March/April/May

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=50 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="0ab0ce82egerdp.png"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=95 BGCOLOR="#CC99CC" TEXT="#080000" background="0aa265f1ezuady.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>Hynda and Nolan's  Rome and Other Adventures</B></FONT><B>  </B><B> </B><B>|   </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hynda and Nolans Rome and Other Adventu"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id237.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Lonnie Chronicles"><U>The Lonnie Chronicles</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id238.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="2010 May/June"><U>2010 - May/June</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id240.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="July/August"><U>July/August</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id243.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="September/October"><U>September/October</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id266.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="November/December"><U>November/December</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id269.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="2011 January/February"><U>2011 - January/February</U></A>   |   <B>March/April/May</B>   |   <A HREF="id298.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="June/July/August/September"><U>June/July/August/September</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id241.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Bad Bus Trip"><U>The Bad Bus Trip</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=385 colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#FFFF33" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>March/April/May</I></div> <div> <B>Saturday, March 5:</B> Called and got Lonnie today. I have called a few times but it just goes into voice mail. He said that he has not turned on the computer since I left. He says that he is making no progress and he feels like he is going backwards. The Physical therapist who comes 2x per week says that he needs to be patient - something that Lonnie definitely does not have much of.</div> <div> <B>Sunday, March13</B>: Bob called and said that Lonnie is not doing well and he is starting to worry. Earlier this week he walked with Lonnie to Russo's (the Italian market) and Lonnie did fine - had to sit once on the way there and a few times on the way back. But since then he has spent a lot of time in bed and has no motivation to do anything and feels he is not getting better. </div> <div> <B>Tuesday, March 15</B>: Lonnie finally answered the phone. He sounded very down. Said he was not eating and I asked him if it was due to not being able to cook or to just lack of appetite. He said it was both. I asked him if he was ordering takeout and he did not answer for several seconds. He did that to more questions and I knew he was finished with our conversation. I told him we were coming up to New York on Thursday.</div> <div> <B>Friday, March 18</B>: We took the late bus last night and arrived too late to stop in at Lonnie's. We went early in the morning and brought him bagels. He was hungry and in a fairly good mood. He had not showered or changed his clothes in awhile and the apartment smelled of urine. I gathered up all his clothes in the bathroom and changed his sheets and towels and brought them to the laundry. We also did some shopping for him. In the late afternoon we went out and got Thai food. We thought that we were buying enough so that he would have some leftovers but he finished everything.</div> <bR> <div> He was complaining about making no progress and he definitely was not walking any better. I suspect that he is not doing his PT exercises and now that PT has stopped he will not do anything. We tried to convince him to get Elaine to come more often and take him downstairs and he can walk up and down the block. Elaine is coming next week and he promised to ask her to come more often. He did bring up the thought that he could not live in the apartment anymore. We discussed options and we told him that with more help he should be able to stay in the apartment. </div> <bR> <div> We also talked about him calling his therapist to come in and see him. I knew he was not going to call so I called on the bus going home and spoke to him. I told him not to tell Lonnie that I called and asked him to call.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Saturday, March 19</B>: Lonnie's therapist called to say that he did talk to Lonnie - told him he was walking by the apartment and saw the light on so he called. He will be seeing Lonnie next Friday. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Wednesday, March 23</B>: Lonnie had an appointment with his doctor today and Bob was going to take him. I have called but have not reached Lonnie so I do not know how it went.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Friday, March 25</B>: The therapist saw Lonnie and he left a voicemail message to say that Lonnie had agreed to weekly sessions. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Monday, April 4: </B>This was my last chance to see Lonnie before we left for placecountry-regionItaly. Hynda was off to Florida for a meeting and I took the bus to NY. Lonnie looked good - he has definitely gained some weigh. Although we had left him some carryout menus he said he would not use them but did admit that he was getting carryout. He was unsteady on his feet and just walking around the apartment seemed to be an effort for him. I have no idea how he was climbing into and out of his tub to take a shower. We talked a little bit about either him moving or getting some more help. He now has a cleaning person every two weeks and Bob helps with shopping. He seemed more open to moving to another place than in the past. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Saturday, April 23</B>: I had talked to Lonnie briefly last week on Thursday and he seemed OK. He was just leaving to go to a doctor's appointment so we did not talk long. Today I got an email from Bob that said that on Friday when he checked with Lonnie he said he was not able to get out of bed and he wanted to go to the hospital - Beth Israel. He went by ambulance and Bob said he was a little confused. They were doing blood tests on him. Bob visited and Lonnie was refusing to eat hospital food and asked if Bob could bring him some Mexican food from the place on 1<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >st</FONT> Avenue. Bob is going on Sunday to see Lonnie and I will know more than. The doctor taking care of Lonnie will not be in until Monday.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Saturday, May 7: </B>I had called Lonnie on his birthday - today. Lonnie remained in Beth Israel for about 10 days under observation. They then decided that he should be moved to a rehab center and they sent him to The Village. This is a brand new facility on the lower East Side and it is strictly for HIV patients. Bob visited Lonnie and said that it was very nice and that Lonnie said the food was not too bad. This is quite an improvement since he (justifiably) hates institutional food. He is doing physical therapy there once a day.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Saturday, May 14: </B>Lonnie told one too many people that he did not want to go on living like this and stopped eating.  They thought he was a potential suicide case and sent him uptown to New York Presbyterian Hospital where they had a locked in psyche ward.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Thursday, May 19</B>: I went up to NY to see Lonnie. Although the visiting hours are quite restricted in his ward (7-9PM only), they let me in. He seemed to be in pretty good spirits. He did tell me that all the people who talk to him are `Pollyannas' and do not understand that he may not get any better and he does not want to live like this. Like this being - constant headaches, not being able to focus, not being able to read or cook, not being able to walk without a walker and with one with difficulty. This other `inmates' came in all shapes and sizes and they made everyone eat in the dining room - no one was allowed to eat in their room. Lonnie seemed to know all the attendants and inmates and talked to them all.</div> <bR> <div> The social worker said Lonnie would be there for at least two weeks and that Lonnie was clear that he wanted to go home.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Thursday, May 26</B>: The social worker called to say Lonnie was ready to go home and could I take him home. I told him I could not get there but Bob could. He said that they would arrange to have home care for Lonnie and they would be coming by the apartment the next day. Bob picked him up and took him home. Lonnie was hungry and Bob went out and bought him lunch.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Friday, May 27</B>: Bob called. He had stopped in to see Lonnie early in the afternoon and there was no answer at the door. He went in and found Lonnie sleeping and did not wake him. After walking his dog at about 10PM he knocked again and there was no answer. This time when he went in Lonnie had not moved since the earlier visit and he noticed an empty vial of pills. He shook Lonnie awake and asked him how many pills he had taken and he said a lot so Bob called 911 and Lonnie was taken to Beth Israel emergency psych ward.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Tuesday, May 31</B>: Visited Lonnie at Beth Israel. He did admit that he had tried to kill himself. I do not believe this since he knew he had not taken enough pills. He then talked about wanting to try to go away to a facility that dealt with people in his position. The people at Beth Israel did not appear to be as good as those at New York Presbyterian and we decided that I would call and see if we can get him transferred back there. I bought dinner - Thai food - and they allowed me to take that in although they did remove the plastic bag that the food came in. I brought Lonnie a pad and pen and they needed to have a big discussion on whether he could have the pen or not. </div> <div>  </div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>