Monday: "A Great Work-Out"
It was another great blue sky day in DC. Supposed to be close to 60 degrees, however this has been their driest March since 1910 only about a half inch of rain. I don't know how long the blooming can last without rain to keep the plants healthy. The Japanese cherry trees on the mall have not yet begun their full bloom although the festival continues through next weekend I believe.
Jason headed off to PT and began the chores of washing clothes, mail, doing the blog etc.; a normal "Monday at Mologne House" routine. When Jason returned from PT he said, "I had a great workout. Could tell I was stretching really well today." He brought back his favorite sandwich and pretzel from the deli and wanted to eat light as we were going to go out for dinner-making maximum use of the car while we had it. I headed to the mess hall for lunch of salad and cottage cheese and fruit.
While in the hospital I stopped at the patient's representative office on the third floor to express my concern that the machines have not been working and we have been without ice on the 2nd and 3rd floor of Mologne House for over a month. And hot weather is quickly approaching. I had been telling everyone I could find at Mologne House and the response has been, "We will tell maintenance." I told the Head of Maintenance over a week ago and there has been no change in the "ice flow." Prior to the Monday meeting of families this morning I asked Master Sgt Beattie how to address the problem, and he said "I cannot help you. You must speak to the Manager of the Mologne House."
So...Off I went to try a different "chain of command" for the patient's and family care at Mologne House. The Representative immediately called the manager of Mologne House and he picked up the phone. I had tried to call him and got only answering machine messages. The manager assured Sara that he and maintenance were actually meeting "as we speak" and the ice machine problems were now "on the list." I asked Sara, "When will he get back to you on the repair of the machines?" She looked at me surprised facial expression saying "No one ever asks follow-up questions/expects follow-through." If you remember this is how I felt the last time I interacted with this office. Maybe they are trained to "be totally neutral" and listen. However, Sara did respond most appropriately for me, "Here is my card, if nothing has happened by Friday, give me a call and I will follow up." So I felt I had been listened to and the Patient's Representative office will be kept informed of the progress of "no ice for patients and families at Mologne House."
On the way back I met a father in Mologne on the third floor and told him about the "no ice" for a month. He said, "Yes, I know I walk to the fourth floor to get mine." He sounded so resigned; I felt worse, with a son in the hospital wounded in war, couldn't a dad have ice on his own floor?
After lunch Jason headed back to PT for another session on the Total Gym, especially works the legs and thighs. I went to the weight room and worked out with weights. I headed for the track as it was a beautiful warm sunny afternoon and walked for 45 minutes. At four times around the track for a mile, I estimated that I walked about 3 miles. When Jason returned from PT he was very tired and I could tell he was ready "to zonk out." Oh, no I couldn't let him fall asleep. "Jason, it is time for dinner. Where do you want to eat? We need to take advantage of having Martha's car." Jason said, "Let's head toward Silver Spring. We can't have Thai as we will have that tomorrow." Going up Georgia Ave, I said, "I need to go to Borders to get a card." Jason said, "Okay, let us do the Austin Grill as I like their hamburgers with blue cheese dressing." So we parked, ate our dinner, got our card, a Ben and Jerry's for dessert and headed back to WR by 8 PM. Jodi called shortly before nine and I headed downstairs to write some notes. I fell asleep on the chair in the second floor lobby space with classical music coming from the speakers; so I guess I was the one who was really tired.
May you have good meals with family and friends and
may you have time for re-creation so that
you may have energy to enjoy the blessings of each day.
Jason headed off to PT and began the chores of washing clothes, mail, doing the blog etc.; a normal "Monday at Mologne House" routine. When Jason returned from PT he said, "I had a great workout. Could tell I was stretching really well today." He brought back his favorite sandwich and pretzel from the deli and wanted to eat light as we were going to go out for dinner-making maximum use of the car while we had it. I headed to the mess hall for lunch of salad and cottage cheese and fruit.
While in the hospital I stopped at the patient's representative office on the third floor to express my concern that the machines have not been working and we have been without ice on the 2nd and 3rd floor of Mologne House for over a month. And hot weather is quickly approaching. I had been telling everyone I could find at Mologne House and the response has been, "We will tell maintenance." I told the Head of Maintenance over a week ago and there has been no change in the "ice flow." Prior to the Monday meeting of families this morning I asked Master Sgt Beattie how to address the problem, and he said "I cannot help you. You must speak to the Manager of the Mologne House."
So...Off I went to try a different "chain of command" for the patient's and family care at Mologne House. The Representative immediately called the manager of Mologne House and he picked up the phone. I had tried to call him and got only answering machine messages. The manager assured Sara that he and maintenance were actually meeting "as we speak" and the ice machine problems were now "on the list." I asked Sara, "When will he get back to you on the repair of the machines?" She looked at me surprised facial expression saying "No one ever asks follow-up questions/expects follow-through." If you remember this is how I felt the last time I interacted with this office. Maybe they are trained to "be totally neutral" and listen. However, Sara did respond most appropriately for me, "Here is my card, if nothing has happened by Friday, give me a call and I will follow up." So I felt I had been listened to and the Patient's Representative office will be kept informed of the progress of "no ice for patients and families at Mologne House."
On the way back I met a father in Mologne on the third floor and told him about the "no ice" for a month. He said, "Yes, I know I walk to the fourth floor to get mine." He sounded so resigned; I felt worse, with a son in the hospital wounded in war, couldn't a dad have ice on his own floor?
After lunch Jason headed back to PT for another session on the Total Gym, especially works the legs and thighs. I went to the weight room and worked out with weights. I headed for the track as it was a beautiful warm sunny afternoon and walked for 45 minutes. At four times around the track for a mile, I estimated that I walked about 3 miles. When Jason returned from PT he was very tired and I could tell he was ready "to zonk out." Oh, no I couldn't let him fall asleep. "Jason, it is time for dinner. Where do you want to eat? We need to take advantage of having Martha's car." Jason said, "Let's head toward Silver Spring. We can't have Thai as we will have that tomorrow." Going up Georgia Ave, I said, "I need to go to Borders to get a card." Jason said, "Okay, let us do the Austin Grill as I like their hamburgers with blue cheese dressing." So we parked, ate our dinner, got our card, a Ben and Jerry's for dessert and headed back to WR by 8 PM. Jodi called shortly before nine and I headed downstairs to write some notes. I fell asleep on the chair in the second floor lobby space with classical music coming from the speakers; so I guess I was the one who was really tired.
May you have good meals with family and friends and
may you have time for re-creation so that
you may have energy to enjoy the blessings of each day.
posted by Katy (Scott) Zatsick | 3/28/2006 11:02:00 AM
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