New Wound Clinic (Sat, 10 Jul 2010, 8:30PM)

Mom's friend recommended a different Wound Clinic than the one that mom had been going to for the sore on her shin. The MD comes up from Lake County and does appointments on Tuesday and Saturday, so mom went into town today for her first appointment. She liked the doc, who told her that she has no doubt that they can clear up the sore. The doc said that there is still some swelling around the wound (swelling NOT attributable to general edema) and she cleaned it and applied some kind of oygenated spray, then wrapped her whole lower leg up to the knee. Mom is supposed to keep it dry and leave the dressing in place until her next appointment next Tuesday.

Mom said she had been "a little out of breath" today, and explained it away as normal because she has had two strenuous days in a row...yesterday going to Medford for an appointment, then shopping at Costco, and today going into town early to fill two prescriptions, then going to the new Wound Clinic. She said that when she got home from Costco yesterday she brought the perishable groceries down to the cabin but left everything else because she was worn out. Today after she got home from the Wound Clinic, she took a nap, then worked on getting the rest of the stuff out of her car. She said that she thinks it's to be expected that she gets a little out of breath since she knows her heart doesn't work well and she has been doing a lot.

I learned that she doesn't want to ask anyone for help when she goes to town--either Medford or KF--because she really just wants to do her appointment, do her shopping, and get home as fast as possible. She doesn't have the energy to make a day of it, socialize, have lunch, visit, etc. I think she feels that she would be obligated to do that if she asked anyone for help. I can understand wanting to get away from Medford as fast as possible when it's 95 degrees over there, but I really wish she had help, if only to carry her groceries from Costco out to her car. Then I asked if she could call anyone at RP for help to get her groceries unloaded and down to the cabin, but she said that she just brings down small loads one at a time in her plastic toboggan and she rests in between, so I guess that's the best I can hope for. I do understand that she has limited energy and doesn't want to add anything extra to her trip. I think she is operating under the physics principle of Conservation of Energy.