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Gerald W. McFarland

                                                  STROKES ARE VERY CHALLENGING 
In late September, Willie, our housemate of forty years, now age ninety-one, had a fairly severe stroke that left her right side--face, hand, leg--badly impaired.  After she had a brief hospital stay and two weeks of intense therapy at a rehab facillity, we decided that her continued recovery would be best served by bringing her home.  It was, we believe, the best course of action, even though the first couple of weeks here at home left Dorothy and me exhausted because Willie needed contant help day and night with nearly everything.  Three months later, the situation has stabilized somewhat and Willie is capable of some self-care.  With the help of sessions with Visiting Nurses twice a week and coaching from us, she has regained  the ability to use her right hand to write, can move around adeptly in a wheelchair at night and a walker during the day.  She's beginning to learn how to walk with a cane.  We've been able to take some outings to see her MD and to get a Covid shot (Covid is running rampant in Western Massachusetts since the holidays) at her pharmacy.  She loves playing balloon tennis (batting an inflated balloon back and forth with a racquet, a good balance exercise). She has a long way to go, and it's not at all certain how much she will have recovered by six months post-stroke.  Our lives have been largely Willie centered for months now and probably will remain at least somewhat so for the foreseeable future.  Wish us luck.  We welcome your prayers.

Sheltering in Place.2: May-June 2020

July 1, 2020

Today: Completed two more months of sheltering in place. The chief difference from March and April is that we really have the routine down. Dorothy goes to her P.T. once a week. Our housemate (Willie) stays home. I do a once-a-week shopping trip to Hadley supermarkets, usually around 8 am when there are almost no other customers. Once the groceries are checked out, I return them to the grocery cart and bag them in our own bags at my car or truck. We then disinfect them at home. Willie and I have become very efficient at this. We spend most of the rest of the week on our own two-acre property, although if we become really stir-crazy, we get in Dorothy's car and drive around. We're very fortunate to live in a state (MA) where daily new infections and deaths have diminished significantly and in a rural county that's been relatively free of the virus (only one or two or even no new infections daily). Our home routines keep us pretty busy: housekeeping chores, dealing with deferred maintenance, and gardening. The garden has been glorious! Loads of flowers--daisies, narcissus, peonies, poppies, iris, and more. And we've gone through a sequence of edibles: asparagus, lettuce, spinach, and (yesterday!) peas. I'm doing a lot of reading. I've completed seventy-four books toward my Goodreads 2020 Challenge goal of 77, everything from short (but intense) reads like Sophocles' Antigone to longer volumes like Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady. We had one scare when Willie came down with a temperature, aches, and general body fatigue, so we went to a local MedicalExpress site and got tested, with three "negative" results reported the next day. If this sounds jolly and relaxed, I need to say that lots of anxiety comes along with living in a time when a pandemic is still raging.

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