Grandma’s tests, another scare from Grandpa, early drop-off, distractions

Grandma did well on her full day of testing. One particular test requiring an MRI following a dye injection was perhaps the most difficult for Grandma for two reasons. First, because she was required to have her arms above her head throughout the rather long test, which is a very uncomfortable position to maintain, but secondly, because she was required to stay still and quiet. In each medical contact, Mama told me that Grandma was far more concerned about witnessing to the attendants than in finding out if there was anything to be discovered through each of the tests. I have to give Grandma credit for her absolute determination to share the Gospel with everyone she comes in contact with. Grandma’s only regret for the day was that she was not able to get any sign of connection or understanding from an Asian Indian woman who helped her in one test. I am confident that the Word will never return to the Lord void, He promised it would not, but it is impossible to know what Grandma said as she shared that Word. Sometimes the threads of her thoughts as she speaks them out loud do not connect well. Sometimes even she does not know what she is trying to say. But she does love the Lord and wants to share that thought with everyone.

Other than that, Grandma did well on all the tests. In fact, when Mama, Grandma and Grandpa got home, Grandma seemed energized. She was more loquacious than normal. Much of what she was reciting to simply fill the air with words, were stories we had heard many times before, but she was happy to just be talking and once in the groove, it is better to allow her to keep going. Grandpa spent the afternoon napping and Mama took a short nap, but not Grandma. When no one was available to hear her talking, she contacted someone by phone. She has a wealth of close contacts, family and friends, that are willing to allow her to spill out long tales all of them already know, but do not mind hearing again. Several times she called my phone thinking she was calling her brother Timmy. I did not notice the missed calls until an hour or more later. Eventually she wore out and laid down. I did not see Grandma until the next evening since I taught a class the day following her tests. It may be a few more days before we get the results, but nothing seems urgent at the moment.

Tuesday, we had another scare from Grandpa. In the afternoon he began to shiver even though the temperature in the house was about 77 degrees. Since the in-home nurse had just seen Grandpa that morning, Mama called the service to see if the nurse could come back over to check Grandpa out. It was more than an hour before someone came. All vitals were good, but Grandpa’s temperature was a bit elevated. Nothing serious, but definitely noticeable. Within a few hours, the chills had passed but the general weakness remained and is still troubling Grandpa today. It is obvious that there is a latent issue we are dealing with but so far, we are uncertain. What we suspect is that there is an iron deficiency. How to meet or overcome that deficiency is still in question. Wednesday morning a nurse came by to draw blood for lab work. We will know those results fairly soon. Our primary concern is his kidney function, but there is little we can do to change that outcome of his slowly failing kidneys. Mama and I are struggling to find ways to engage Grandpa in everyday life, but the heat makes any outside labor dangerous for him. We will enjoy him and Grandma while we can.

Mama, Victoria and I were up at about 4 am this morning. Victoria’s flight to Honduras was scheduled for 7 am. I am not sure what time she will arrive in Honduras, but we got her to the airport on time to begin the hops through airports that would take her there. DFW is an easy airport to navigate, especially at that time of day. That does not make the very early morning more pleasant, but light traffic in the very early morning is a benefit to having that early drop-off time. Mama and I were back home in time for me to sign in to work with time to spare.

This evening after work, I plan to process the seven male quail we have in the small Banty house. They are bearing the daily brunt of the heat. We have the Banty house under a large oak tree by the duck pen, but the males in that house are not necessarily completely shaded throughout the day. There are times the house is partly exposed to the glaring sun and the quail are panting badly through the late morning into the early afternoon. The Banty house is not necessarily made to promote air circulation. So, it gets pretty hot. It is time to get them out of that house and do something different with them. I suppose, eating them is as favorable an outcome for us as I can provide.

In preparation for processing the quail, I looked online to see how to get that done and it seems pretty easy. It was a bit more difficult to skin the ducks than the online videos showed, but not by much. Hopefully, skinning the quail will turn out to be as easy as the videos have shown. I will know soon enough.

On the downside, every one of these little things takes time away from work I need to get done on the container. It bothers me a bit, but there is not much I can do about the many distracting chores we have to deal with at the farm that keep me from focusing on things I want to spend time working on. Honestly though, it is probably better to wait until Saturday to pick back up on the work I need to do inside the container because it is hotter inside the enclosure than it is outside. Lately there has been a breeze stirring the air, making it more tolerable, but only by a small degree. That breeze does not move the air inside the box. Oh, well.

There is always plenty to do.