Category Archives: Update on Carol

Jojoba Hills, Paul Goldberg Blog, Update on Carol

Two Months Later

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It has been a very busy two months since I posted last. I am now the president of the corporation instead of treasurer. Carol has had a great opening of her photo show in our new Library and various dramas both in the park and personal have played out.

Carol got pushed around by a powerful gust of wind as she turned around a corner of our shed. This resulted in a couple of days of hospital stay and a month in rehab. In addition to the fractured vertebra in her neck some other medical issues that had been lying and waiting came to the fore. She seems to have most of it under control and is now recovering from attempting to run her rehab in an understaffed under supervised facility. She will be running her continued rehab with a staff of one very dedicated worker. 

That is enough drama of a personal nature. I must admit that I have had dinner at several neighbors and much food was brought to Carol in the rehab when she let it be known the rehab kitchen left a lot to be desired. Also flowers and cards  have filled her room. I’m now looking for space for all that stuff in the coach. 

Our plans to go to Tucson for Escapade have come to naught, it starts in two days. Our plans for a river cruise on the Rhone at the beginning of May are still in place. I have a procedure scheduled for early April and I hope that Carol is recovered enough to go and I won’t have a long recovery either, it is outpatient so I have high hopes. 

The Super Bloom is blooming all over the place.

This is just a couple hundred yards up the road from our site. I took a walk with our neighbor Bill Outlaw on the high ridges around the park to see all the bloom. It is great but this is the best picture I got. 

We have had an unexpected amount of rain and chill (I can’t really call it cold, overnight lows in the mid 30’s at worst). It certainly has not been the lovely warm winter we remember from prior years. Today is warm and sunny for the moment, but back into the wet and chill for next week. 

I would love to regale my followers with tales of governing drama, but the only really exciting stuff is confidential. Other stuff is still to come before the board and I am trying to contain my normal desire to wade in on one side or the other. I need to chair the meetings in order to let all side present their perspective before letting the board vote. Several of the questions do not engage me directly other than trying to prevent the sides from becoming inflamed. 

 

Paul Goldberg Blog, Update on Carol

A Birthday Post

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Carol is preparing dinner, I have had a busy day and I have completed another trip around the sun. At a guess that almost sums up the day, the 78th celebration of my grand tours around the sun. 

First: Carol is preparing dinner! 9 day ago we arrived in Rochester with Carol spending much of her time on the couch behind the driver. I was happily devoted to being her caregiver and helping her in and out of the brace and her clothes, and see that there was food for her to eat. Today the brace and the cervical collar are history. She is up and about most of the day taking time out to remember that she was flat on her back for almost 2 months and it will take time to regain her full spunk, which she will! Oh yes, the red is back in her hair

Second: today was Max’ bar Mitzvah. Since most of you haven’t a clue Max is my sister’s eldest grandson, ergo our grand nephew. We were supposed to be in Boston for this event. Obviously everyone had to resort to plan B or was that plan C. The event was held in a backyard in Cambridge and we joined the group attending on Zoom. My sister zoomed in by car and was present for the ceremony and then zoomed back to Vermont. Max was very poised and gave an interesting drosh (teaching) on the beginning of B’reshit and the impact of the virus on the world and his family.

Third: We started the day with Torah Study at Temple B’rith Kodesh, virtually, with Rabbi Barry H. Block, Author of the Mussar Torah Commentary  A Spiritual Path to Living a Meaningful and Ethical Life  It seems hard to believe but he offered a way of understanding the stories of Eve and of Cain and Able from a very different perspective. 

Dinner is now slow cooking as I write this. 

People do keep asking how long we will be in Rochester and when we will be back in Jojoba Hills SKP Resort. I have no good answer. I expect that by the time we leave Rochester we will know who will be president on January 20, 2021. I expect to take our time as we cross the country. I think we will be able to celebrate New Years in Jojoba Hills. We will leave when the coach is fully repaired and Carol feels able to take a shift at the wheel from time to time.

Oh yes, David Lovenheim and I spoke for my birthday which we have done for I cannot remember how many years. We also spoke on October 1, his birthday. It’s a thing 🙂

 

On the Road, Paul Goldberg Blog, Update on Carol

In Rochester

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The subject about sums it up. 

We had a long but uneventful drive from Cheval Noir Farm, the new home of Dan, Malena, Tivoly and Galopin, to Yogi at Shangri-la in Milton PA.  Everything worked out as planned and the site, number 117, was perfect. It is a nice long pull through with easy straight entry and nice and level. The exit is just as easy. Carol was tired from being in the coach moving for so long. 

This morning we took time to collect much of the food in the coach so we could leave it clean and have it available to use in the apartment. I had worried about the reserved space I had in storage since the reservation was made in June and I had not heard further from them. When I pulled up to the gate, the code I had been given months ago worked and there were excess spaces available. After transferring food, electronics and some other stuff we headed for the apartment. On the way I realized I had left the primary wifi source in the cabinet. When we arrived at the apartment I realized I had not left charging cables for all our gear. Back to the coach on Friday.

Carol was fine and sat up in her brace, most of the ride, only lying down with it off for the last 60 minutes as she prepared for the transfer and the ride in the Jeep. We are now happily ensconced in the apartment looking forward to 14 days of medical appointments and quarantine. Carol is dreaming of getting rid of the brace and cervical collar. To be frank so am I. 

The colors were magnificent and became more intense as we drove further north. No pictures as we were intent on completing the drive.

In Virginia, Paul Goldberg Blog, Update on Carol

Together

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On Friday, as planned I went to the rehab facility and worked with the therapists and nurses to get trained on what I need to do to help Carol continue to heal while we stay on the farm and then as we head for Rochester. 

I am no longer lonely, I am busy and I am loving it. My biggest job is helping her in and out of the “turtle shell” AKA Star Wars  Storm Trooper shell. AKA torture device designed to keep her back and neck rigidly aligned while they heal. I also am doing meal prep, she helps more and more each meal. We have been taking walks around the farm, further each outing.  Today she is complaining about being tired, we have taken several walks and she stood around watching while Dan and I spotted the hen house, she helped with meal prep too No wonder she is tired. 

Malena and Dan are super busy preparing to complete the move. The horses are in their new home and the chickens just arrived. There is enough in the house so they can eat and sleep, the rest will arrive as we make our planned departure on Wednesday. 

There are more pictures and a couple of video’s that I will make available when I am not falling asleep. This picture is looking North from the middle of one of the pastures. The motorhome can be seen just past the house.

 

In Virginia, Isolation, Paul Goldberg Blog, Update on Carol

Feeling or Events

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I’ll start with events. I drove the coach from Hungrytown Hollow Road to Simmons Gap Rd. An almost uneventful 40 miles until I cut the turn into the driveway short and dropped the right rear wheels into the ditch. The saving grace of it was a neighbor farmer who stopped by took a look and ran off to get blocks and such. An hour later we had lifted the wheels onto cinder blocks and I was able to drive the coach out of the ditch! I called the wrecker that charges $750/hour and suggested he head back home. A mighty thanks to Steve. It was beyond a random act of kindness and I have no idea how I will ever be able to pay it forward.

Carol is unhappy primarily because a woman who had been a sister to her before Alzheimer took her away, died. The loss is final. Also she learned today that she has to wear her turtle shell for two more weeks. I am still picking her up on Friday. I still plan to head to Rochester on the 7th. we will cope.

I have been feeling a bit lost these days. Although our sons have never let me feel alone, I miss having Carol by my side. I have so many online activities, from JCATs to our weekly zoom with classmates David and David and their spouses Toby and Terry. There is no way I should have time to feel lonely. TBK services for the holidays on YouTube were marvelous, but at the end of the services the screen went black. Where are all our friends we raised our families with sitting in the same seats year after year. Where is the opportunity to come down from the service with a bit of chit chat and catching up with people we haven’t seen in a year. During the service where was the rustle of pages and clothing and people sitting near me to remind me that I am not alone. Here I was actively davening (praying) standing alone in my motorhome or for one service with the delight of having my son Dan join me for the service, but IN MY MOTORHOME. I know all those attending experienced this in some way. It was far better than not attending, but for all the wonderful work the Rabbis and staff put into the preparation and delivery, and it was wonderful, it could not make up for the aloneness. 

Carol will be with me on Friday, with her brace, and we will neither of us be alone, or if we are it will be in the life we have chosen for ourselves together. A few days here in Virginia for Carol to get to see the new farm and then to the cozy comfort of our Rochester apartment for a while visiting at a distance with great friends and getting GeeWhiz restored to its roadworthy self. Then back across the country to our other community for the winter, and maybe a trip to Sicily, if such a thing can ever happen again.

In Virginia, Paul Goldberg Blog, Update on Carol

Progress Report 9 Very Brief

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Carol is in Rehab and the PT and OT are working her hard. She is happy with the work and seems to be enjoying the progress. That is all about Carol.

Malena and Dan closed on their new farm “CHEVAL NOIR Farm” (Malena corrected the spelling, I got it wrong). They own two black French Canadian horses. Now they are in the throws of packing and discarding and I am mostly staying out of the way. Moving day is sometime next week. 

More when there is more and pictures to follow, when I take them.

In Virginia, Paul Goldberg Blog, Update on Carol

Progress Report 8 – Waiting

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Since the last post not much has  happened other than healing, which is good. We have been told within the past hour that Carol will be moving to Rehab tomorrow, Thursday 24 September. 

Carol has been walking up and down the corridor several times a day with aids escorting her and sitting up for meals and to converse. The cervical collar and the brace continue to be uncomfortable , necessary annoyances. Some day . . . darn I had a wonderful cliche in mind, but I’ve lost it. 

In the midst of this, Malena and Dan are preparing to close on their new farm and to move in just after Yom Kippur. At some point I will be moving the coach to the new place in Dyke Virginia, about as far north of Charlottesville as Covesville is South. We scoped out the utilities and it should be easy to get set up, Dan is arranging for an electrician to install a 50 amp outlet near the coach. 

More when I have more to report.

opinion, Paul Goldberg Blog, Update on Carol

Progress Report 7 Happy New Year

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The good news first. Carol is waiting, not to patiently, for a female bed to open at Encompass Rehab Hospital. The medical team has discharged her from all but basic care. The major healing we are waiting for is for the bones to heal sufficiently to free her from the brace and cervical collar. Less than two more weeks. 

Just because we are spending almost no time in the coach doesn’t mean it isn’t demanding attention. I seem to have eliminated the current scourge of mice. I really don’t care for the glue pads, but they work. I have had one gas strut that holds a cabinet door open break, had a spare and replaced it, a seal in the toilet has given up the ghost and drawer closing latches have continued fail. Almost all of this can be attributed to constant daily use for over 8 years. All of  it will be made right when I can devote extended time to it.

Rosh HaShana is approaching rapidly as I write. It will be multiply strange. Carol and I will not be together tonight. We are in Virginia not Rochester and I will be “attending” TBK by live broadcast on YouTube while sitting in my motorhome in Dan and Malena’s yard. I can only pray that the New Year 5781 brings more joy to our family and to the country and the world than 5780. 

I need to remember that this past year also brought much joy for Carol and me  mixed with the sadness. We traveled to Egypt, in September, Morocco, with family, and Ethiopia, with Joyce and Victor, with a stop in Israel in December and January. We drove across the country in the Fall to get to Jojoba Hills SKP Resort and as Covid was being denied we flew to Panama only to be evacuated after a week. We are not destined to complete a tour of Panama. 

Our plan for 5781 includes a drive across the country to Jojoba Hills as usual and a trip to Sicily in April, if we are healthy and the world is returning to good health. I guess that the trip has about a 50% chance of happening. As an alternative we will do more exploration of the United States since we cannot be stopped at state boarders, yet. The joy of RVing is that we can isolate while moving about the country.  

Paul Goldberg Blog, Update on Carol

Progress Report 6

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I am starting this blog with not much to report. Carol has been in ICU far to long given her relatively good condition. Since she went to Rehab and came back that once, they are watching her very closely to be sure it doesn’t happen again. 

It was a BIG DAY in one regard. Carol had her hair done the day she fell. She has been getting unhappy about the way it looks for the last two or three days. At her command I brought in the clippers I use for me along with some attachments for longer hair. The staff were willing to set her up with a smock – made out of an under pad – and I trimmed her hair. I do not have permission to share the pictures but she is very happy with the result. I have discovered a new talent 🙂

Next day, Monday, Carol is back in the Step Down Unit. Staff keep asking what she is doing back here, they care about her, but would rather she not need the level of care they provide here. It would appear she will be here for a couple of days. Then back to “the floor.” We are both trying to be patient. 

In other news I am still fighting the presence of at least one mouse in the motorhome. On my way home this afternoon I will stop and buy many mouse traps and special bait to try to put an end to this invasion before it becomes a family affair. I may try sticky traps as well, it’s WAR! It was eating my toilet paper!

 

 

Paul Goldberg Blog, Update on Carol

Progress Report 5 a Bump in the Road

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After two days in rehab Carol experienced difficulty breathing and was returned to the hospital where another chest tube was placed. It appears to be helping and her breathing seems to be much improved. We have no idea when she will return to rehab. 

My life has been a roller coaster. From visiting all day long to not being able to visit to visiting all day long. I have done very little else other than routine housekeeping and cleaning up after a couple of mice. Well there were at least two, both are gone. Dan and I will reset the traps and see how many more we can catch. I haven’t seen any recent sign if that means anything. 

We talked with Shelle Knutson today, her husband, Ron took a bad spill on a his motorcycle and about the same time Carol fell and has many of the same injuries as Carol .  They are members of Jojoba Hills. She cannot visit at all and 2 is hours away from his hospital. 

The above was written on Saturday, it is now Friday, things change. I went home last night expecting to hear about transfer back to rehab today or tomorrow. Instead there has been a set back and Carol is back in ICU under going an endoscopy. That is all I know as I write this.

I will post again when I have something to post.