This morning we met with a woman from a new home healthcare agency, who thinks that they will be able to provide short shift help in the mornings.  All other agencies have a four hour minimum, and I really don’t need four hours, more like two in the morning.  They charge a little more per hour, but we will try them out and see how it works.

After they left, we got ready to go to the NYU Dental Clinic.  David got a cleaning this time, and scheduled for more in depth cleaning for next week.  They will need to have an updated INR count because of the Coumadin to start the deeper cleaning.  The Dentist also advised that one of David’s teeth is cracked and should be crowned, but he is not interested, and wants to “chance it” as they say.  He has actually been avoiding this since seeing his Dentist in Washington, so, I guess we can wait.  I would just have it done, but, he was adamant.  They will have to do the deep cleaning in four sessions, which David was also not pleased about, but she explained that because of some bone loss and the blood thinners, the cleaning would be more involved than a standard cleaning.  She also gave me a new job – brushing David’s teeth.  He wasn’t pleased about that either, and was even less pleased when I did it tonight!

Then, it was off get blood drawn and then to our appointment with Dr. Im, the Physiatrist.  It was a good visit, and his associate, who gave David his initial exam, was very nice.  She thought he was doing well, and Dr. Im was very impressed with the movement in his shoulder.  Finally David was impressed with himself, once the Doctor said he had made an improvement – he doesn’t believe me.  He would like David to go for an X-ray of his right side, because the pain that he has been complaining about since December is still there, and he wants to make sure that he didn’t do something to his rib.

While on our way uptown, I got a message from the SUNY Ophthalmology Clinic, and when we got home, I got on the phone to schedule the appointment.  The first appointment that they had for a new patient was February 27.  At first I was shocked, but then realized, it is only a little more than a month away.  She also has him on a waiting list for any cancellations, and she said there was actually one earlier today, so, there might be a good chance he will get in sooner.  Now the last medical appointment I have to try to arrange is for a sleep study – he has been better since lowering the Lyrica dosage, but still has some snoring problems (he will deny it, but it is true).

This afternoon, we had visits from Jane and Henry Berliss and were also joined by Candi Kaplan.  It was a very nice visit all around, and it is often good to have a group, because then the pressure of conversation isn’t so hard on David.

David was pretty tired, and took a short nap after the visits, then dinner and nice conversation, Glee, I read last night’s blog, Isaac’s Storm (which is getting very scary and exciting) and object #37 (I think) which was a Native American pipe.  Sleep.  It is still, very cold, and today, I let David wear my shearling coat, because the cold is really getting to him.  When we got to the Doctor, and were waiting, I remembered the history of the coat, which Wayne bought in Vermont in 1995/6, I think, and then, when we were in Washington, I gave it to my Mother to wear, and when she died, it came back to me, and now, it is still keeping both of us warm in the frigid weather.  Nothing like a warm old coat, loaded with memories to keep you warm.

There was something that I am sure David wanted me to write tonight, but I can’t for the life of me remember what it was.  He was able to say somethings today, unprompted, but that is getting more and more normal, so I don’t think that was it.  We also were with the Dental Student for a full twenty minutes before he asked something that David couldn’t respond to, and I had to tell him that he had trouble talking.  He was shocked that he hadn’t even noticed, but I am pretty sure that wasn’t it either.  I will remember in the middle of the night, and if I do, I will amend the posting. I will, however, end now, because, reading back, this is a pretty disjointed posting, that, thankfully was not ranting, but certainly is rambling.

Good-night!