I have learned something new about myself recently: I really don’t like relearning a lesson I have already should have learned

It wasn’t long ago we had that horrible trip to the hospital, full of stress, the unknown

We learned how important hydration is, how dehydration is directly correlated to temporary additional cognitive decline, adding more “cray-cray” to an already cray-cray situation

Thursday, I should have pumped him full of electrolyte drinks as soon as we came back into the house after he fainted

The signs were the same, he was substantially more confused, cray-cray acting, his legs collapsed from under him

Some how I was focused on the heat, the after affects of the trip to VA, not as focused on dehydration

So in the heat of that moment, I didn’t think to pump his full of electrolytes as soon as we got back in the house–that’s what I am now smarting from

Yesterday we went out to the pool after the maid gave the house a good, deep bi-weekly clean

[Yes, its so so nice being in the house after she comes and does her magic! I love it. I find myself working almost as hard as she does as long as she does reorganizing things, staying one step ahead of her so she can clean deeper, so its a great feeling when she is done on so many levels]

I digress, we went to the pool, I got in and suggested he get in, but he didn’t get in the pool, he stayed on deck

At one point he gets up, starts rearranging things in the pool area, the tell tale sign of him going a step up on the cray-cray scale

He held tight to the back of the Peleton screen and wouldn’t let go, mumbling something incoherent

Another tell tale sign he was getting insecure about his balance, maybe getting light headed

I climbed out of the pool, got my shoes on, coaxed him into going into the cool of the house, sitting down

I grabbed a water bottle I had made for him at breakfast, with a fully dissolved hydration tab in it

“Drink this”, I said

He sips a little bit, puts the bottle down, gets up to pace back and forth

“Drink more”, I said

He looks at me as if to say “stop bossing me around”

“If you drink this whole bottle, you’ll feel better”

I get another snake eye, but he reaches for the bottle making me think he is being cranky but will eventually comply

I turn on FIFA, World Cup soccer match hoping to distract him

The bottle is hardly half gone, “drink more”, he complies

This goes on for a while, until there is a scant half inch left in the bottle

“You were right, I do feel better” he says

Thank God! He’s sitting quietly watching the soccer match, not pacing, not rearranging this or that

Hydration, hydration, hydration

We have been at this game all week. The doctor tested him because of his blood pressure readings for dehydration and found he was dehydrated

I had been lining up his fluids at his breakfast station daily, asking Nora to help me get the fluids down him on the days she is here, saying “this is the minimum” he needs to drink today

We clearly hadn’t conquered dehydration as of Thursday and the heat, the heat is no friend of dehydration, it got up to 103 degrees here that day

Matter of fact, (epiphany here) dehydration is kind of like a sibling of Uncle Lewy

Just as nasty, just as stealth, just as sneaky

I hate it that I didn’t learn how sneaky and mean dehydration is the first time, that I had to relearn this lesson

Or maybe, I forgot? I think I am on the fool me twice part of the riddle now

So while I think we are much closer to being in the clear now, hydrated, this isn’t like the MBA finals, the season never ends, there will be game after game here

The other thing, I don’t really like loosing too much, so hydration: game on! I see you, I am going to beat you from now on! You’ve met your match

Matt is going to be so hydrated he is going to be looking like a big puddle!

I’m gonna push those fluids like “Nurse Betty” would (that’s Matt’s nickname he gave me when I “tended” to him after some kind of medical procedure years ago)

I am going to turn this into a all stars game here–but you know what?

I can’t beat Uncle Lewy, he’s got an edge on me, on humanity, that will always have that strong advantage

But I can clobber dehydration like a “mother” and I will beat it, I will win!

Oh come here dehydration: I’m gonna whoop your ass! Now you have made me mad and I am channeling that energy right back at yah!

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