Self-Isolation Day #38

Monday, Self-Isolation Day #38

We request continued prayers for my husband's mother D. She has been sick for almost four weeks, alone in the hospital for three, and is now on her second stretch of being on a ventilator in order to give her lungs support for longer while they heal.

Last night, the Urgent Care doctor said that maybe if David did not have a fracture, he would wake up feeling a lot better and be up and about walking. Nope! I would bet dollars to doughnuts that he has a fracture and that if we get another x ray some time out when the calcium starts to fill in, we would see it. I spoke with the orthopedic doctor today and plan to take David in for a follow-up later this week.

Poor pumpkin had a rough night in pain, even though taking Advil, and an even rougher day today, still taking Advil. It did not take long this morning before one of his shoe-clad brothers accidentally stepped on David's injured leg, making him cry so hard, that I realized David had to have a responsible babysitter every second all day. Even if I was cooking in the kitchen fifteen feet away, David couldn't be sitting on the floor without one of the top three siblings sitting right next to him.

David had moments of calm and cheer, but mostly those were punctuation among general misery and tears.

Taking the invalid out for fresh air

By one o'clock, David would tolerate only Mama holding him all the time until he fell asleep for the night. That was tough because I could barely teach all day, didn't see how I was going to cook dinner, and the household orderliness was quickly deteriorating because my habit of constantly straightening up was halted. I wish I could say I was a mother beaming with calm love and acceptance of my only job being to hold a crying baby for hour upon hour, but that would be misleading!

Tomorrow, I will try anew to be the sweetest mama I can be because this baby is certainly suffering more than I.

Highlights from the day . . . Thomas (4-1/2) wrote red ink all over his hands and then was highly distressed that he could not wash it off. He refused to eat his lunch for fear that the ink would get on his food, even though I explained that if he was unable to scrub it off with all his might, it's not going to easily transfer onto his sandwich. He didn't care what I said, but solved the problem by eating his whole meal while wearing mittens.

Margaret (9) finished reading all 777 pages of "Little Women" (1868) by Louisa May Alcott, which I had assigned her for literature. This was a tough assignment, not always appreciated, but when she finally finished, instead of throwing the book at me, she came and asked me how soon she could start reading "Little Men"!

Bonus Reading for Posterity:

• I am on the edge of my seat with interest to see what the antibodies studies done in actual New York City will reveal! Cuomo says state to test thousands for Covid-19 antibodies
• What will it mean for us if these "stealth cases" of COVID-19 are between 25% and 70% of total people with antibodies?! Reports suggest many have had coronavirus with no symptoms
• Sweden’s Chief Epidemiologist: Our Open Approach To Virus Seems To Be Working
• This is an endearing story of a couple married nearly 50 decades who both contracted COVID-19, but the wife much more mildly so, and she personally nursed her husband through the disease at home. It is also chock full of very good medical information for what can be done within the home, which is more than one might think. What I Learned From Nursing My Husband Through COVID-19
• Meanwhile, we try to figure out where this virus came from and how much it was intentionally covered up. I hate the evil of Communism so much. China Expert On CNN: ‘Trump Is Absolutely Right On China’, They’re Costing Us Lives