This morning, I had an appointment at Miracle-Ear at 11:00, but I had to stop by Dad’s house to get the address first. Dad kept thinking that his hearing aids were over next to the computer and he couldn’t understand why I was going to their office to pick them up.

I also told him that I plan to take his hearing aids back to Tucson and Mark is going to try to sell them online, so he doesn’t need to pay the bill anymore. The original price for these hearing aids was $8700 but Dad has it paid down to $5840. These have all the latest technology. I don’t suppose any of you need Miracle-Ear hearing aids at a bargain, do you? Elaine says that Dad got them in October and only wore them twice to a couple of Bible studies where he wanted to be able to hear, so they’ve hardly been used!

When I got to Dad’s house this morning, he was still kind of groggy. Elaine told me that Dad slept all day yesterday and slept well last night. I asked how his massage was yesterday and he said the massage therapist hit all the sore spots. I looked at his feet and ankles and they looked less swollen. Elaine said she noticed they were less swollen when she put his socks on this morning.

While we were talking, a crematorium returned a call Dad had made to them. He was asking about the price and for the most basic package, plus 5 death certificates, it’s going to cost about $1300. Dad was surprised because it didn’t cost that much when my stepmother, Sandy, died, but they explained that everything has gotten more expensive since Sandy died in 2008.

I was in the kitchen preparing lunch for Dad while Elaine laid down to rest, but she didn’t seem to be able to relax. Finally, she came into the kitchen and told me they heard from the neurologist yesterday. Dad has been threatening to take his neck brace off himself because he doesn’t want to wear that hard old thing where he can’t turn his head for the rest of his life. The neurologist said that the X-rays they took while he was in the hospital showed that the broken bits of bone in his neck had still not grown back together. I’m not surprised since Dad has Multiple Myeloma. The neurologist couldn’t advise taking the neck brace off because if the bone hit his nerves, it could paralyze him or even kill him. He said that Walgreens sells a softer neck brace which would be more comfortable, but it wouldn’t be as protective because he could turn his head from side to side. Elaine asked if I would pick one up at the Walgreens since it’s near Mom’s house and I said I would.

When I went into Walgreens later, I asked for a neck brace and they took me to the section where all the braces are: knee braces, wrist braces, elbow braces, back braces, etc, but no neck braces. I looked up neck braces on Walgreens’ website and discovered they are called cervical collars, and yes, they did have cervical collars in the store. The box says it’s gentle support. I called Elaine and told her that although it looks more comfortable, it doesn’t look very protective. I said I would wait until Dad is confined to the hospital bed before putting it on him because then the bed will help to support his head. She said that Dad doesn’t want to use the hospital bed. I think we need to give him an ultimatum. Either he can sit in his favorite spot on the couch and wear the hard brace, or he can move to the hospital bed and use the softer cervical collar. He can’t have it all his way.

When I got back to Mom’s house, we went out and did a little shopping. I’ve been buying a different vegetable for dinner each night. (I’m on a plant-based diet.) Lately, when I’ve been cooking a vegetable, Mom has been interested in having some. I’m glad because otherwise, she doesn’t eat very healthily.

While we were out shopping, I got a text from my sister. My nephew, Nate, is finishing up his master’s in teaching, and during the first semester of school last fall, he was doing student teaching in a high school classroom with a teacher who wasn’t very helpful. The principal also chewed him out very severely and he didn’t pass student teaching. His college allows students to try again, so this semester, he was working in a junior high classroom in another school with a nicer principal and a more helpful teacher. Lauryn said they just heard that he passed the licensing exam. The next hurdle is passing the teaching part of it, and the teacher he’s working with said that he thinks Nate is doing well and will probably pass. If so, his graduation will be on April 22nd. Mark and I won’t be back here until the 24th. I’m excited for Nate and it would be great to be here for his hard-won graduation, but Mark has a colonoscopy on the 19th in Tucson and there’s no way we could make it up to Oregon in so short a time. We’ll just have to celebrate with him after the fact!

After dinner tonight, Mom and I played another Scrabble marathon. I won the first game but she won the second one. I’m hoping that giving her brain a workout like this will improve her memory, but it hasn’t worked so far.

Then Mark and I talked on the phone. He says it’s been raining and cold in Tucson. This weekend, it’s supposed to be good weather here. The day I get back to Tucson it looks like it might be nicer weather, so maybe I can say I brought the nice weather with me!