Tag Archives: Doug

DOUG IS HOME

Excerpt from today’s email:

I got home yesterday afternoon, thanks to [REDACTED]. The boys were happy to see me, as was I to see them. Andy decided my walker is his perch. Dougy rubbed me every way he could to make sure Andy knew Dougy claimed me as his human. 

I’m having to use my laptop because my PC won’t connect to the internet for some reason: MADDENING! I have so much mail and [REDACTED]  have changed so much in my apartment I’m not home or comfortable yet. Things are all stacked and rearranged. 
Didn’t sleep a wink last night in that bigger, more comfortable bed [REDACTED] decided I need to start sleeping in. Of course, as someone who doesn’t have cats, she doesn’t know that you don’t shut doors on cats (or dogs), and the boys wanted to get some quality time with me again…all night! 

Dougy was especially tenacious, walking on me, kneading me, rubbing on me, sticking his face in my face. Andy was content (mostly!) to hop on the window sill behind my headboard and check out the night scene outside the window, though he also perched on the walker, which was by my bed. 

I don’t know how fast I will get back to blogging. I am buried in things that have to be done, and I’m having a hard time getting organized. For one thing, I need to get some groceries if I’m eating anytime soon. 

DOUG IS HOME
 

Note: I redacted the names of the folks Doug mentioned in his email for privacy. I’ll let him mention them in his blog if he wishes to.

Welcome home Doug.

It’s Dougy’s Birthday

It’s Dougy’s birthday, yada yada yada yada ya

OK technically Dougy is the cat. I guess I could have said its weggie’s birthday, but well there ya go.

I called him and wished him Happy Birthday. He is still stranded in Scottsbluff. Still trying to get home to Alliance.

A song for Doug … 

Just substitute “Dougy” for “Johnny”, remembering that is for weggieboy and not Dougy the cat.

Hmm … that could have been better …

 
  

Interview with the umpire

Did I say umpire, I meant vampire, and by vampire I meant Doug.

Doug is sort of like a reverse vampire. Every other day or so his blood is sucked out of him*. As you can imagine, having the blood sucked out of you is exhausting. This is the state I discovered him in yesterday when I finally got a hold of him after several days incommunicado. But we agreed to resume-establish contact today and sure enough Doug called me mid-afternoon.

He was feeling much better today having had a good day’s night’s sleep on the soil of his homeland a nice soft bed. I already knew that he had gotten a hair cut and a shave several days ago – it’s hard to shave when you can’t see yourself in the mirror. Oh and he finally got the correct glasses so he was finally able to see himself in the mirror.

He is still being held in a castle rehab facility in Transylvania Scottsbluff, but everyday he is getting stronger and the goal of getting home to Alliance is getting nearer. For two undead old guys with nothing much to say we sure talked for a long time.

 
BRING DOUG HOME

  

* sucked out our him, filtered, and put back into him. Dialysis.

AOS

Acquisition Of Signal

Contacted Doug last night in Scottsbluff. Doug is in good spirits, all things considered. He is still … with good reason … pissed off.

Doug gave me cell the phone number of his friend in Alliance. I contacted friend today. Friend hopes to see Doug on Tuesday, deliver cell phone and clothes. As we need a secure channel, Doug’s cell phone will not be released. You may leave messages for him on this blog, Maggie’s blog, or his blog.

Doug’s sister, Maggie’s mom, Doug’s friend in Alliance, and I are all in contact by email and phone. 

WE WILL

  

Long range scanner report …

One of our remote stations in the Pacific Northwest (Doug’s sister) reports:

Doug is at Golden Living Center (in ScottsBluff). Called this morning but he is in dialysis. He is in room 117, but doesn’t have a phone. They told me that they will take a phone into him when he receives calls. The staff I talked to seemed very nice and helpful.  

Our intelligence wing confirms the existence of

Golden Living Center

111 W. 36th St.

Scottsbluff, NE 69361

308-635-2019

Will attempt an audio uplink later this evening.

  

Dark Side of the Moon

LOS (Loss Of Signal) … a term first popularized during the Apollo lunar missions when the astronauts were behind the Moon and out of line-of-sight radio communication with the Earth. Also refers to loss of signal during re-entry when the ionized atmosphere enveloping a returning spacecraft blocks all radio transmissions.

Dark Side of the Moon … that side of the Moon that always faces away from the Earth and is never seen. The side the Apollo astronauts saw during LOS.

“Doug, this is Houston. Do you read? Over?”

” ”

“Doug, this is Houston. Do you read? Over?”

” ”

“Houston, this is Scottsbluff. Doug is confirmed LOS.”

“Roger that, Scottsbuff. LOS.”

“Houston, this is Alliance. We concur with Scottsbluff. Doug has definitely gone Dark Side of the Moon.”

“Roger that, Alliance.”

  

Doug is pissed off

For someone with kidney failure, Doug (aka weggieboy) is well and truly pissed off. 

As I write this Doug is STILL in Denver. What’s that you say, “Wasn’t he supposed to be home in Alliance?”

Yes, yes he was. But for reasons not yet clear, Doug’s release from Amberwood Court Care Center in Denver was delayed a day. To make matters worse he now has to pay $160 to stay an extra day, because he has exceeded the time limit for 100% Medicare coverage. Even better (and not in a good way) he didn’t even get physical therapy today so he just hung around “like a mushroom”*.

The new plan is for him to leave tomorrow, driven by an old friend from Denver who is going back to see family in Alliance. 

“Well at least he his FINALLY going home to see his kitties,” you say.

Well just hold on there one minute bucko! 

Doug isn’t going home to Alliance. He is going to Scottsbluff – on the way to Alliance. AND … his friend won’t have the time to take Doug to Alliance, then back to Scottsbluff to drop Doug off, then go back to Alliance. 

Doug is pissed off. So am I. So is Maggie’s mom, Liz. You should be too! I would hate to think that Amberwood Court Care Center purposely dragged its heals to get every penny of Doug’s Medicare money (and then some). That never happens. And I would also hate to think that Doug is being sent to Scottsbluff due to some financial accrual to Amberwood, because stuff like that never happens either.

On a positive note – seriously – Doug has been able to contact the people caring for the boys and even heard one of them meow. And another friend in Alliance is going to bring him clothes, keys, wallet, cellphone, and laptop computer.

Still I am thinking of hiring GRAVICKGROUP to pay Doug a visit in Scottsbluff. 

Stay tuned …

* “like a mushroom” – kept in the dark and fed $h1t

Highland Park

Doug is coming home to Highland Park

  
No not THAT Highland Park (although he may need some of that Highland Park after his ordeal)

 
This Highland Park

  

Welcome to Highland Park Care Center

Doug goes “road trip” on Thursday with a long-time friend from Denver. He will stop by home first to see his kitties, get his reading glasses, wallet, cell phone, and laptop computer before checking in at Highland Park.

I know that in the past Doug has been fond of whisky and even belongs to a whisky tasting club. Sadly I am quite sure that alcohol is off the menu for him now that he is on dialysis otherwise I would send him a bottle to commemorate his return to Alliance.

Coming home

Email from Doug’s sister Kathy

“Good News!! Doug just called me. He finally gets to go home to Alliance on Thursday. He will not be going to the Good Samaritan Care Center, which is about 1/2 block from his apartment, but Highland (I think is the name) Care Center in Alliance. He is just happy that he will be home. He doesn’t know yet if he will have the dialysis in Alliance or Scottsbluff. He will have his glasses, cell phone and lap top, which will be nice for him. He will give us more details as he finds out himself. “

BRING DOUG HOME

Yet Another Update on Doug (AKA weggieboy)

If you have been following this or Maggie’s blog, you know that weggieboy’s blog | surviving retirement with two cats has gone quiet. That’s because Doug is being held prisoner in a rehab center in Denver, forced to do daily physical therapy and every other day dialysis. 

Doug was transported to Denver in the belief that his Wegener’s Granulomatosis had flared up again. The hospital determined that he was NOT having an exacerbation of WG, but had suffered kidney failure as a result of it. He was subsequently discharged to a rehab facility also in Denver. He is stuck there without his reading glasses, wallet, or cell phone and without any support system of friends and family. 

(Sounds like imprisonment to me) 

Anyway, because he is a Nebraskan in Colorado they need to get him back to Nebraska before next Wednesday the 17th or Medicare stops paying 100%. Our fear (that being me, Maggie’s mom Liz, and Doug’s sister in Washington state) is that they will transfer him to another facility in Nebraska, but not home to Alliance. As you can imagine, Doug is worried to death about his kitties. We have it in good word that his neighbor is taking care of them, but it has been a month now and no one has been able to contact him because we don’t have his neighbor’s phone number. Heck Doug’s last blog entry was on January 14th and I wasn’t able to contact him until February 5th … three weeks later. 

There is no reason Doug can’t go home. The Box Butte General Hospital in Aliance has both top notch dialysis and physical therapy facilities. Doug is ambulatory and able to get around with use of a cane. Doug needs to go home.

You can call him directly at (303) 862-3040. Tell him you read about his plight on this or Maggie’s blog (I am sure that she will reblog this). He would love to hear from you. I would say to send him a get well card, but he will be transferred before it would get there.

  

As I said, there is no reason Doug can’t go home.

  

     

  

Doug got the Care Package

Talked to Doug about an hour this evening. He is in good spirits. 

The Care Package arrived this morning but he had not seen it, so I had to contact the nurses and have them go find it for him. Eventually they did locate it and Doug and several of the staff were in enjoying the oranges and tangerines. As Denver is in the dead of winter, they were a big hit for everyone.

One of the common complications of Wegener’s granulomatosis (WG) is kidney failure and the upshot of this episode is that Doug will have to be on dialysis from here on. Fortunately there appears to be dialysis resources in his home town of Alliance Nebraska. Doug will be in Denver most likely though the end of the month. He is without computer or cell phone so his contact with the outside world is limited. I know he would love to hear from you.

Please send him your get-well wishes to

     Doug Thomas

     C/O Amberwood Court Care Center

     4686 E Ashbury Circle

     Denver CO 80222

You can also call him at  (303) 862-3040. This is a direct line to his room. If there is no answer it probably means he is in physical therapy or rehab.

Updates on Doug

Wrong address – the correct address is

Doug G. Thomas

C/O  Amberwood Court Care Center 

4686 E Asbury Circle

Denver CO 80222 

(NOT 4868 E Ashbury)


Status Update

Doug is learning how to stand up without falling down, use a walker, and how to get in and out of a wheel chair by himself. 

Please feel free to send Doug a get well card. I know he has a large blog following. I know it would chear him up.

Doug getting his mail

Care Package

Doug loves his citrus   http://phainopepla95.com/2015/10/25/post-924-loving-my-citrus/

I have a mutant orange-tangerine tree    https://contrafactual.com/2015/10/26/oranges-pickles-tangerines/

Doug needs a care package

   
 
Doesn’t look like much in the basket, but I individually wrapped most of the oranges and tangerines and left space for additional padding to be added at the shipping facility.

   
   
 With padding … felt, bubble wrap, paper … it filled out a good sized box.

It is supposed to arrive Monday by 10 AM.