Up at 6:30 to go to water aerobics. The dressing room was air-conditioned frigid, as usual, and the pool was cool, but I enjoyed the swim and aerobics, as usual.
I asked Hubbie to make a doctor's appointment for Mother while I was gone. For the past couple of days, she has complained of being unusually tired, and of being woozy to the point of nearly fainting when she stood up. She said that last night, she had a slightly elevated temperature.
Mother's doctor was on call at the hospital this morning, so Hubbie got an appointment for her at 1:30 this afternoon. In the meantime, I spent the rest of the morning after getting back from aerobics doing paperwork related to an upcoming photography workshop.
We arrived at the clinic shortly before 1:30, but had to wait til nearly 2 p.m. before Mother was called back. The doctor requested that the nurse conduct blood pressure tests with Mother lying down, sitting up, and then standing. She did fine until she stood up, and then her BP suddenly dropped 40 points, and she very nearly collapsed.
The doctor then ordered urine and blood tests. The urine test revealed a urinary tract infection, and the blood test showed that Mother is mildly dehydrated. An antibiotic was prescribed, and the doctor told Mother to cease taking her diuretic pill, to cut way back on coffee, and to drink lots more water. She's to go for a follow-up in ten days.
By this time, it was 3 p.m. The clinic provided a wheelchair, and off we went to the van. Even though it was mid-afternoon, Mother was eager to have an ice cream treat from a fast food restaurant. We got three medium cups of them and brought them home to eat.
So we weren't ready for supper until around 6 p.m. Actually, Mother and I only ate a half a barbecue sandwich and a half a Parmesan potato each. I made a couple of quarts of lemonade before supper, and we had big glasses of that over ice with our meal. I thought the electrolytes in the lemonade might help Mother feel better.
She did seem to perk up a little, and was ready to go home after supper, so I accompanied her to her house.
Mother isn't the only ill family member. A two-year-old great-grandson is also sick with flu symptoms and dehydration. Very worrisome.
Sick people, and sick animals. Earlier in the afternoon, we noticed that the mama cat with the three kittens that have eye problems were panting in the heat, even though they are in a wire cage in the garage. So Hubbie set up an electric fan for them.
Thanks to the hundred or so trees in our yard, it's several degrees cooler around our house than TV meteorologists report for our area. But because it's unusually hot and humid right now, even a few degrees lower temperature is still stifling. Hopefully, the fan will help make the cat and kittens more comfortable.
Even the central air conditioning in our house can't keep the heat completely at bay. The control is at its usual setting, but the house is still several degrees hotter. Shih Tzu started panting this evening, even though she is splayed out on the cool tile floor. Hubbie has set up a fan for her, too.
TV fare tonight: "From Hell," a 2001, R-rated movie starring Johnny Depp and Heather Graham. Jack the Ripper is resurrected again, this time with Depp as the inspector who sleuths the crimes. Naturally, there's plenty of violence, and some nudity in the film.
On a lighter note, at the clinic today, an elderly man of our acquaintance came into the waiting room. Someone asked him why he was there. "Slipped on the ice," he joked.
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