Doctors and Dust

I confess that, over the course of the last few years, I have made major stops toward living a minimalist lifestyle, striving for simplicity in many things, including interior decoration.  Simple put, my folks don't embrace that same ethic.  So, on the first day, I did as much simplification in the bedroom I am sleeping in as I possibly could, if only to make it more comfortable for me. Off and on over the last couple of days I've been cleaning the folks place, as much as I can get away with.  So far, I've gotten away with about 12 bags of "stuff" and I have permission to take out even more.

Today though was a day that was initially consumed with errands.  Tom had to start the day by running down to IHS in Rosebud to get his medications lined out.  Fortunately, he was successful and he now has his prescription filled for the next 30 days, with one automatic refill for the 30 days that follow after that.  He has to get his medicaid approved so he can schedule another surgery due to a growth on his pancreas.  IHS (and CHR) currently lack the resources to schedule it for him.

With Tom headed off to IHS, I headed into town with Mom and Bill.  First, I dropped Bill at the tax preparers, then I took Mom up to see the PA at her doctors office.  She is attempting to get more pain killers, but she is at the limit of what they are willing to give here.  She is having trouble managing the pills.  They renew them on a weekly basis, but she tends to run through them and come up short. The dynamic of helping her manage her pills is difficult. Tomorrow, a home health nurse to going to come out and visit with her and discuss the issue with her, though we're not real sure that is going to make any significant difference.

After her appointment, we picked Bill up and then took him up to the clinic as well, so he could also talk to the PA.  They discussed the difficulty of controlling her medications and the need for her to keep to the tight schedule of them.  We will see what the home health nurse has to suggest tomorrow.

Then, we stopped at Jolie's cafe in Winner for lunch, followed by a stop at the bank, then, finally, the drive back to the ranch (twenty six miles from Running's at the edge of Winner to the ranch).  Once we got back I moved all the cars in the big garage and shut the doors.  We are sliding into a winter storm warning, starting tonight, and running through to Wednesday morning - so, I am bracing for snow and ice. 

After we got settled back in, I helped Bill search for some tax documents (he had them earlier in the year, but could not locate them).  We didn't find them, but we did manage to sort through a lot of stuff and take it off in bags.  Then, I cooked dinner - a nice, hearty, potato cheddar soup that was very well received.  Following that, I tackled cleaning the kitchen counter - and let me tell you, that was a daunting task.

First, it was piled high and deep with several years worth of incidental stuff - and worst yet, incidental small stuff.  So I spent a good deal of time sorting through it, figuring out what was what, and throwing it away or putting it into it's proper place.  The kitchen is still a fairly daunting place, but the worst of it - the counter, was cleaned to the board.

Then, a call with my brother (and ruminations on the difficulty of communication).  From there, I did all the dishes, including a lot of miscellaneous containers that had been stuff with miscellaneous "stuff" on the counter.  When that task was done, I settled in here to watch a spot of TV, make an entry here, and settle in for the evening.  With the storm blowing in, tomorrow should be a good day for more cleaning - the big hitter ahead of me right now is still the den - but, on the plus side, the den is more junky then dirty and what is in there tends to be big boxes tumbled together, not necessarily with anything in them. (I made a foray into the den earlier in the day and scooped some of the out).

With that note, I am going to settle in for the night and enjoy a very quiet evening.