Text 27048, 86 rader
Skriven 2012-07-09 02:05:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: state of the union 938
==============================
Tiring day.

Billy had only about four hours of consciousness and
acquired a peculiar method of sleeping, which Annie
had never seen before and distressed her mightily -
he was lying flat on his back, and his tum puffed
up, and then he would deflate noisily and shudder.

The doctor at Hershey called to say that he had had
a digestive malady while there and had cultured positive
for some nasty bug, so he had to go on Flagyl starting
today. Not surprisingly, he didn't feel like eating,
which set Annie off.

Billy did get down two small meals - two eggs and four
slices of scrapple in the morning and a grilled cheese
sandwich, not the regimen I'd choose for someone with
digestive upset, but that's what he wanted.

Annie was making this Indian-flavored fried chicken,
with a two-day marinade in buttermilk flavored with
garam masala, then a dredge in flour flavored with
garam masala, then your standard deep-fry. She used
a mixture that was mostly nutmeg, and I am somewhat
surprised that she didn't notice that. Anyhow, Billy
took to his bed before dinner, which was distressing,
so we were only three (Robby came over). She fried up
the chicken in batches, the last batch being notable
as she complained to me that it wouldn't cook, and the
coating fell off. I took a gander, and she had laid
the chicken on essentially a bed of frying detritus,
with just a film of oil on top - in her blind distress,
she hadn't noticed that the kettle had gradually filled
up with junk.

I cooked the vegetables in fresh oil.

The chicken turned out to be almost blackened on the
outside and almost raw on the inside - quite a feat for
someone who has been renowned for her fried chicken.
Except that last batch, which hadn't cooked at all.

I politely had a piece: it might be the first time in
my life that I have removed the crunchy outside of a
piece of fried food. As did Rob. We filled up on the
veggies.

Round about 9, I went upstairs and gave Billy some
packs of peanut-butter crackers, a go-to food that
gives him nourishment when little else will go down.
He was conscious and ate all the crackers gratefully,
falling asleep again after.

Round about 11, I was hungry and had another piece of
chicken, discarding the skin with mixed feelings. I
heard Billy upstairs in the bathroom and went back up
to see if he needed anything, but he'd fallen right
back asleep.

Annie is totally bent out of shape.

She sees: he was downstairs a couple times for an hour
or two each time, sleeping the rest of the day. He didn't
eat her cooking.

I see: he got up and down the stairs on the stair elevator
on his own. Two or three times. He ate two small meals and
a snack. Went to the bathroom on his own.

I guess it's easy to succumb to despair in her situation,
and Bill and I are both concerned for her.

I'm scheduled to leave Tuesday and will do so unless he
does take a huge turn for the worse but am looking at
finding a way back that will work on short notice.

New problem. I had done some cleanup a few days ago and
thought I'd washed and sanitized carefully, but I now have
the same digestive problem that Billy does. Of course, the
buttermilk didn't help (I did take my pills) - cultured
milk is even worse on my system, contrary to the received
wisdom, than fresh.

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