gripe

Skip's been in the hospital for a month now. We've spent all waking hours at the hospital this past weekend, with Guppy typically staying overnight. I had to forego my church volunteer gigs with apologetic last minute notices when Skip was moved to ICU Sunday morning and I had to be there to clear out the room of personal belongings. The drive between home and hospital takes half an hour with no traffic.

I've cleaned out Skip's fridge. Any left overs must be at least a month old. I threw out all the eggs, and I think all the bread.

I was tired Monday morning and seriously considered not going to work, but finally went anyway. I was hoping to not have to make the hospital run on Monday night but ended having to do so. I stopped by Skip's house and pulled the now full trash can out curbside for pick up. Guppy and I both went home later that night. I skipped dinner in favor of sleep. Guppy headed back to the hospital at 6am.

Tuesday I left work early to go to spiritual direction. Afterwards I headed to the hospital. In the rush hour traffic, crawling at 10mph on the freeway, it took me an hour even though the distance was 1/3rd less when coming from spiritual direction. Again, I checked Skip's house; the trash has not been picked up. Hopefully trash day was not Tuesday and hopefully trash will be picked up soon. I stayed at the hospital while Guppy went home, not to rest but to figure out Skip's bills. Then Guppy returned at quarter to 4am and I go home to actually pay the bills online (Skip is not technically proficient).

We had been paying Skip's bills with "bill pay" through online banking. Long story short, this time I log in and there was no bill pay option; the bank had decided that there were no qualifying accounts. So I go set up an online account at each organization/company for each bill that needs to be paid (there were five). Those secure services are not particularly fond of my dial-up speed and it takes a lifetime. I can set up online accounts for every bill except one: the credit card. I don't have the card; and the account info is not on the bill (for security reasons).

I've been up since 3:45am. I know Guppy probably has had at best one hour of sleep. I'll call Guppy at 7am and in the meantime, I go wash up. So I call Guppy, who has copy of the credit card bill with the intent to dispute the late charge in the course of the day. Guppy calls the credit card company and they want all this info. What sense does that make when we're only trying to PAY the bill, not make a purchase? At this point, Guppy is ready to close out the credit card.

It's been a hassle. We're tired. We're grumpy.

As for Skip, there is a chance that Skip will recover. Blood transfusion was completed. IV fluids were administered to restore electrolyte balance. Antibiotics were administered. A day later, IV fluids are no longer required. The feeding tube is still in. Skip is conscious at times, but not able to talk or move much. Temperature is still unstable; sometimes the fever returns.

Now I better get ready to go to work. Obviously I won't be at work by 8am; I'm still at home playing with Blogger.