4/17/24

 Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Geriatric Clinic

Lights out about 10:30 (?), PS around 11:30, lights back on at midnight.

Pain, etc.  At bedtime, I slathered Diclofenac on my right hand and Geri applied a Lidocaine patch on each shoulder, on the front on (?) and below the acromioclavicular joint.   When I got up at midnight I had the normal pains and restricted ROM and realized I wasn't about to fall back to sleep soon.  I had some banana bread that Geri's walking partner Barbara brought over b/c of Geri's injured knee, watched a video of Barber's Adagio for Strings, a religious group's rendition of How Great Thou Art, and the Norwegian Hayde Bluegrass Orchestra's Wayfaring Stranger, then moved to the firmer chair in the sunroom.  I wonder why my right hand hurts so much and whether I should try to wrap it in Lidocaine strips overnight, secured by tape.

I'm grateful for Emmylou Harris' rendition of Wayfaring Stranger and for Johnny  Cash's who said “The haunting melodies and poignant lyrics of Wayfaring Stranger have the power to transport listeners to a place of deep introspection.”  I can't hear the old gospel song without thinking of my mother, father, and now my sister, 'over Jordan' and myself as the 'sole surviving son.'

I am a poor wayfaring stranger / I'm traveling through / This world of woe

And there's no sickness, no toil or danger / In that bright land / To which I go

I'm going there to see my mother / I'm going there no more to roam

I'm just going over Jordan /I'm just going over home

I know dark clouds will hover o'er me /I know my pathway is rough and steep

But golden fields lie out before me /Where weary eyes no more will weep

I'm going there to see my father . . .

I'm going there to see my sister . . .

Visit to Geriatric Cllinic was a disappointment.