The news from Weatherwood

Remember how last summer, I spent like two weeks visiting my family? Seeing my mother at the hospital every day. Forcibly dragging my grandmother to an orthopedist (who said her vertebrae were crushing, one by one, and there really wasn't much we could do) and a cardiologist (who said her palpitations were the result of atrial fibrillation, and put her on some mild drugs). Getting a damn cordless phone for the apartment, over my idiot uncle Ricky's strenuous objections, so that I'd be able to talk with Nana even if she couldn't get out of bed to come to the phone in the kitchen. Reading all of Jane Austen's novels, too many of them for the first time.

Then this summer I spent five indolent days there. No car, burgeoning belly, many aches and pains—lots of excuses to do absolutely nothing. (Well, okay, I started a knitting project, and did test swatches and everything, but I'm sparing you the geekery until I have a camera and can illustrate the discussion.) Didn't even manage especially good conversations with Nana. Instead I got to listen to Marina hint about how difficult she finds my uncle to deal with. Duh, lady, but, um, you're the one who married him, you know?

The only useful thing I did was supply my grandmother with a new set of books: she's decided she wants to read the great Russian novelists, and reread George Eliot, while she still can. I also explained to Ricky how to find novels at Borders, if they're not on the tables in the front of the store (I'm not making this up), so that he can manage more of future resupply himself.

Things have gotten worse there since I left. Nana's back has gone out again. Ricky doesn't have the emotional strength to make her go to the doctor, and Marina knows her position is too fragile to push at all hard. I'm not going to push incredibly hard either, because it's probably another vertebra crushing down and there's almost certainly nothing that can be done. She is making it out of bed and getting dressed, but she's in a lot of pain and being very bitchy about it to both Ricky and Marina.

(Memo to self: calcium, damnit! Weight-bearing exercise, too. It's not just my grandmother: my mother had scoliosis and fractures. And she was only in her 60's. My bones are doomed.)

Plus, the cordless phone has died. Best current guess (Marina's, of course) is that the jacks that were just installed last summer have given out. The last time I called, Nana was in too much pain to get to the wall phone. I can't talk with her directly until it gets fixed, and I don't know if Ricky (with his huge phone neuroses) even wants to get it fixed.

The only good-ish news is that Marina has kept pushing on making the apartment less disgusting. The ancient wall-to-wall carpet, saturated with decades' worth of the output of my mother's undertrained dogs? They've ripped it out. Marina is insisting that my grandmother let the painters (that the landlord will pay for!) come in. And she got my grandmother out to Macy's to choose a new rug, which will be delivered after the painting is done.

Comments

[bj]

Emma:

don't know what your financial situation is, but the "wireless" phones, like

AT&T 2375 2.4 Gigahertz Cordless Multi-Handset Phone with Integrated Answering Device and Caller ID/Call Waiting with 2 additional handsets

Might be a solution for your grandmother. The base set can be plugged in where there's a phone jack, and then the remote headsets just require an electrical outlet (no phone jack). We use these through out our house.

bj

[Emma Jane]

Yep--the one from last year is like that, with the main base in the living room next to her reading chair, and an auxiliary one in her bedroom. It's been working really well -- Nana knows she can call out if she needs to, the handsets have flashing lights that help her know when they're ringing, and they have volume adjustments that are quite helpful, what with her hearing loss.

The underlying (physical) problem is almost certainly the apartment building's crappy wiring. What makes it such a huge pain to deal with is my uncle's obsession with not changing things. He MUST get his late night calls (for early morning runs) on the wall phone in the kitchen, which must not be replaced. He fears that any changes to the other wiring will break the kitchen phone. (And, you know, they might.) The cordless would never have made it this far if we hadn't gotten a new jack installed for it, and if I hadn't been there to guard its presence for a full week at the beginning.

It simply sucks that the new jack has broken. And I really hope they will get it fixed.

[Now, if you were a taxi driver, wouldn't you have a cell phone? I mean, just for when you're driving, for Chrissakes! Especially if your wife had not one, but two?!]

[cathy]

FWIW, there is lot that can be done for spine fractures these days -- the main thing of which is vertebroplasty -- google it and you'll find dozens of links.

Yes, take your calcium, esp now as the baby leeches calcium from your very bones. 5-600 mg, twice a day.

You are going to have plenty of weight-bearing excercise once you have this baby, don't worry about that right now. But TAKE YOUR CALCIUM NOW.

Cathy (osteoporoesis expert)

[Kelly]

I saw the link to the Knitty pattern and had to comment..I just LOVE Knitty! I recently finished the Trellis sweater for a friend's little girl. Problem is that its so cute I want to keep it..of course there's no hope of a baby in my near future (infertile & no money to adopt for at least another 2 years)..oh well, I guess I can always make another.

What yarn are you using for the blanket?

[Cheri]

Did you do a regular kitchner stitch when you joined the back seam to the trellis sweater or did you do it in seed? If in seed, can you recommend a place to find instructions?
Thanks