Monday, August 31st

M was finally finished painting Mom's condo so he could join us for a movie! I should have told him it would be his choice today, but he is light on his feet, and he thought about all the celebrities who had passed away recently and came up with this pick to remember Tim Curry.

This 1996 film was directed by Brian Henson and stars Billy Connolly and Jennifer Saunders, along with TC and all the lovable muppets. The muppets are what make this film so delightful and fun to watch.

Tuesday, September 1st

D2 came today and signed up with the head nurse, so she is officially recognized as someone who is working on me. F had a little bit of a hard time understanding that I had two massage therapists working on me. That was partially my fault because I had not said from the beginning that someone came every Tuesday to massage me. Not because I had any pain, but just because it was a good idea to keep the blood flowing. Mom found two different people so one could go on vacation and the other could fill in.

Wednesday, September 2nd

After my shower, A, the nurse who would work on my ear, got rid of some of the excess earwax I had. I told her how my ear was very clogged, and after she examined me, she ordered some drops that would soften the wax so we could get rid of it. I was somewhat doubtful about the drops, but as I had not found someone who could do ear coning on me, I thought I would give it a try.

Thursday, September 3rd

Dr R was having a lot of work done at home, and it ended up not being possible to grab Freddie today. We had a session that seemed quick, and she helped me play Spelling Bee. (Not the best use of a therapist’s time, I think.)

They wanted to start the eardrops last night, but I deferred until this morning. The drops completely clogged my ears, so I couldn't hear out of my right ear again. The drops are supposed to soften the earwax, and after three days you irrigate the ear, and the wax comes out. That's the idea, anyway. Softening the wax seemed to make it expand, and I had low-level pain in my ear the rest of the day. Grr!

Friday, September 3rd

The nurse this morning did things a little differently. Instead of just putting the drops in my ear and then soaking up the excess, she jiggled my head so the wax that was blocking my ear moved and the drops could get beyond the clog. Nice! By chance, I turned onto my right side soon after for a moment, and the clog cleared up enough so I could hear out of that ear again! Yippee! We will have to keep doing that when I get the drops!

Saturday, September 5th

My sister came at lunchtime with vegetable sushi and kale salad. She had gotten a package of regular fish sushi for herself, and I had two pieces of tuna sushi. (Boy, do I love tuna!) My nutritionist doesn't like me to eat raw fish, and I haven’t for months, but I can't resist every once in a while…

My sister had also received the dresses I had bought online! We opened up the box, and only one of them didn't work for me. The dress was not the one they had pictured. It was very close, but it had a scoop neck and thin spaghetti straps, which really do not look good on me. So one will get returned, and I will enjoy wearing the others!

I thought I might get one more round of drops, but instead it was time to irrigate and remove the wax. I wasn't a huge fan of forcing water into my ear, but it did not hurt, and it was over soon. I only got wet a little bit, and then they said it was done. The nurse threw the wax away before I could see how much had come out. My ear was definitely not as full, but it was still clogged. I told the nurse I would like to do another round to get more wax out.

Sunday, September 6th

The nurse this morning saw the note that the evening nurse had made about me wanting to do more drops. She asked me why I wanted to do more, and I said that my ear was still clogged. How do you know? she asked. Because I can feel the wax in my ear and my hearing is blocked, I said. I forget that most people here cannot accurately describe what's happening to them. She looked and saw that there still was a lot of wax, so she asked the doctor to extend the drops one more round. They started after dinner!

Mom came by at lunch, and we hung out a bit. I did not start writing the blog today. The cover photo this week is a picture my sister took of me yesterday. She was ’trying my new dresses on,' which was unnecessary as far as I was concerned. I have a good sense of what is going to look good on me, so I knew they would work without having to put them on. This dress is what I will wear for my birthday, as the colors for the party will be pink, purple, and gold. I hope I'm not giving too much away by showing you this dress! Ha! Have a great week!