5C's Que Pasa

Wishing all our friends and blog readers a very special Thanksgiving long weekend.  I found this online about how it all started.  I hope you enjoy the read.

Last night we decided to go see the Downton Abbey movie.  It was simply wonderful. Of course we have watched every episode  on TV and this was a wonderful finale. I believe that the movie is enjoyable without having seen the 52 episodes taped between September 2010 and December 2015.  I loved how the audience laughed at sarcastic words by certain characters and other situations that brought several laughs.  There was drama and romance and just plain fun.  The enjoyment just went on and on. I particularly enjoyed the Viennese dances.  Looks like we just might be hiring a private dance instructor to get us back on track.  Then of course a trip to Venice would be in order.  Just dreaming or am I?

Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, coming down the stairs.  I was trying to get an exterior shot of the country house but the scene changed.

It was another freezing cold night and my heart was sad to see a young lady sitting on the curb near our car, with her cart and all her worldly possessions.  She was not begging.  Perhaps she was waiting to find a place to sleep.  It truly was cold.  I had a granola bar and $2.00 was in my console and sent Colin over to her.  She was most grateful.  A tiny gesture but hopefully it will help.  Today someone let me go ahead of them at the grocery store as I only had two items.  I thanked her and mentioned how wonderful it was to be the recipient of something I have given to others many times.  If feels good to give.

We woke up to a heavy frost on the grass this morning. This tree is still not losing its color. It is late getting leaves in the spring and late turning colour in the fall.

Colin was able to speak with Mommio this morning, mostly just hellos and I love you.  He was so happy to be able to hear her voice.  First he has to call the nursing station and then they will go to her room and answer her phone when he calls.  They then come back or stay like today to hang up the phone.  The new special phone is great and she could actually hear his voice.  Worth every penny.  She is still in bed and sleepy but she did eat her breakfast this morning.

I could not get close enough with my zoom to figure out what type of ducks these were.  It was obvious that they did not belong here.

They were just here for the day yesterday and have already moved on.

There was a period of time that we would only get insurance while we were transiting the USA and did without in Mexico.  Should something happen to us there we would just pay the bill.  However should we be in accident or get hit by a car while walking in the USA we wanted to be covered.  A few years ago we decided that it was time to get full medical travel insurance.  I spent weeks comparing apples to apples and came to the conclusion that the Costco insurance through Manulife was the best deal.  I was dreading completing our insurance for this trip south as I have read on two blogs that prices have gone up considerably as well as read that in a few articles in the news.

We had a wee shower a week or so ago and had a lovely double rainbow.

Sure enough our costs have risen and it doesn’t help that I turned 65 last year.  We have been getting an annual coverage that is good for 30 days, as many trips as you want in a year.  If you will be away longer that 30 days you need to top up your policy with the number of extra days.  For instance we needed an extra 1o days for our recent trip to Europe and that only cost us $40.80CAD each.  The annual policy is reasonable at $190.38 each.  We are in the same category for now but that will change next year when Colin turns 70. Fortunately we always answer no to any of those health questions they ask, nor do we take any medication of any kind.  We needed to add 130 days to our annual policy for this trip to Mexico and that cost us another $769.86 each 😯

So with the annual policy and both the 10 day and the 130 day add ons our total annual medical insurance cost was $1009.84CAD/$760.00USD each.  Because of my age my increase over last year was $342.21 and Colin’s increased by $186.81.  So basically insurance costs, at least with Costco and for our physical health and age has gone up by $186.81.  It does start to add up overtime.  On the other hand we are covered for being out of country for 200 days in a 365 day period.   That works out to $5.05 per day, not bad overall.  Plus we were covered for our trip to Edmonton in September and Colin’s recent visit to Winnipeg to see Mommio.

If I was as clever as Colin I could have put these three photos together.  It almost looks like the pot of gold is at the end of my street.

Do you all get travel medical insurance?  Does anyone have any suggestions for a better price?

We did call earlier today to check in on Mommio and it appears that she has been mostly sleeping since Colin left. They did give her pain medication earlier today as she was restless. We asked if she seems to be missing Colin but they could not say, just that she has been sleeping.  However she did eat breakfast and lunch which is good.  At this point we don’t know if this will be her new normal, sleeping all the time 🙁

Mommio became more unsettled as the evening wore on yesterday.  Colin stayed with her until the pain meds kicked in.  He said that they both spoke from their hearts to each other.  He was happily surprised to see her much more alert this morning.  Perhaps the antibiotics are helping plus the fact that she is getting a good deal of rest and that Colin is there, all working together in a positive way.

I had ordered greetings from the Queen, The Governor General of Canada, the Prime Minster, etc, in honour of her 105th birthday. and they had arrived early. Sorry this is fuzzy ( I didn’t take the photo  🙂 ) The Queen is wishing Mommio her warmest congratulations and good wishes for an enjoyable day as she celebrates her one hundred and fifth birthday which happens to be on October 28th.

From the Governor General of Canada.

These photos would only open in Photos and I am still using iPhoto so I have no idea how to make the photos brighter.  I truly prefer iPhoto and hope that it is here for a very long time. The past few days have been a learning curve for both of us.  Colin is learning how to take a photo with his iPhone and email it directly to me.  I am tyring to make the photo clearer but obviously am failing. Modern technology is amazing but you do have to know how to use it.

Last night after Colin left Mommio he headed to the Lobster House to get take out as he had not eaten all day.  The Lobster House is one of the restaurants that he has taken her to each time he visited.  He thought it fitting that he got his dinner from them.  How very special.

I am not clear on when  he purchased this wine. We don’t have time to talk details.  He chose it because it was a Pinot Grigio and because of the name.  Jean is Mommio’s first name. The wine was celebrating the family matriarch and her legacy.  Most apropos.

He also liked the look of the label.  It reminded him of Mommio.

This morning Mommio ate breakfast and later had lunch as well. Colin had a few good chats with her throughout the day.

At some point Colin and I got it together and we were able to FaceTime with Mommio. She doesn’t have much energy to respond verbally to every question, but she knew that it was me and smiled and told me that she loved me.

Love those smiles.  Notice how he is wearing the same shirt that is in the photo at her bedside.

Colin left the special phone there for Mommio to use and he did test it with the help of his brother.  She certainly can hear much better with it.  We also discussed FaceTime with Bill and hopefully over the winter he might be able to do it with Colin so that he can see his Mom.  It was wonderful that Mommio was well enough to spend some quality time with Colin today.

Colin is on his way back here. Looking forward to hugs later.  He lands about 9:30PM.  A chilly -6C/21F  here tonight.

Without going into too much detail it appears that Mommio has had a bladder infection likely for the past two weeks.  However it was serious enough to change her personality.  From here I diagnosed that she was in pain and perhaps had an infection.  This has happened before.  We insisted on a call to the facility doctor which was done.  In addition to antibiotics once they did a urine test, they were going to give her something for the pain.  She has been in bed since Colin arrived yesterday afternoon and mostly in a very deep sleep.

We aren’t sure that she recognized him yesterday but for certain she knew he was there today.  She continued to sleep for most of the day.  I believe that her body was exhausted from fighting this infection.  I was going to hire someone to come in today to do a full blood panel but apparently she had blood drawn on September 26th.  No where near perfect results but not bad at all considering.  They are coming in to do blood again Thursday and the doctor is coming to see her on Friday.

Mommio woke up for a few moments and took Colin’s hand and fell asleep again.

Colin spent the day sitting at her bedside talking to her a bit even as she slept and a few times she woke up and smiled when she saw him.   He also played his guitalele for her.  She appeared to be calmer and more relaxed.  In a few hours she will be getting her third dose of antibiotics.  Hopefully they will kick in sooner than later so that Colin can have some quality time with Mommio.

Later when she woke up she gave him a big smile and said to him “I love you. You’re the last one. Be happy”. She smiled for this photo and went back to sleep.

Such a change from when he saw her 4.5 months ago. She is not eating but did have a drink of the protein drink Resource.  I don’t know how much she drank.  Colin plans on staying with her till later in the evening, perhaps as long as they will let him.

This is not an easy time for either of them and most certainly not an easy visit for Colin.  Meanwhile I sit here waiting for a text, an email or a phone call.  I am doing the best I can to advise from here but it is not the same as being there.

Before posting I asked Colin to check this post.  He asked me to add the following photo, taken the end of August 2018, just before we left for Alburqueque.  What a difference a year makes.