June 27, 2009

10:26 p.m.

Some Hump & Haul, Some Shake & Bake

Someone sent me a joke last week: What's the difference between bird flu and swine flu? Answer: For bird flu you need tweetment, and for swine flu you need oinkment.

Well, Rose is in serious need of oinkment right now.

Last week she saw a patient who tested positive for swine flu. This morning Marc took her to the ER at 5:30 because her temperature had been over 105 all night. She called it "shake and bake."

She might possibly have avoided it except that she'd been on a high dose of Prednisone for the poison ivy that had gotten systemic and turned her arms into boiling red leather. With no immune system to kick in, she was more susceptible to anything.

They put her on an IV for a few hours and monitored her temp, which went down a few degrees, but she tested negative for the second time for swine flu. The doc didn't buy it; she'd had a major headache for a day and then a huge, unusual backache for the whole next day, and now the fever. It was too telling. She's taking something that shortens flu, and Advil to knock the fever down, but other than that it's just waiting. She was able to eat dinner tonight and watch a movie with us, but her temp is back up to 102 by now and she's definitely in rest and recovery mode.

When Josh, her boss, heard what happened he decided not to come out and help with the move. If they're both down with it the office would have to close. So that left Marc to help me move, period. Another friend has hepatitis; one couldn't get a babysitter, and the others were just way overcommitted already or out of town.

And of course Marc was at the ER until early afternoon tending to my dear, temporarily but horribly sick sister.

I packed boxes and boxes and filled the car and brought all my "camping" stuff here to their house. I don't know how long I'll be sleeping here but it still amounts to a lot of stuff; personal things, work clothes, play clothes, bedding (gotta have my own pillows), clothing or cushiony things I don't want to take to House until House is fresh and flowery.

Pearl was waiting for someone to come and buy a few more of her chicks. She's pared the flock down from 27 to 16, much more manageable. I went back to the apartment and loaded up a few more things and figured out how to take the futon frame apart so that it would go down the stairs. Of course I'd taken my toolbox to House already, so we didn't get the futon today. When Marc arrived a bit later with Pearl, we did get a whole heap of everything transported, in two loads, before realizing it was 5:00 and we should knock off and think about dinner. I had also made a stop at the grocery store and picked up a couple of prescriptions for them. All in all we did very well today and held up all right, in spite of middle-aged knees and corresponding stamina level. We even got everything out of the basement that was mine, a coup I wasn't sure would happen today.

Marc examined the pipes in that basement and took note of the dampness issue in the back room. This was the room where I used to have all my stuff. Some months ago I realized there was water seeping in across the dirt floor, and I had some box damage and so forth. He looked around at that, and up at the wild array of pipes above our heads, and said, "Man. She's got issues. Believe it or not, I'd rather deal with your exploded poopy pipe than these problems!" That made me feel good.

We made black bean burritos for dinner, played with little chickens (who are starting to flutter up and roost on the lip of the enclosure -- a pretty high leap for birds not quite fledged), and watched If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium during a huge thunderstorm. I am now fully tired and done with this day. Tomorrow -- one more load should do it, pesky things like the mattress and the computer desk and the futon, and another file cabinet. Then I have to go back and clean the bejabbers out of that place. Then I will say prayers of thanks, do my walkthrough with Sunny, and that will be the last time I will depart my sweet, benevolent apartment where I lived twice.

I may not go to work on Monday. There is little for me to do there right now, and Marc won't be in so I won't be able to go to him looking for tasks. And I know full well I'll want to be scrubbing House anyway. The locksmith was closed today so I could do that task, too. Thanks, im2qt2kr, for the vinegar suggestion. I got a jug today and will add it to my arsenal of de-stinking armaments.

Happy, happy. Tired in body and brain, but happy.