Fall Illness has Begun

I am very blessed in that I rarely get sick. As temps get colder, illness usually increases and we head into cold and flu season. This week, I felt fine as I usually do. However, I can't say the same for my caregivers.

Last week Sunday, mom received a message from my night nurse that he was sick and would not be able to come. We hoped my other night nurse could cover, but we never heard from my agency. Therefore, it was another long night with short sleep for everyone. Monday night was covered, but Tuesday and Wednesday nights also went without help.

In addition to nights, days also had trouble with missing help. My caregiver for Thursday and Friday was also ill and unable to come. Therefore, Sunday through Friday had five shifts open out of a total of nine. Thankfully, my night nurse who was on extended medical leave is back and doing well.

Since we didn't have help Wednesday night, that meant mom and I would have slept in Thursday morning. However, dad was also very busy at work and had something that needed to get finished. Therefore, I got up a little earlier than usual, did a hurried morning routine, and I went to work with him. In our rush to get out the door, we even skipped my usual protein shake for breakfast. By the time we got to lunch, I was getting hungry.

I've been with dad at work a few times. As a commercial printing facility, it's interesting watching folded papers get stacked, stapled, and trimmed to form an information booklet. I try to watch, but stay out of the way as well. For several minutes, I parked by the one nearby window and let the sun warm my face. It felt good, but I was also next to a machine's noisy blower. I battled for a while, good feeling sun vs. noise, but eventually my ringing ears won and I relocated.

Friday and Saturday were very nice days for mid-November in Iowa. Mostly sunny with highs near, and above, 70 was a treat. The two days were spent juggling witch parent stayed with me while the three of us tried to complete our various tasks. Unfortunately, the yard work dad did Friday was hardly noticeable Saturday as leaves kept dropping from trees.

These weeks are the more challenging times in the quad life. We all missed items we had hoped to do, but also made accomplishments. My trach button still feels very plugged at the end as well. The schedule meant my medicine was applied at odd times, but I doubt that would make much difference. I'm looking forward to this new week and hope it will be back to a more regular schedule.