Monday, August 5, 2024

Fun afternoon and evening in Boston for our 4th dating anniversary. It seems like DH finds this more momentous than us getting married. We went for a ride on the swan boats as DH had never done that which amazes me because he lived closer to Boston than I did as a kid. But my father worked in Boston so we would go when we visited him for lunch. We ducked into the Cheers bar when it started raining for a snack and stayed until we could walk back to our hotel. Dinner at Ruth Chris was good, but the old City Hall building didn't retain much charm. Only the ceilings were interesting - the rest was pretty modern. But did I mention that the hotel we are in was the old Charles Street Jailhouse and our room is in the corner of the old jailhouse? It definitely has some charm with the old brick walls. When we got back from dinner, this is what the bed looked like:

Today we have a late checkout, then will head back to Cape Cod. We will probably walk around the city some more prior to that.

This is the last time we will be able to get away without making arrangements for Justice. DS moves north on Friday. Seems to have come quickly.

Have a marvelous Monday!

What a lovely room that is with the rose petal'ed bed.

I'm also a big fan of first-meeting anniversaries. I often have an hard time remembering my deceased DH's and my wedding anniversary.

Weight stable. Shot day was yesterday. Had my annual exam today with my PCP (an NP). She wasn't super pleased about me getting the GLP 1 online. Was more concerned about the (lack of) monitoring than the drug coming from a compound pharmacy which I get. I embellished the monitoring that is being done to quell her fears some. My company really doesn't do monitoring at all. They just send a text and ask if you want to stay at the current dose or go up in dose. No questions about symptoms or amount of weight lost. That's what I embellished. Thankfully, I've researched the meds well and feel I know what to look out for. Do any of you have regular labs ordered from your GLP 1 provider? My labs with this visit are all good.

Cooler day today which is a relief from the heat and humidity we have been having. DH golfing today and DC 1 hanging at the house again. Not sure what I'm going to do. Grilled steaks for the others and grilled fish for me tonight. Hopefully the rain holds out so I can do the grilling outside.

I think our group is probably one of the most informed group of lay people around about the ins and outs of safe weight loss. I'm getting my meds through my WLS clinic, they do continue to do blood work. I think they track a few things that arent standard with my PCP, but could probably be done if requested. Where it was once at yearly check up, they are asking for bloodwork every 6 months now, and want to meet with me every 4 months. I get a yearly labs from my oncologist also, so plenty of people are checking my blood! I think the amount of visits at my clinic is overkill, but my insurance covers it and the medication. If it didn't, I would go your route buying from a reputable compounding pharmacy.

No lab tests with HenryMeds so far anyway, though they do ask some health questions at each check-in including my weight.

We have friends who celebrate their 2nd date anniversary, because it meant the first date went well and they wanted to see each other again :)

The hotel looks splendid and very romantic. And how wonderful to have so much to celebrate.

Cool and rainy here, but I have a lot of reading to do, so it works. When we visited the thrift store I saw the book Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty. I've really liked many of her books, so I'm looking forward to reading this. I started watching the series (Pea****) on the plane to Boston, but really just an introduction. I think I will enjoy reading it with the characters already cast in my head. But first, the Sunday paper, because I didn't have time to read it yesterday.

We had our coffee and scone outing, and our look see of St. Vincent's de Paul (also dropped off a donation). Besides the book, I bought a never worn polo shirt from Pebble Beach Pro Shop ($8) and a never worn Miracle Suit swimsuit ($5). Feeling pretty fancy. On the way home we stopped at Chicos to replace a hoodie I lost in Amherst. Of course I didn't loose the Hanes hoodie, it had to be the one from Chicos. I'll wear it frequently when school starts, so I'm happy they still had one in my size.

During my visit with my parents I decided to push things a little. I talked with them about my concerns that my Dad was doing too much and might make himself sick, and my Mom's lack of autonomy because, for example, if my Dad thought something was okay (ex: her car not running) then she just had to live with it. She did have her car towed and fixed, and it was an ugly scene. In his mind, there was no problem with her riding in his pick up, because he made her a step stool to help her get in, even though she has a nice Traverse. We went round and round. My Dad is not opposed to hiring someone to help with some personal care, but not housework, because he's keeping house fine. (He's not). My Mom does not want personal care, she wants housekeeping. The one thing they agreed upon was maybe moving their beds downstairs, into the family room. I asked if they would make the living room (which is unusable and filled with junk again) into a family room. Nope. They would keep their recliners and TV in the family room with the beds, so essentially live in one room (plus the kitchen). It's a 4 bedroom, two story house. They have a stairlift. I now imagine myself sitting on their beds when I visit. Sigh. I am feeling okay today, because I spoke frankly and offered various thoughts and help to make it happen. There's not anything more I can do at this point. I'll try again some other day.

Well, time to dive into the paper!

You can only try. Your conversations with your parents sound similar to the ones my stepdaughter would have with her Aunt in her last years. Her aunt never married and her health was really poor in her last years. She was living in a house filled after years of hoarding. She resisted most suggestions my stepdaughter made about getting any help of any type (personal care or help making the house more liveable).

It's sad, but if the adults in question aren't incapacitated, they get to make their decisions. I have to tell myself, they know there are other options, but this is what they choose.

Oh DD, helping manage our aging parents is so difficult. Thankfully my parents moved into an independent living that could become assisted living and memory care if needed on their own. They started out with doing just one meal from assisted living, progressed to doing all meals, having housekeeping and laundry done for them, then help with bathing for Dad (he hated that!). Eventually Dad moved to memory care, went on hospice and died within several months. Mom is still in assisted living and does 2 meals with them, gets breakfast on her own because she doesn't want to get up and ready for breakfast and refuses to go to the dining room in her housecoat without hair done and make up on! They still do laundry and light housekeeping and now manage her meds too as she kept messing them up. Having the ability to add services as needed has been a God send. She also wears a pendant and can ring for help if (when) she falls!

My MIL was in a similar facility for her last few years thank goodness. It allowed her to live on her own as long as possible (she died at 97).