Diary of a Stay-at- Home Caregiver day 4

Time fly so fast! To think this is the 4th day of my stay-at-home patient but 10th day of his quarantine. He is on the road to recovery...after 4 days, he is free to leave his room😁

 The day started with a smile as my patient finished all the food in his plate. No complain. No reaction.  Even with some occasional cough , he seemed to wake up on the right side of the bed!

Today the sun shine brightly and it is my rest day so" Lord, I pray that may the holy day be filled with peace and joy." Here is the Menu for today:

Breakfast- Champorado with milk, Steamed banana Pau, Ampalaya with egg, Navel Oranges
Lunch - Fish with Bitter gourd Tinola, Ampalay & Tomato Salad, Lemon Juice
Dinner - Chicken Mami

The food are very simple but full of nutrition to help boost his immune system. Later that afternoon, I gave him some cookies and a cup of Hibiscus Tea with Lemon. He always asked for hot soup or tea .

As for me, I spend the rest of the afternoon preparing for his next meal and above all check on his steam bath. Steam bath plays a very important role on his recovery as well as proper nutrition. It eases any congestion that this virus may have created in his body. I do steam bath once a day too for me to feel complete and  comfortable .

I realized that my service will be terminated soon. I am thankful to God almighty for His protection as well as His providence to both of us. 

Diary of a Stay-at-Home Caregiver day 3

Patience is a virtue they said. I always wanted things fast, not only in my work but also in my household chores. For me time is gold . You might never know if you get the chance to do it again.

On the other hand, when one is physically weak , they are also emotionally weak. That rings true...I can relate it to my patient. I need more patience to understand why he doe not want to talk, eat and listen. He seems to be a little bit down today. He ate his breakfast late and when I asked him to eat his lunch he simply did not touch it until late in the afternoon. He did not say anything but simply ignored me. He was coughing for most of the morning and he seems upset about it. I tried to give him a hot hibiscus tea with lemon which he drank and relieved him of his coughing. Oh Thank God, that was a relief!

Menu for today includes:

Breakfast- oatmeal with banana , chicken sausage and his favorite coffee (he always asked for it )
Lunch   - Vegetables soup with coco milk, eggplant salad and smoked fish
Dinner  -  Chicken  Arroz Caldo

I also prepared steamed banana pau for sabbath or Saturday breakfast. And probably some peanut butter spread and hot chocolate with milk then. Well, to be honest  it is not easy to think of a menu especially in this pandemic crises. Stocks are limited as well as the trip to a grocery store is like a hurdle that you need to jump. I hate making alibis why I need to go out from the village I might as well use whatever I had until I can go out free on Tuesday😁🤪🤪...what will be, will be.

I need to prepare everything today since tomorrow is a holiday for me and my family. It is our rest day. And today is rather a challenging one for me but to sum it all, it was a successful and great day!                               

     

             

Diary of a Stay- at -Home Caregiver day 2

The day did not end gracefully yesterday. Late in the evening, my husband had onset of loose bowel movement. I decided to contact my hospital nurse who briefly told me to re hydrate my patient and if condition worsen, I have to take him to the hospital. I don't have any medications for diarrhea but I can do  home remedies . I remember  I used to make an oral re-hydration solution when my kids were small. So I quickly made the preparation: 1 liter of water mixed with 1 teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoon of sugar  is all I need . Bingo! I have ORESOL ready for my patient. Finally after few trips to the comfort room, he finally fall asleep including me. What a way to end my day!

Day 2

My patient woke up early today and took a quick bath. I am thankful that He is okay and ready for his breakfast. Menu for today

                     Breakfast-  bread and  eggs,  hot chocolate and banana

Lunch-  Grilled Tamarong Fish , Vegetables Soup, Tomato Salad and banana

Dinner- Minced Chicken with Vermicelli Soup, Tuna and green banana         

My patient's condition so far is good with occasional coughing maybe due to the ceiling fan? I can see that He is moving around in his room and slept the rest of the afternoon. I tried to change the door curtains in the room while He is sleeping. Take note that I am always wearing my mask!                       

The day ended peacefully and  rain started to pour until late in the evening. I woke up at 12;30 midnight and I couldn't go back to sleep so I went and checked my patient. He was sleeping soundly.  Thank you for the rain and the blessings of the day.

Diary of a Stay-at-home Caregiver

It started when the two of his co-worker started to show symptoms. After a test , the two tested positive that eventually turned the heads of the infection control people to my husband. And sure enough after the test, he was confirmed positive. He was told to stay at home and quarantine himself after he was found asymptomatic rather than to stay at the hospital where he could be exposed to other diseases. As a wife,  I was a suspect too, so I am included in the  quarantine.

DAY 1 (official)
I prepared his room where he will be staying for 14 days or more depending on the next swab test. I placed a basket full of fruits for him to eat while on quarantine. Also included in the room is a rice cooker for steam bath or steam inhalation, 1 liter of clean water and a thermos bottle full of hot water.All is set for the occupant. And of course I did first my steam bath too!

Lunch includes tomato and cucumber salad with lemon, vegetable soup, fried fish  and banana .  Later in the afternoon he started to feel pain on his joints. He tried to drink pain relievers to ease his pain but to no avail. I decided to give him  anti-flu medication and He fall asleep. 

I am thankful to my heavenly Father for family and friends who are very supportive to us in this time of crises both spiritually and financially. Words could not express our heartfelt appreciation!  

I started to document everything in the diary of a stay at home caregiver, that's me😊😊 to monitor the progress of my husbands condition and to keep myself busy rather than to worry on the possibility of cross contamination and  things beyond my capacity. Tomorrow would be another day of adventures and hopefully it could be a colorful one.

Stay-at- Home - The risk of cross contamination

It's been three months since the government  imposed the stay- at- home" policy in our country. It is also the first time the new generation experienced this so called "Lockdown". Unfortunately, it did a lot of setbacks on the part of the country as far as economy is concerned. Many businesses both medium and large were affected and most especially, the people who rely mostly on their job.

Thousands of people including me were fortunate to receive rice and canned goods from the government particularly from the barangays. In fact, staying at home on its early stage was very relaxing especially for those who are working, but later part of it is the most challenging and annoying situation of this stay-at -home thing.On the other side of the story, it is  also a  blessing and a convenient way to save money. No more shopping, partying and many more.

Staying at home and the risk of cross contamination is a a real and  scary thing. You stay at home and you never realized/ that one of the members of your household is asymptomatic positive -covid person...OMG! 

I think that's the real reason behind those numbers. After the lift of the quarantine, cases of covid affected individuals skyrocketed! It is the irony of this asymptomatic person because you will never know that he got the virus. I guess the best remedy is for everyone to be honest to protect others, after all, they are your family.

URNS - When and where to find it?

I  love flower vases, specially the glass ones and the beautifully designed porcelain vases. I always spend time watching and admiring those beautiful masterpieces that it is usually displayed  in home depot and flower shops. I never realized that among those vases  displayed are jars with beautiful flowers carefully arranged with it..are URNS.
                                
Urns comes in many different forms and shape and kind. The cost varies depending on the material composition and the intended use as well. Materials such as wood, nature stone, ceramics, glass and steel has been made for decades,.In recent years, the popular tiger brass urn is also introduced.

The history of urns can be traced back thousand of years ago. Evidence of deceased 's ashes being collected in urns was found in China.
 In modern times, urns not only symbolizes  elegance and the beauty but is strongly associated with the love of the family towards their departed love ones. The tie that binds continues to be strong and gives comfort to the one left behind. Where to find urns? It is everywhere, in flower shops, in home depot and surplus stores too.
When do I need to secure one? As early as you can , you'll never know. Urns can be very expensive when purchased at the funeral homes during the time when it is  needed and used as a funeral vessel. The prices can range from $100- $1000. However, urns can be used as a flower vase , can be placed outside particularly in the gardens or as an architectural ornaments on buildings. Creativity is the secret.

                               

.Language Barrier Nightmares

Travelling outside the country is always an item in our family bucket list. In fact, China is the target country since 2018 but only in 2019 when our request was finally granted .

We reached Beijing late in the afternoon and was fetched by a local Chinese guy. Never in my wildest dream that we would encounter difficulties along the way since we have planned this trip for a long time. Hotel reservations and tour are arranged and paid .

The driver dropped us at the gate where 5 or more condominiums were inside. The driver quickly took off without even telling us which building is our place to stay. The temperature was dropping and it was already dark. We asked people who came around and realized nobody understood English language! We were totally lost and after whispering a prayer an angel came to help us through.

We knocked on the door of that 11th floor condo and a lady opened the door and quickly slammed the door when we said Hello! After numerous attempt, we went downstairs frustrated. She does not speak or understood English. This time, on a white cemented benches in the park just outside the condo, we silently bended our knees  to seek help from above. Tears started to fall as I began to see my kids shivering from cold..the temperature was already -3 C when I glanced at my phone.

It was amazing to see how your prayers got answered! Walking few kilometres on the streets of Beijing, I saw  Chinese characters on the sign board and noticed a drawing of a bed. It must be a lodging house I said to myself.
By this time my two sons got themselves the alternative site for Chinese translation site...not the google or any Microsoft sites since it is blocked in this side of the globe.
After a quick exchange of phone messages from English to Chinese and vice versa, we finally landed on a well lighted Motel where people were so accommodating and friendly. That ended our language barrier nightmare!

The Great Wall

The trip to China was the most memorable outside the country experience.
 In a place where the people and places are new and most of all the language is extremely difficult to understand, we saw the mighty hand of the Lord leading us in so many ways.