Busy September Saturday

F I haven't even mentioned that it is September. Where does the time go?!? It's almost Fall and all this Covid mess started in Spring. I actually went into our Credit Union for the first time in more than six months. Woody usually does the errand to the Credit Union but today I added it in with my grocery shopping errand. So saying that I haven't been isn't saying a lot...just that Woody usually does it. They have added some new fangled drive-up Windows and I didn't want to give them a try so decided to do the "go inside" route. Have to get used to the circles on the floor and the plexiglass around the teller stations. I got all our grocery shopping done for the next two weeks. Got them all out away after getting home. Made a quick trip to the pharmacy to get Woody's elusive blood pressure prescription...finally it was there when I tried to get it! It took three tries, but now he has it...thanks to our dialysis nurse. He took it upon himself to see that it got faxed to the pharmacy. After I got back from the pharmacy, I got busy making a new recipe: a dialysis recipe: Chili Cornbread Casserole. Woody really wanted chili, but liquids are supposedly limited when on dialysis (still haven't talked to a nutritionist...so took it upon myself to look around and find some recipes that fit the bill). This recipe is from the Fresenius website...so maybe they approve of it?!? It is made with a very thick chili...not much liquid added. That is the bottom layer of the casserole. There is supposed to be a layer of cheese which Woody nixed as he DOESN'T like cheese (I can't imagine not liking cheese!). Then the top is a cornbread batter poured over the top. It really was tasty and I made sure that the chili flavor was pretty much just like "my" chili. Woody said that it was okay...he said that he REALLY liked the chili part. I know...he just wants a big bowl of my usual chili! This particular recipe is packed with protein...something that I am trying to get into him one way or another! If his appetite would just pick up and if only food just sounded good to him again! Last night's dialysis treatment went okay...not great...as there were a lot of slow drain alerts during the drain cycle. I had to be sure to be there during the drain time as Woody was so sound asleep that he couldn't hear the beeps. I told him tonight if it happens that much again, he will have to wake up and move around a bit to get the draining going better! We'll see if he remembers when I try to wake him up! The slow drain times made for a longer overall time for this treatment. Tonight's photo shows the cassette...not what I picture a cassette looking like...what about you? This is a one time use item that has all the tubing needed to connect everything. The two circles at the top are part of the pump process. The red clamp goes to the bag that is being heated, the white clamps go to the other bags of which we only use one nor do we use the green clamp line. The yellow clamp is the drain line. And, the blue clamp is the patient line. Got all that?!? The patient line has an extra long length of tubing which lets the patient be able to get up and move around and not have to be right next to the machine. On that note, I guess I will go down and start gathering supplies. I can start doing quite a few of the steps at any time prior to Woody's dialysis treatment. I like doing a few things and then do a few more a little later and not do them all at once. The cassette in the photo is laying on top of the two bags of solution...each bag is 5 liters...he gets 2.5 liters pumped into him in each cycle and goes through a total of 4 cycles in a little more than 8 hours...more "if" the drain s l o w s way down! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious as you go about this Labor Day weekend!