Poor August has been sick again, this time with fever and a cough. Jessie took him to the doctor on Friday and he didn't have covid and he didn't have the flu so it's probably viral. He's getting his adenoids out in a few weeks and we're hoping that's going to help. Have any of you had experience with that situation?
So he was home with his mother today who was so very tired. She worked yesterday and the hospital where she works, which is Tallahassee's main hospital, has had some sort of computer information cyber attack and they're not really talking about it but the FBI is involved and it may be a ransom ware issue and things are a complete mess. EVERYTHING in the hospital involves computer technology. They are having to do manage it all on paper and with phone calls and faxing. I asked Jessie if they even still had charting forms for them to use and she said they did but they are so outdated and have been copied over and redacted and it's all just a shit show. That everyone is walking around asking everyone else how to do things and saying, "This is just a complete shit show."
They're not even accepting any but the most serious of trauma cases and only doing absolutely unavoidable surgeries. BUT- babies will be born and that's the area Jessie works in so they are just having to work-around and figure it out.
So yes, she was tired today.
I suggested we meet up at the park by the library and have a picnic and she liked that idea and so did August who is in good spirits despite his whatever-he-has. The hoop-a-coodus as my mother used to say when one of us was displaying symptoms like August has. Jessie went through the drive-in at the Pitaria, our favorite Mediterranean place and we sat in the sunshine and ate our hummus and pita and falafel and dolmades. So, so good. August was funny and jokey. At one point he said, "I wish Levon was here."
Which was pretty darn sweet.
He'd brought a book and after we ate I read a little of it to him. It was mostly a wonders-of-nature thing and included dinosaurs and the creatures who live in forests and deserts and in the ocean. He leaned up against me on the bench we were sitting on and both his mother and I tousled his hair and stroked his head. I swear- that boy is changing so fast. Every time I see him he looks different to me. I mean, always like August, but a different August.
I know, I know, I KNOW! This is the way of it but damn.
Remember when he looked like this?
And when I went to check out, I told the guy behind the counter that I, too, would like to know if they have Mexican grass. He was about to get on his intercom device and I rushed to stop him and said, "Whoa! Wait! It's a joke!"
I don't think he got it.
And boy, does he hate Orangina, as he calls Trump. Not only that but he calls out people who support him who have gay sons and daughters, who claim to be champions of art and the people who make it.
I sometimes (too often) feel like we humans are not going to make it. And you know what? I'm not sure we deserve to.
I think the only thing I can do right now is to be as kind and as loving and as helpful to those around me as I can be. What the fuck else can we do?
When the adenoids are removed ... so are the tonsils! That should take care of a lot of sick days for August.
ReplyDeleteI am waiting for the State of the Union address ... I fear the idiot Republinuts will be making further asses of themselves! You know who they are!
I am hoping the aliens show up and do whatever it is they are going to do to our planet and us!
Marge Taylor Green once again showed her true colors during last night’s speech. The woman has no class, no cooth and no common sense.
DeleteNot always, Marcia. They can do one and/or the other. The doctor who saw August said his tonsils looked fine.
DeleteAs to those aliens- girl, I've been looking for them for a long time. And yes, as Anonymous said, Marjorie Taylor Greene did indeed show her true colors and her ass. As did other Republicans. And Biden played with them like a cat plays with a mouse.
Yes, wtf else can we do? I hope August gets well soon and the adenoid removal helps. Thanks for the recommendations, Orangina made me snort laugh.
ReplyDeleteXoxo
Barbara
"Orangina" is rather perfect, isn't it?
DeleteSo sad about the poor people in the earthquake zone, some already war refugees. There was a baby born under the rubble and rescued alive. No word on the poor mom, so I pray she survives too.
ReplyDeleteSorry about the seemingly endless ailments too. Maybe the surgery will help. I hear that part of the recovery involves ice cream..
I saw the baby being rescued with its umbilical cord still attached but I'm afraid the mother died!
DeleteI can't watch the footage of the earthquake rescue attempts. I am very glad that baby lived. I weep for the mother.
DeleteBoud, I too, have heard that ice cream is involved! I was just thinking today that Levon will probably get some too and he doesn't even have to have surgery!
That's what they told me, too, Boud. And 79 years later, that is my biggest memory of surgery for tonsils and adenoids.
ReplyDeleteThat was the big selling point for tonsillectomies.
DeleteI hope August recovers quickly. I don't know anything about the adenoids, but if they need to be out then so be it. Cyber hackers should all be sent to hell with no reprieve. I hope Jessie's hospital gets sorted out soon. That's just too much work writing everything on paper forms.
ReplyDeleteAnd it goes so much further than charting on paper. Everything from ordering meds to doctor's orders are having to be done differently. And it is not resolved yet.
Delete37paddington:
ReplyDeleteDarling Mary, my brother had his tonsils and adenoids removed at Augusts age because they kept being infected or inflamed or something and he had been sick a lot before the surgery and he wasn’t after. I hope the same for August. Poor Jessie. I can’t even imagine what the hospital must be dealing with. Is this the latest thing? To attack our infrastructure? I understand feeling flat. Sometimes it’s all too much and we have to disconnect. Go dim. I’m on dim myself right now. Hugs.
Thanks for telling me about your brother. I hope this for August, too. Poor little guy. And of course Jessie is in a constant state of feeling like she's doing something wrong. Which she isn't.
DeleteYes. I think that hackers are definitely attacking the infrastructure. I hear the ransom ware shit is happening for utility companies too.
Big, giant, loving hugs to you!
My brother also had that surgery. I was jealous...he did very well after a couple of days of misery- he preferred popcicles though. After that he rarely, if ever ,got ill again. Until, you know, got cancer from smoking and died...
ReplyDeleteWe are way too dependent on computers goes without saying!
I have a feeling that August will get more popsicles than ice cream but whatever- he'll love it all.
DeleteWho the hell takes a picture of a young man they have just beaten - to death as it turned out!!!! Sometimes I agree - there is no hope!
ReplyDeleteAn evil, evil person. That's who.
DeleteIn answer to your last question: Nothing. We cannot do anything to change the big picture, but we can change the small picture.
ReplyDeleteCerelyn Davis, chief of police was fired from a previous job in Atlanta for instructing investigators not to look at the spouse of a police officer in the investigation of abuse of underage girls (he was later found guilty of the charges). She was demoted from Major to Lieutenant as a result of that. She also had a similar 'tactical' group in Atlanta that was disbanded after multiple lawsuits alleging brutality and excessive use of force. I'm going to say it out loud. Memphis hired a bad cop to run the show. When the leader is a bad cop, you will not have a good police force.
Not only will you not have a good police force, you will have a horrible police force. Funny how the term "bad cop" is so universally understood.
DeleteSorry to hear August is sick again and I hope the surgery ends that problem. I remember that from when my brother had his tonsils out years ago. And it is true that he got ice cream to recover.
ReplyDeleteI heard that the State of the Union address went well and the Republicans looked silly compared to the President who kept his cool.
The earthquake news is horrifying. It is difficult to not be sad these days.
August is mending again! Like the phoenix, he does rise. I sure hope the surgery helps though.
DeleteI did watch the SOTU address and I thought Biden did a very good job.
There have always been awful people in the world; angry, scared people who don't want to look at themselves, who only blame others. We can only do our best.
ReplyDeleteSending hugs and love.
Yes. Fear is the root of so much anger and hate.
DeleteSending hugs and love back to you.
Every new bit of information about Tyre Nichols is more awful than the last. And all of it has been just awful. It does make it hard to feel hopeful for the world at times.
ReplyDeleteExactly. All of it has been awful and it only gets worse.
DeleteFirst, I'm sorry August is sick again. What a drag. It IS remarkable how he and all your other grandkids have grown. It's the way of it but it still seems surprising and way, way too fast!
ReplyDeleteBelieve it or not, I think we have "Mexican grass" in our garden. We call it Mexican feathergrass. I assume it's what those people were looking for. (Or maybe not?!)
I laughed at "I might as well have been shopping in France."
Your last paragraph says it all.
WAY too fast! Dang.
DeleteOh, I totally believe there is such a thing as Mexican grass which is not, uh- weed from Mexico. But I just thought it was funny.
Glad you liked that line about France.
Sorry August is sick again......maybe having his adenoids removed will help overall? Hope so. And sorry for Jessie's dilemna at work.... Could not bring myself to watch the SOU address last night....but read about it today. I prefer to channel my emotional energy (what I can) in lamenting SO many lives lost in Turkey and Syria. Our state of affairs is one thing.....but THAT is a true tragedy.
ReplyDeleteSusan M
I was just going to watch "a little bit" of the state of the union but ended up watching it all. I thought that Biden did a terrific job, honestly. It's all theater and he is a consummate politician but I do think he is a very good man.
DeleteThe blogpost title, "Just Don't Read This If You Need Cheering Up" is a little misleading because your blog is always uplifting. Your ability to strip away the camouflage that hides the reality within is rare and it sings out to readers that we have much in common when it comes to being human.
ReplyDeleteOh, Mr. P! That was so sweet. Thank you. You have absolutely warmed my heart.
DeleteAnd in more bad news: Fabuloso product recall. https://www.fabuloso.com/recall
ReplyDeleteSigh - in the bigger picture a small thing, but jeez!
Chris from Boise
Oh dear god. And I have one of those products although barely used. Thanks for the heads-up.
Delete