Rise of the Idiots

Today is my daughter's hair day. By that I mean she gets her hair washed today. She is 47 yrs. old with severe Cerebral Palsy and today I help my wife wash her hair. We usually have help to come in and do these things but in the present environment that's not allowed.
I heard some crazy things in the last few days. Cities to do away with their police force. Replacing then with social workers and first responders. Can you imagine getting a call that the bank is being robbed and told to hang on tight, we have two social workers on the way. Minneapolis is one of those cities. Maybe it's a ploy to settle down the masses. I certainly hope it's not for real, Wyatt Earp would turn over in his grave. Minnesota has a big problem with Somalians. The only place they can go is downhill.
It rained for the last two days but dry enough today to cut the grass. Still jobs on the list to do.

My Daughter's Hospital Saga

      My daughter, Natasha is 46 yrs old and has severe Cerebral Palsy. She got sick in May and we took her to Dartmouth General on 28th. They said she had pneumonia and started treating her. It was cleared up in a week but she started having other problems. The feeding tube going into her stomach started to leak so they decided to change the tube. It was a type available at the hospital but not the same as we normally use. We do have a spare for emergencies but they still wanted to use theirs.
       Almost immediately she started having more problems. Her temp. fluctuated between 37+ to 39+. A red circle appeared around the tube entrance, getting larger and larger. They thought she had a virus and started giving her antibiotics. I was sitting with her one afternoon when they gave her a dose. The nurse left and within a short time my daughter started turning red, her face, her arms. I went and got a nurse. She disconnected the antibiotics and said she must be allergic to it. I'm wondering what would have happened if I had not been there. I don't think the nurse would have returned in the next hour.
      We wanted them to replace the tube with our own but no one would do it. Said it was too difficult. She has a specialist in Halifax that always does this work but he would not come to Dartmouth General. Said he did not want to step on other doctors toes. There is no cooperation between hospitals.
      Last Sat. her doctor was able to convince another surgeon to come and look at the tube. My son was there at the time. The doctor apologized and said that she should never have gone through all this shit. The red circle was a burn caused by stomach acid. He replaced the tube with ours and said it was so simple, he didn't know why they didn't do it. My son was watching and said it was so simple he could have done it himself. He told the nurses to put Malax on the burn. The red started to disappear, changing to brown like a suntan. Now, it is peeling like a suntan.
      The temp went down but there is still a small leakage around the tube. Screwed it up with the hospital tube. We made a mutual agreement with the doctor to bring her home. Getting nowhere at the hospital. Now making an appointment with the doctor in Halifax. Took her home on Wed. She acted so so. When she woke up Thur. morning, she was all smiles. It wasn't a dream, she was really home.

Visit To P.E.I.

      Been away for the last little while. Spent four days in P.E.I. It's not for myself that I went but for my daughter. She is 42 and has Cerebral Palsy. She can't walk, talk, or do any of the things we take for granted. We have to feed her with a tube. So, we tell her that going to P.E.I. is her vacation. We can't keep her in the house all the time, and it is so much easier to take her in the new van. She can sit in the back and look out the window and at night she can sleep in a motel. She was smiling for the four days. It rained for the first two days, but she didn't mind as long as she can look out the window and see something different.
      My wife will take her away again in Aug. Her best friend lives along the ocean, and they go there for a week. Lots of noise, grand-kids, etc. Another vacation.

John Grisham's "Ford County"

How dare they threaten us! With sunshine instead of rain for tomorrow. We'll just see about that!

I am reading John Grisham's "Ford County" and last night I read the chapter "Michael's Room."
For me, this chapter really hit home. It almost mirrors my own life.

It involves a lawyer, kidnapped by a father of a child, with Cerebral Palsy. Ten years earlier, the lawyer had defended a doctor in a malpractice suit. The end result gave the family absolutely nothing. The theory was that the child wouldn't live past a year anyway. But now the boy is eleven years old. So the father grabs the lawyer and brings him to his house to show him the result of the jury verdict.

The differences between that family, and mine, is not much. He's from Miss. and his son is eleven. My daughter is thirty-eight. We even have the extra room on the side of the house. It used to be my garage, but now it is her room, with a wood stove in case the power goes out. It has patio doors, which go out onto the patio, which I doubled in length to accommodate her.

My daughter also has one brother, and the description of the wife's life, pretty well describes what my wife does. Except it has been for thirty eight years instead of eleven. And the money problems? At one point, I had four extra jobs while being in the military. With government assistance, it is much better now.

He sued the doctor, I didn't do that. In fact, the doctor died a little while later, from cirrhosis of the liver. He also had family support, which I didn't get. Except for one brother out of four, and their families, I'm more or less shunned. But one can certainly pick up good friends along the way.

John Grisham really did his homework on this story.



Jack Sakalauskas
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