sitting there getting a call from an older stressed out student who panicked today during a test.  The hallway noise wasn’t conducive to talk with a sobbing daughter.  By the time I got home and called her back, the chaos had settled a bit and we were able to talk coherently.

Why does school have to be so stressful?

On the way home from the hospital this evening I was listening to the radio.  A guy was talking about plastic and reconstructive surgery.  One of the striking things he said was that men are becoming concerned with appearances.  They can no longer retain their positions in organizations just by the fact that they are male.  They have to remain looking vital and vigorous.  Apparently women in business have known that their appearances are important but men are just learning this.   So men are turning to reconstructive surgery to obtain the look they want. 

It sounds like the appearance of being young and vital is becoming more important than the results of one’s work efforts.  Pretend, pretend.  Make things look good and it doesn’t matter what is under the cover.

Aging is not particularly fun.  Parts hurt and we start to sag and wrinkle.  But what about the passing on of   stories and wisdom from the older to the younger generations?  What about knowledge that isn’t embodied in some pretty human package – has it less value than if it comes from someone who looks good?  Have we become so superficial that we don’t look beyond the surface anymore?

Spent some time up at the hospital with my step-mom and dad.  Dad’s got some bleeding from somewhere causing his hemoglobin to get dangerously low.  So he’s getting transfusions and will be in the hospital for awhile.  Now to decide just how far to go in treatment.  Dad has Alzheimers and will not get better from that – not here in this life.  And when death is not the end – is it fair to him to hold him here where the best we can obtain from aggressive treatment is a few more years of deterioration?  I, personally, would rather be set free.  I am glad he has a living will.  We know that this is pretty much how he felt too.  Still decisions on degrees of aggressiveness of treatment are not easy ones. 

I went for tea to my step mom’s after being up at the hospital.  I am growing more and more thankful that God sent her into dad’s life after my mom died.  We sat and talked for a long time.  About dad.  About loss of companionship.  About how my dad lived life fully till he couldn’t any more – and about how he still will sometimes say he would like to head off on some new adventure.  How she is thankful for the good years they had. 

She is a blessing.  God give her peace and a good rest tonight.  Bless her with wisdom in the days to come.