It is now 0237. I have only been up for a few minutes. I needed to use the bathroom and get a grapefruit snack. I am just sitting on my chair thinking about the past few days. Friday specifically.
Friday morning I woke up at 0330 to use the bathroom and stayed awake. I was having explosive diarrhea due to eating a can of spicy gumbo the night before for dinner. I took a really good selfie later in the morning, but before Caleb woke up. I woke Caleb up after doing my morning routines of taking my medications and supplements and personal hygiene. Caleb got up and was good in the morning. He got on his bus ok. I came back home from the bus stop with no problem. I talked to Nana when I got home. I decided to go to Lowe's Foods that morning after the sun came up. I did some really good shopping of the sales that morning. I saved $41 or so, but I spent around $130. I bought the sourdough bread we love, the fruits Nana requested, and dinner items for the next few days. I came home and unloaded the van right away and put away the groceries right away. I made Nana breakfast after that. I don't remember exactly what came next. I think I got the laundry going. I wanted to clean the hallway bathroom so when the volunteers came later in the day they would have a clean bathroom to use. I never made it to doing that. I wanted to clean up a bit, but after getting up so early, and staying up, I needed a nap. I took a nap. I was still having explosive diarrhea. When I got up, I was not feeling the best. I text messaged Mallory, the social worker, that I was not feeling well due to diarrhea and having back pain. She responded like it did not matter that I did not feel well, they were coming over regardless. The volunteers were not scheduled to arrive until 2pm, but they arrived at 1pm without my permission. I was tired and not ready to work.
Mallory, her supervisor, and a church volunteer arrived around 1pm to help me clean out my trash. Mallory's supervisor and the church volunteer began working on the porch where I had a lot of boxes to be put into the dumpster. Mallory and I began cleaning the living room space. We finally got the water bottles put where I wanted them: in a storage container, alongside the incline trainer. The other drinks were put along the incline trainer in a storage container also, next to the water container. I was able to shop vac the floor before Mallory moved the storage containers where I wanted them. I got to the point where I needed a break. I was sweating heavily, and needed to have a seat and cool down. I told Mallory I had reached my breaking point, and that normally when I am sweating so heavily, it's a sign I need to stop. My back was already in pain when everyone had arrived. I was already tired when everyone arrived too.
I sat down and had some Gatorade Zero. I had to turn the window unit a/c off in order to run the shop vac. The front door was left open to be able to communicate with the women working on the porch. I began feeling tingling sensations throughout my entire body. It did not occur to me that I should check my glucose reading. They women had arrived before I had a chance to go to Food Lion like I wanted, and before I could eat lunch. I totally forgot that I did not eat lunch. I began feeling worse and worse. I was telling Mallory what was happening as it was happening. I felt like I might have a seizure coming on. Mallory's supervisor and the church volunteer finished working on the porch and both moved inside to help clean up. They both began working on the kitchen area. I got to the point where I did not feel safe sitting in my chair and had to ask the volunteers to leave so I could go lie down. I felt safer being in bed. They left sooner than expected because the original scheduled time was from 2pm-5pm. I think it was around 3:30pm or so when I had to ask them to leave. I was not feeling well at all.
I went to lie down in bed, and was text messaging Nana how I was feeling. I began feeling better about 30 minutes after going to rest. I got up only to find that I could not find my fresh fruit I had just bought that morning. I did not feel like cooking, but I made 2 family size lasagnas that I bought that morning for dinner. I went to bed early.
Saturday morning came. I woke up a little bit before my 7am alarm went off. I was feeling ok. I was mad that the volunteers had thrown away my brand new food. They threw away a brand new pineapple, fresh peaches, a new bag of grapefruit, and fresh tomatoes. I thought they also had thrown away cans of food too that were in front of the pantry, but I found where they put them.
Caleb and I went to Food Lion after we took our meds and I took a nap. I bought the things I meant to buy Friday afternoon, but couldn't because the volunteers came over too early. Along the way to food Lion, we passed some highschool band students who were washing cars to raise money to go to Florida. I rolled down the passenger side window and yelled, "You are going to make it!" to the girls holding the signs up. We got to food Lion and there was a table where 3 guys were raising money to fight Veteran homelessness by selling military hats. I told one guy that I am a veteran too, and that if I had more money, I would donate.
Caleb and I walked in the Food Lion and got what we could find off the shopping list. I checked out and we walked to the Mazda before I realized I had forgotten to buy the green beans I wanted to make with dinner. There were other things we needed, but could not find at Food Lion, so we drove to Walmart. Along the way, I stopped to put gas in the van. We made it to Walmart ok. We went in and bought Caleb's sewing kit he needed to hem his dress uniform pants. As we were walking to the food section, Carla found us! She was on lunch break. I was happy to see her. We talked for a minutes and then Caleb and I went back to shopping. Walmart is reorganizing the store, so I had to pay attention to where things were now located. We found what we needed and then went to check out. We checked out, and then drove home.
After Caleb brought the groceries inside and put the groceries away for me, we went dumpster diving in the dumpster in our front yard to find what was wrongly thrown away. Caleb was looking for his flash drives that he could not find. I was looking for the food that was thrown away. I decided it was important to video us taking apart everything in the dumpster, so I took the video of Caleb going through every trash bag and box the volunteers put in the dumpster the day before. It rained overnight, so there was water in the dumpster.
Caleb and went through every little thing in the dumpster and found our fresh fruits, canned food, dishes, brand new dog crate still in the box, weed eater, weed eater rechargable batteries and charging stations, bed frame, porch table, tools, thermometer, thermometer coverings, Caleb's razor, family photos, and reusable grocery bags.
While I appreciate the help I received, I was not happy to find so many things I did not want to throw away, thrown away without having been asked about it first.
I was tired after that. I made myself a sandwich, took my meds and went to bed after talking with Nana and Caleb for a while. I sent Nana the videos for her to see everything that we found.
I was planning on posting the videos, but I thought better of the situation as time passed and I calmed down. I want Mallory's supervisor to write me a report to submit to the VA for my disability claims and Aid a& Attendance claim to show that I desperately need help. If she can detail the state of my living conditions, it might make a difference.
Today is Sunday. It is now 0327. I am somewhat tired now. I just wanted to have documented what happened and what I did as a result.
Now, let's think of this. Mallory is telling me she wants to close the case but the house has to be clean first. The case has been open for 9 months, according to her, which is longer than normal. My question is this: Why did it take so long for them to decide to help me clean the house? Why wasn't I offered a cleaning service or volunteer help after the first few weeks, when it was clear that I could not clean the gigantic mess by myself since Caleb was not cooperating? Caleb and I have been in family therapy for some months now. Improvements have been made, but I still have trouble getting Caleb to do things he does not want to do, like cleaning for example.
Well, I am ready to go back to bed.
Thank you for reading! Keep us in your prayers! Have a blessed day! Much love!
No comments:
Post a Comment