Kidzdoc Has 20/20 Vision in 2020, Part 2

Jamel Brinkley, one of The New York Times' Black Male Writers for Our Time and author of the short story collection A Lucky Man, which was a finalist for the 2018 National Book Award in Fiction, grew up in Brooklyn and the South Bronx, where the powerful stories in his book about African American men whose relationships with each other threaten the fractured lives of themselves and those around them are set. He is a graduate of Columbia University and the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and he is currently a 2018-2020 Wallace Stegner Fellow in Fiction at Stanford University.

Currently reading:

    

Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music by George E. Lewis
Ualalapi: Fragments from the End of Empire by Ungulani Ba Ba Khosa

Books read in 2020:

January:
1. Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life by Louise Aronson
2. The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom
3. Volume Control: Hearing in a Deafening World by David Owen
4. A Lucky Man by Jamel Brinkley

February:
5. My Mother, Your Mother: Embracing "Slow Medicine," The Compassionate Approach to Caring for Your Aging Loved Ones by Dennis McCullough, M.D.

March:

April:
6. Afropean: Notes from Black Europe by Johny Pitts

20 Classic Works of Fiction by Authors from the African Diaspora from the Shelves to Read in 2020

Abyssinian Chronicles by Moses Isegawa
Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Emigrants by George Lamming
The Famished Road by Ben Okri
The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat
The Fisher King by Paule Marshall
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
The Interpreters by Wole Soyinka
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Maps by Nuruddin Farah
Moses, Man of the Mountain by Zora Neale Hurston
Native Son by Richard Wright
The Palm-Wine Drinkard by Amos Tutuola
Petals of Blood by Ngugi wa Thiong'o
Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill
A State of Independence by Caryl Phillips
Texaco by Patrick Chamoiseau
Train Whistle Guitar by Albert Murray

20 Non-Fiction Books from the Shelves to Read in 2020

Afropean by Johnny Pitts
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Birth of a Dream Weaver by Ngugi wa Thiong'o
Black and British: A Forgotten History by David Olusoga
Blood in the Water: The Attica Uprising of 1971 and its Legacy by Heather Ann Thompson
Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging by Afua Hirsch
Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy
Flesh in the Age of Reason: The Modern Foundation of Body and Soul by Roy Porter
Frantz Fanon: A Biography by David Macey
Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep
The Gray Notebook by Josep Pla
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
Journey to Portugal by José Saramago
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music by George E. Lewis
Secondhand Time by Svetlana Alexievich
Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi
Volume Control: Hearing in a Deafening World by David Owen ✅
Why Niebuhr Matters by Charles Lemert
The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom ✅

Black Male Writers for Our Time

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah: Friday Black ✅
Jeffery Renard Allen: Song of the Shank
Jamel Brinkley: A Lucky Man ✅
Jericho Brown: The Tradition
Marcus Burke: Team Seven
Samuel R. Delany: Dark Reflections
Cornelius Eady: Hardheaded Weather ✅
Percival Everett: Wounded
Nelson George: City Kid: A Writer's Memoir of Ghetto Life and Post-Soul Success
James Hannaham: Delicious Foods
Terrance Hayes: American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin
Brian Keith Jackson: The Queen of Harlem ✅
Major Jackson: Roll Deep
Mitchell S. Jackson: Survival Math: Notes on an All-American Family ✅
Yusef Komunyakaa: The Chameleon Couch
Rickey Laurentiis: Boy with Thorn
Victor LaValle: The Ballad of Black Tom
James McBride: The Good Lord Bird
Shane McCrae: In the Language of My Captor
Reginald McKnight: He Sleeps
Dinaw Mengestu: All Our Names ✅
Fred Moten: The Service Porch
Gregory Pardlo: Digest
Rowan Ricardo Phillips: Heaven
Darryl Pinckney: Black Deutschland ✅
Brontez Purnell: Since I Laid My Burden Down
Ishmael Reed: Juice! ✅
Roger Reeves: King Me
Maurice Carlos Ruffin: We Cast a Shadow
Danez Smith: Don't Call Us Dead
Colson Whitehead: The Nickel Boys ✅
Phillip B. Williams: Thief in the Interior
De'Shawn Charles Winslow: In West Mills
George C. Wolfe: The Colored Museum
Kevin Young: Book of Hours

Recommended Black American Women Authors

Elizabeth Alexander
Osa Atoe
Toni Cade Bambara
Gwendolyn Brooks
Octavia E. Butler
Lucille Clifton
Edwidge Danticat
Toi Derricotte
Bridgett M. Davis
Vievee Francis
Renee Gladman
Yona Harvey
Carolivia Herron
Zora Neal Hurston
N.K. Jemisin
Gayl Jones
Tayari Jones
Adrienne Kennedy
Jamaica Kincaid
Ayana Mathis
Shara McCallum
Toni Morrison
Harryette Mullen
Gloria Naylor
Lynn Nottage
Morgan Parker
Tennessee Reed
Sonia Sanchez
Safiya Sinclair
Tracy K. Smith
Martha Southgate
Natasha Trethewey
Jesmyn Ward
Phyllis Wheatley

Literature and nonfiction by contemporary Latinx authors, as recommended by Myriam Gurba, author of the memoir Mean:



Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera
Tell Me How it Ends by Valeria Luiselli
Black Dove by Ana Castillo
Bless Me, Última by Rudolfo Anaya
The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez
Across a Hundred Mountains by Reyna Grande
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez
Everyone Knows You Go Home by Natalia Sylvester
Native Country of the Heart by Cherríe Moraga
A Dream Called Home by Reyna Grande
The Affairs of the Falcóns by Melissa Rivero
Dominicana by Angie Cruz
The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea
Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli

Planned reads for February:

Beloved by Toni Morrison
Frantz Fanon: A Biography by David Macey
If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith
Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
My Mother, Your Mother: Embracing "Slow Medicine," the Compassionate Approach to Caring for Your Aging Loved Ones by Dennis McCullough, M.D.
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
The Tradition by Jericho Brown

Book #4: A Lucky Man by Jamel Brinkley



My rating:

This collection of nine short stories is set in Brooklyn and the South Bronx, where the author grew up, and each is centered around two African American men, who are family members or friends whose relationships are strained and occasionally at the breaking point, which affects themselves and those around them. My favorite stories were "J'ouvert, 1996", in which a troubled teenage boy struggles to accept his mother's new boyfriend while having to look after his younger brother as he seeks independence and his own identity; 'Everything the Mouth Eats", a story about two estranged brothers who decide to travel togther to attend a capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial arts conference, in an attempt to restore their formerly close relationship; "A Family", in which a man recently released from prison attempts reconciliation with the wife of his deceased best friend and his teenage son; and "A Lucky Man", which is centered on a school employee whose alluring wife has recently left him alone and adrift, as a younger man teases and torments him over his loss. I liked the other stories but wasn't as enamored by them, but this is a very promising debut collection and I look forward to reading Jamel Brinkley's future works.

This thread is now open.

Happy new one, Darryl!

>10 bell7: Thanks, Mary!

Nice new thread, and appreciate the peak into Brinkley. Nice pile you have in progress. Curious about your take on Kendi. He pushes, I think. Although I liked where he goes.

Happy new thread, Darryl, and safe travels!

I am sorry your father is doing poorly. Safe travels and don't forget to care for yourself as well as your parents.

Dear Darryl, I hope I am allowed to follow you here. I really appreciate your contributions.

I am very sorry to hear that your father was hospitalized. Fortunately, he's feeling a little better again. I know what these worries are when the parents are not well and especially when your mother needs help. It's nice that you have the opportunity to be with her during this time.
I wish you and your parents all the best and love. I keep my fingers crossed that your father can recover quickly.

On your previous thread I read the following:

I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't yet visited any Latin American countries, even though I'm nearly fluent in Spanish. I have a dear Costa Rican friend who lives with her family in México City, and I'm eager to visit Cartagena, Quito and Lima, amongst other major cities, and I hope to start doing that in the next couple of years.

I wish that you can visit various countries in South America.
Over thirty years ago, my husband and I were in South America for six months. We started in Venezuela. When we were on the border with Colombia, the presidential candidate Galan was shot. We called the Swiss embassy in Bogota to see what our onward journey would look like. The bottom line was that we couldn't visit the Caribbean part of Colombia because it was too dangerous. While we continued to move south on the Andean Heights, we got to know a great country with many very kind people and a great landscape. Unfortunately, we had to leave this country early because there were many bombings.
The path led us to Ecuador, which was a very safe country even then and then to Peru. Peru was a very poor country then and still is today. We could still stay in the old town of Lima while this is hardly possible today. After Peru we were in Bolivian, a country that has grown dear to my heart. The only thing I had to learn at the time was that there weren't necessarily public toilets, not even in restaurants. The emergency was carried out by everyone behind the house or on the side of the road (without privacy screen). I felt like in ancient Rome with the public locus, where people also talked about everyday life. This is no longer the case today, and Bolivia has also become 'modern'. Then we went on to Argentina, which seemed almost European to us. The landscape is very diverse. We flew home from Rio, where we were fortunately only four days away.
We traveled with buses, trains, ships (more boats than ships) and sometimes also with domestic flights. We are not particularly big, but we are much larger than the indigenous population, so we often sat on the roof of a bus or train, because our legs could not find a place inside, or the chickens that were transported pecked in the calves.
Today traveling as a tourist is definitely different. Our oldest daughter was in South America a year and a half ago. There are now special tourist trains and buses and as a tourist you can only travel in such trains. Actually a shame, because we came into contact with many of the country's residents through the transport. We were never afraid except in Rio, so I was afraid for my life.
The big cities in South America are certainly interesting, but you get to know the country and its people most besides the tourist hotspots. When we were on the road we hardly met any tourists, today it is different.

I am sorry that this post has been so long, but your desire to travel to South America has raised many memories in me.

>15 Ameise1: Thanks for sharing your memories, Barbara. I still hold dear in my heart my trip with a friend to Mexico and Central America (Guatamala, El Salvador) in 1976. The hallmark of our trip was not to be in ANY tourist places which led us to many to many strange and unexpected adventures. So as not to hijack Darryl's thread, I won't recount them all here. The bottom line is that my trip there was such a valuable personal experience. Since then, I have much love in my heart for all Salvadorans, Guatemalans, and Mexicans and for their beautiful countries, despite their social problems.

May your trip be safe and successful. I am glad that you don't have to make that long drive.

The House of Broken Angels was one of the PBS/NYT Now Read This monthly reads last year, so I read it then and thought it excellent.

Stopping by and hoping for improved news on both father and son. Best wishes to both.

Just checking in on your new thread. Sorry to read about your dad's health and your own issues. Thanks sincerely for those great author lists. So many voices to explore.

As to South America, my wife and I spent most of this past November in Argentina and Chile. It was an amazing experience. We were in the south of Chile, away from Santiago, but still saw a few protests and many signs of larger events we'd just missed. We spoke with many people about what the country was going through. Most of the people we met in the south were in accord with the protesters and their goals. One restaurant owner told us, "The protests will hurt the restaurant business up and down the country, but we still support them. We are talking about my children's lives." At any rate, our experience as tourists in mostly rural Chile was fabulous. We also spent about a week in Buenos Aires, which is a wonderful city, and had a great time on the southern Atlantic coast of Argentina, as well.

We did take a couple of buses to get from Patagonia in Argentina across the Andes into Chile and we were riding with a mix of tourists and locals.

Happy new thread Darryl. Sorry to hear about your father and I hope your trip home to visit goes smoothly.

I can't offer much guidance on South America but I will say Central America is quite accessible - especially from Atlanta. Most of our flights were routed through Atlanta (a few through Texas). I would certainly recommend giving Costa Rica a try. Fantastic country.

Hey Darryl. Happy new thread.

I love me some good short stories and A Lucky Man sounds pretty good. On the list it goes.

I thought A Lucky Man was a terrific debut. Brinkley digs into some big themes—masculinity, racism, class, anger, disappointment, fathers and sons, aging, the male gaze—without ever getting heavy handed. I l thought all the stories were strong, but loved “J’ouvert, 1996," best.

So sorry to hear of your father’s illness. Sending healing prayers

Just catching up with your threads, Darryl. I'm sorry to hear that your father had another medical emergency; I hope he will be on the mend soon. I hope you get to spend some quality time with your parents while you're in Philly.

Thanks for your greetings, kind thoughts and prayers, everyone. I'll post individual replies soon.

My father is in a much worse state than I understood him to be on Saturday afternoon. The medical team extubated him and took him off of mechanical ventilation on midday Saturday, with the hope that he would be awake, alert and back to baseline by the evening. Unfortunately he has not awakened since then, save for very brief moments, he is unable to respond to commands, he hasn't said anything meaningful since he had his first seizure on Friday, and he isn't able to swallow medications or food, so a nasogastric (NG) tube was placed yesterday. I flew to Philadelphia yesterday morning, and drove a rental car directly to the hospital. Even though he was on a propofol drip and was loaded with a maximum amount of Keppra he continued to have seizures yesterday morning, so he was loaded with Dilantin. He has still not awakened today, so he is getting another continuous EEG.

We won't know until he awakens what his prognosis will be. It is very worrisome that he hasn't returned to baseline yet, and although it's possible that he will make a full recovery I'm preparing for bad news, that he will have some significant neurological deficits and will no longer be able to care for my mother. If so they will both need to go into assisted living facilities or nursing care homes, and I will likely have to cancel my vacation plans for 2020. That is the least of my concerns, and I only mention it because I had make meet up plans with LT friends in Europe this year (London in March, Lisbon in June, and Edinburgh in August). My brother and I have our hands full talking care of my mother, who suffers from moderate dementia, especially since my father provided all of her care and wouldn't let anyone else help him. I anticipate being with my mother for at least the next 2-3 weeks, and depending what my father's ultimate outcome is I may have to resign from my current position at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and seek employment here in the Delaware Valley, a possibility that I knew was likely to come about in the next few years.

I did start to read My Mother, Your Mother: Embracing "Slow Medicine," the Compassionate Approach to Caring for Your Aging Loved Ones by Dennis McCullough, M.D., an American geriatrician based in New England. This book seems to provide much more practical advice than Elderhood. I hope to finish it in the next 2-3 days.

Sorry to hear that, Darryl. Fingers and toes are all crossed for better news with your father.

>25 kidzdoc: - Very sorry to hear this, Darryl. Sending all good thoughts southward.

You have all my sympathies through this stressful time. I'll wish you good rest and patience as you negotiate caring for both of your parents. I'm glad your brother is able to share the load with you.

>25 kidzdoc: I'm so sorry to hear your news. Thinking of you and yours and sending lots of positive thoughts.

Sorry, Darryl. You sound realistic. Wishing you and yours the best.

All the best, Darryl, in this next step of your journey. I've been walking that very road for the last 2 years. You are very lucky that you have been thinking and planning for this and that you have the means and options to do whatever you need to do. You will be a blessing to both your parents.

That book sounds very good. I will look for it. I wish more people would specialize in geriatric medicine. It seems such a necessary discipline as our demographic ages.

{{hang in there}}

>25 kidzdoc: So very sorry to hear that your father is worse than you first thought Darryl, and that it will be tied up with the inevitable upheaval you're facing. Even planned for or expected, these things are very much harder in reality. I am sure you will be a great comfort to your parents and hopefully, we can provide a place for you to lose yourself in book chatter and companionship when you need that respite. I think many of us are looking down very similar roads with ageing parents, if not today then on any given day in the not-necessarily distant future.

>25 kidzdoc: I am saddened to learn that your dad is not progressing in the way you had hoped for. This is such a hard situation. I dealt with a similar situation, but when I was single and in my twenties. That seems like ancient history to me now. I hope that all works out for the best. Take one day at a time. Stop by here for some book chat and friendship. Praying that the coming days are easier than you think.

I'm sorry for your parents' health troubles, and the duty that falls to you. Healing vibes to your father. I recently retired after being a hospital nurse for 40 years.

I read a lot of stuff that is simply for enjoyable distraction; I admire your choices, and I'll be reading your thread this year. This is my second year in Club Read, after I joined in May last year.

Darryl I am so sorry to hear about your father’s hospitalization and health problems. I will be keeping you and your parents in my thoughts. They are fortunate to have you to look out for them.

I am sorry to hear about your father's health news- take care.

my thoughts are with you at this difficult time

I'm so sorry to hear that your father's not doing well and you're having to think about making long-term changes. I will keep you and your parents in my prayers.

Ah, Darryl, I'm sorry to hear that news. I did a lot of elder care over the past few years, and you have all my best wishes. One thing I'll say is that you sound like you have as realistic a view as possible (given the fact that things never quite progress in a straight line) of your parents' needs will be and what your role will be—I've seen some hard times among friends who fervently believed (wished) that things would get better on their own. Wishing you strength in showing up and some good reading in the interstices. Will your brother be able to help out as well?

Finally, some good news: for the first time since he had a seizure on Friday afternoon my father is becoming more awake, alert and oriented. I had to wait for an hour to talk to his nurse, and during that interminable period I was fearing very bad news...including the ultimate worst news. I'm pleased beyond description that he's doing much better today, but I'm still freaked out by the delay...and I don't freak out easily when it comes to giving or receiving medical information.

What a great spark of good news! Wishing fervently that you dad continues to improve.

What Madeleine said, Darryl. I hope things continue on an upswing.

>40 kidzdoc: That is relieving, better news, Darryl. Hope that the good progress continues.

>40 kidzdoc: Keeping my fingers crossed for your father's continued improvement.

> Hi Darryl, I'm just catching up with your 2020 thread today. My heart goes out to you and your family. I hope you have more good news today.

Darryl, its good to hear that your father is doing better and you have a little more time to consider and prepare for a move north rather than needing to do it all at once, right now. I hope you are doing okay and are finding a little down time for yourself.

Unfortunately the optimistic report I was given yesterday by my father's nurse was incredibly unrealistic. I had a longer conversation with today's nurse, and it's obvious that he isn't doing well at all, and the chance that he will make a full recovery and be able to resume caring for my mother at home is very slim, at best. I will stay with my mother until we figure out what to do with both of them, but I assume that we will have to place them into some sort of assisted living facility at some point, which of course breaks my heart, as we were looking forward to celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary this summer.

I will cancel all of my European holidays and meet up plans with LTers in the US and abroad this year, or at least until the situation at home has become clearer and more stable. I'll check in here whenever I can. Thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers.

So sorry Darryl. This is just hard. Remember to take care of yourself as well because I know that often gets forgotten.

>48 klarusu: - Very good point about the need to take care of oneself as well.

Darryl, so many people are thinking of you and your family and sending you all good wishes. I hope you can feel it a little bit, at least.

Take care.

So sorry to hear all of this Darryl. Thinking of you!

So very sad to learn of this discouraging news. Take care of yourself. Your travels and friends will always be there for you when you’re ready. In the meantime, sad as it is, your role is now to comfort and assist your parents. You’ll do a good job even though you have some tough decisions ahead to make. Be well. Check back in with us whenever you want to or have the chance. Hugs.

Echoing what Madeline said, Darryl. I spent much of 2019 doing what you are now faced with. If there is a chance that they can be together in whatever assisted living facility you eventually settle on, that would be ideal. You can still celebrate their anniversary, just perhaps not at the home they currently live in. There is a lovely couple, both in their 90s, who share a table in the dining room of my mother's new place, with her. It's lovely to see them together, still.

Deep breaths, and take it one step at a time. And know that they love you and will trust you to do what you know is best for them.

So sorry to hear that it's been such a rollercoaster of hopeful and tough news, Darryl. It sounds like regardless of what happens in his recovery that you have some very challenging decisions ahead, and I'll continue to pray for you & your folks.

So sorry to read about your father, Darryl. Thinking of you and your parents.

>47 kidzdoc: It's not just the bad news that hurts, but the rapid alternation between bad, better, then worse news. Plans go out the window so frequently. Sorry you're faced with this.

Such dramatic ups and downs. I’m sorry for the bad news. Wishing you strength through all this. Of course, thinking about you.

Well, the dire outlook I expected for my father seems as if it won't come to pass. He is doing much better, and after he is released from the hospital next week he will need intensive rehabilitation for at least a week or two before he can return home, and maybe another week or two before he can resume normal activities, including providing 24 hour care for my mother.

I have requested unpaid leave from work until he is back on his feet, so I'll likely be with my parents for the next 3-4 weeks, if not longer. I'll be moderately busy, but I'll also have more time to read and stay active in Club Read.

Thanks again for your kind thoughts and prayers, everyone!

>57 kidzdoc: From experience with my own parents, whose main priority was to stay in their house and live as independently as possible, start looking for a home health aide now. Having someone who is there making sure things are running smoothly and doing the things they can't manage is both less expensive and less disruptive to your parents than moving into assisted living. But finding someone who you and your parents will feel comfortable will does take time.

>58 RidgewayGirl: I appreciate your comment, Kay, and I agree with you completely. I was just talking with my mother about that half an hour ago, and their neighbor gave me good information about elder support organizations when he stopped by a couple of hours ago. My current book, My Mother, Your Mother, has also been excellent in helping me think about what I can do to help my parents, who also wish to remain in their home and live independently for as long as they possibly can.

A live-in home health aide allowed my MIL to remain in her NYC apartment for a couple of years beyond what she could have done otherwise. Since we lived in Seattle, it was a tremendous relief to have someone we trusted to be on the ground there. To be surrounded by the familiarity of her apartment (her things, her routines, the doorman) gave her comfort and helped her cognitively. But ultimately she needed more care than that. It's hard to know what to do when.

As someone said earlier, remember to take care of yourself too. Last I heard, you had bronchitis. I hope you are getting some rest and drinking some tea. Be well

Well, Darryl, it's better news and you take it as you can. You sound like you have a good idea and a plan. I agree that in-home help is a terrific compromise to having to find and move them to assisted living faster and sooner than you (or they) might want to. It will buy you some time, as well, especially if your dad is in rehab/convalescent care and you need to go there frequently to visit and your mom isn't up to it. You will be able to leave her at home on occasion if you know someone is there for her.

On your recommendation, I just purchased My Mother, Your Mother through Better World Books. It should arrive in a couple of weeks. I just got home from Montreal and am heading right back there next week due to a change in appointment for my mum. It's exhausting but I a happy to be able to do it.

Take care of yourself.

>57 kidzdoc: Well, Darryl, good news is always more welcome than bad news...so if the news to us has to see-saw up and down, we'll take the good news last. High five to your dad for continuing on the road to recovery.

Thoughts and prayers are still being sent your way!

When my own dad was sick at home (post heart attack), he had a part time home health aide and a visiting nurse. I was less than pleased with the two home health aides he hired privately, but that's another story. Talk to the social worker now at the hospital in which your dad is a patient. He or she will give you a list of agencies/resources that you can keep on hand for the future.

A live-in aide helped keep my mom at home for a long time. I hope you can find a good agency and person to help out, since much depends on their being a good fit. But in an urban area like Philly you should have choices. Take good care of yourself too—all these ups and downs are hard on a body and soul.

Gosh, you’ve got to be spinning. Glad to hear good news.

Just a quick hi Darryl and best wishes to you and your brother as you care for your parents.

Hi, everyone. My father remains in the hospital, as he continues to recuperate. He is mostly lucid at times, and we had a nice short conversation with him on Friday morning, but yesterday afternoon he was very confused and mildly agitated when my mother and I called into his room. It's been a challenge caring for my mother, as she is worried about my father and misses him dearly, and as a result she hasn't been sleeping well and has been calling out to me for comfort or assistance on multiple occasions in the early morning hours. This morning was especially rough, but she is sleeping comfortably now, and hopefully she will have a better day today.

My Mother, Your Mother has been a gift from heaven so far. This book is exactly what I hoped that Elderhood would be, as it is filled with practical advice for the children of aging parents. I just read about the Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), a nationwide service sponsored by Medicare and Medicaid that apparently provides comprehensive services for the elderly who wish to live independently in their homes for as long as possible, which is exactly the situation my parents are in. A link in the book to PACE, https://www.npaonline.org, allowed me to find a local program that my parents would qualify for, as their home zip code is in the program's service area, so I'll call to find out more about it next week.

If My Mother, Your Mother continues to be this useful it will easily earn 5 stars from me, and I will include it alongside Being Mortal by Atul Gawande as essential reading for everyone.

>66 kidzdoc: Take care of yourself, Darryl. It is often forgotten that those who need to be looked after are usually well looked after, but the caregivers are concerned with the substance. I hope you have support.
Thinking of you and yours.

>66 kidzdoc: I'm glad that your reading is falling into place at the right time, Darryl. It sounds like a huge amount to deal with all at once, and I hope that you somehow manage to find some space every now and then to recharge your own batteries in the midst of it all.

I was going to bookmark My Mother, Your Mother, but as I read through your comments it sounds like this is very US orientated in its advice. Is that the case?

Glad to hear about your dad's progress, and that My mother, your mother is helful. Take care of yourself too.

I haven't done much reading since I arrived at my parents' house last weekend, but I should have more time to do so in the next 2-3 weeks, before I return to Atlanta.

Catching up...

>12 dchaikin: I'm looking forward to sinking my teeth into Stamped from the Beginning, Dan. I'll start reading it once I finish My Mother, Your Mother in the next couple of days.

>13 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie.

>14 ELiz_M: Thanks, Liz. One of our neighbors, a close friend of my parents, does home health nursing for the elderly, and I will hire her, for at least the short term, to provide in home care for my mother for 8-10 hours a week, as a start. My brother hasn't been able to help out since Monday, due to work requirements and a case of bronchitis, and I'll probably have little direct support from him until this weekend. Reading My Mother, Your Mother has given me plenty of knowledge, insight and ideas that I didn't have before, and I'll start to look into resources for both parents once my father is discharged from rehabilitative care, hopefully in 1-2 weeks. The main goal will be to allow them to live in their house independently for as long as possible, and delay their need for assisted living or nursing care until it becomes absolutely necessary.

>15 Ameise1: Thanks for sharing your memories of your travels in South America, Barbara! I especially want to visit Peru, Chile and Ecuador, and I want to be able to get away from tourists and interact with local residents who don't cater to them.

>16 SqueakyChu: Your travel to Central America sounds great, Madeline. It's a shame that portions of those countries, particularly México and El Salvador, have become hotbeds of violence recently.

>17 streamsong: Thanks, Janet. I'll have to retrieve my SUV from the covered airport parking lot in Atlanta, but it should be safe there, and I'm also glad that I didn't make the 12 hour drive from there to here.

I'll probably read The House of Broken Angels later this year.

>18 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul.

>19 rocketjk: Your trip to Argentina and Chile sounds great, Jerry. What were the protests in Argentina about?

>20 Oberon: Thanks, Erik. Costa Rica is high on my list of Latin American countries to visit, and a good friend of mine from my pediatric residency is from that lovely country, although she lives and practices in México City.

>21 mahsdad: Thanks, Jeff. I hope that you enjoy A Lucky Man as much as I did.

>22 lisapeet: I agree with you, Lisa. All of the stories in A Lucky Man were good, and I also liked "J'ouvert, 1996" best.

>23 banjo123: Thanks, Rhonda.

>24 Sakerfalcon: Thanks, Claire. If I didn't say so already I filed a claim for medical leave through March 16th, although I'm hopeful that I won't need to take that much time off from work. My mother cannot be left alone, due to her progressive dementia, and my primary focus has been providing 24 hour care for her. Being her primary caregiver has made me understand that much more how little she is able to do for herself, although the stress of my father's absence is unquestionably affecting her negatively. Yesterday afternoon, for example, she felt that her favorite pyjamas were too tight on her legs, so she used a pair of scissors to cut the legs of them off at mid thigh! Unfortunately my father is in a hospital 40 miles away, close to the Delaware border, and I haven't been able to see him in person since last Sunday, as someone would need to stay with my mother or I would have to bring her with me. We plan to see him today, though.

>26 AlisonY: Thanks, Alison. I learned from reading My Mother, Your Mother that it is very common for elderly people to become disoriented as a result of a long hospital stay, which was reassuring, particularly after my father was very confused when we talked with him by phone on Saturday afternoon. He was probably seizing subclinically for several days, until his seizures were finally brought under control on Wednesday when a third anti-epileptic drug was administered, and I'm sure that his brain needs time to heal from the excessive electrical activity it went through during the first part of his hospital stay. It will be much easier to visit him when he is transferred to a rehabilitation center, hopefully the same one in Northeast Philadelphia where my mother stayed during her long hospital stay early last year, and he will undoubtedly benefit from seeing his wife in person on a regular basis until he is ready to come home.

>27 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie. (We're not that far south!)

>28 RidgewayGirl: Thanks, Kay. I would like more help from my brother, but he has just started a new job and was sick all weekend with bronchitis, so I asked him to stay home and not come to visit, as the last thing I need is for my mother to get sick as well. Hopefully he'll be able to give me a bit of respite this coming weekend.

>29 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara.

>30 dchaikin: Thanks, Dan.

>31 jessibud2: Thanks, Shelley. My mother has been very grateful for taking care of her and in communicating with the team caring for my father. I'm also grateful that my work team and organization has been supportive of me, as there is no one else who can stay with my mother in this crisis and stay afloat. The chief medical officer of Children's, a Critical Care physician who was one of my favorite professors during residency, has reached out to me several times, to express his support and to encourage me to stay here for as long as I need to, and my team has been equally supportive, even though my absence from work has been a burden, as I was scheduled to work all of last week and all of the coming two weeks.

I don't know if it's true in Canada, but the United States desperately needs more geriatric specialists, or at least more primary care physicians (internists and family practitioners) who provide holistic care to their elderly patients. There is a massive shortage of geriatricians nationally, and we've been trying to get my parents plugged in to one of the geriatricians, but they are all overbooked. I'll work on trying to find one that is accepting patients in the city (Philadelphia).

>32 klarusu: Thanks, Claire. You're correct in saying that what I'm going through is far from unique, and nearly all of us who have aging parents will face similar difficulties at some point in their lives. Reading My Mother, Your Mother is helping to confirm that, and it feels as though the author is talking knowledgably about my parents, as if he knows them and their struggles personally.

>33 SqueakyChu: Wow, I'm sorry that you had to deal with a crisis at such a young age, Madeline. I'm blessed that I was older and in a good financial and career position when this happened, and that my parents have lived into their eighties before major problems began. My father's siblings all died 20 or more years ago, so their children had to face their decline and death at much younger ages than I did. Fortunately my mother's two sisters are both alive, and in relatively good health despite their advanced ages.

Yes, I appreciate the support and book chatter here, and I'll participate more fully starting today. One thing I miss about my decision to leave the 75 Books group is the discussion of cooking, which has become an essential hobby and part of who I am, so I may post some photos and recipes here later this week, and see if the group is interested in reviving the "La Cucina" thread for discussion of food. I know that you saw the simple but appealing lunch I made for my mother yesterday (crispy skinned pan fried salmon, roasted garlic parmesan Brussels sprouts, and half of a sweet potato), which took no more than 45 minutes to make, and I plan to make red beans & rice in my father's Ninja FOODI today, and jalapeño cream cheese chicken enchiladas and chicken & Andouille sausage Creole jambalaya in the first half of this week.



>34 sallypursell: Hi, Sally! Thanks for your kind thoughts. Congratulations on your retirement! It's great to have another medical professional in the group (Madeline (SqueakyChu) is also a retired nurse), and I'll follow your thread closely from now on.

>35 arubabookwoman: Thanks, Deborah.

>36 torontoc: Thanks, Cyrel.

>37 baswood: Thanks, Barry.

>38 Sakerfalcon: Thanks, Claire.

>39 lisapeet: Thanks, Lisa. My brother was a huge help the weekend before last, after my father's seizure and hospitalization and before I arrived there, and although he isn't able to help out much during the week he cares for them deeply and would do anything for them, short of quitting his job, which would precipitate a major financial crisis for him and his partner.

>41 SqueakyChu: Thanks, Madeline. I'm hopeful that my father will continue to improve, and possibly even make a full recovery. Even if that happens we'll all need to sit down and have some detailed discussions about their future. In addition to finishing My Mother, Your Mother I plan to reread Being Mortal by Atul Gawande soon, to aid in this discussion.

>42 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie.

>43 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul.

>44 Sakerfalcon: Thanks, Claire.

>45 labfs39: Thanks, Lisa.

>46 ELiz_M: Thanks, Liz. In preparing for a possible move back north I will apply for a Pennsylvania medical license in the next couple of months. PA requires its physicians to complete 100 hours of continuing medical education (CME) every two years, whereas Georgia only requires 40 hours of CME every two years, so I'll need to get cracking on that, by reading articles in The New England Journal of Medicine and Pediatrics in Review that provide CME credits for correctly answering quizzes based on the articles, and completing the 2018 and 2020 Pediatrics Review and Education Program, each of which provides 40 hours of CME. I also need to complete 40 hours of Maintenance of Certification requirements by the end of the year, to maintain my status as a board certified pediatrician by the American Board of Pediatrics, and next year I'll have to take the Pediatric Hospital Medicine Certification Examination, in order to be doubly boarded as a pediatrician and as a pediatric hospitalist, which I'll also start studying for this year.

>48 klarusu: Thanks, Claire.

>49 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie. Yes, I am greatly appreciative of the support and concern from you and other LTers!

>50 japaul22: Thanks, Jennifer!

>51 SqueakyChu: Thanks, Madeline. Now that my father's condition has stabilized I'll check in on a regular basis, and follow your and others' threads much more closely.

>52 jessibud2: Thanks, Shelley. I'm now much more hopeful that we won't need to make a decision about placement into an assisted living facility at this time. I thought for a day or two that my father was going to end up neuro devastated, and that it might be better if my father was in a nursing home locally and my mother moved in with her sisters in suburban Houston, but that dire scenario seems far less likely now.

>53 bell7: Thanks, Mary.

>54 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita. It's far too early to say, but if all goes relatively well I may be able to make it to Amsterdam, and Edinburgh, in August after all, although I won't go to London in March or Lisbon in June. I'll know a lot more in the next two to three weeks.

>55 dukedom_enough: It's not just the bad news that hurts, but the rapid alternation between bad, better, then worse news.

Spot on, Michael. The past week has been a rollercoaster, due mainly to poor communication from the medical team, especially the physician assistant who was "too busy" to contact me, then gave me incomplete and misleading information about my father. (Once this is said and done I will write a scathing and detailed letter about her, which will go to the CEO of the medical center and the head of the group she works for.) What I and we are going through is far from unique, though, and hopefully my experience and mention of the books I have and will read, particularly My Mother, Your Mother and Being Mortal, will be helpful to others when they are in the same situation.

>56 dchaikin: Thanks, Dan. I appreciate your concern and kind thoughts.

>60 labfs39: Exactly, Lisa. Finding a home health aide who is acceptable to my parents will be a high priority. My father resisted that tooth and nail when I, my brother and others proposed that for my mother before last week's crisis, as he insisted that he could provide all the care that my mother needed without assistance or interference from anyone else, but I highly doubt that he will be 100% by the time he returns home, so he will need help to care for her, and himself.

You're right; I did have bronchitis at the end of last week, and I took a rare sick day on the day of my father's collapse. I gave myself that following day to recuperate at home before I flew to Atlanta last Sunday, and I'm glad that I did, as I felt much better that day and have been doing relatively well since then.

>61 jessibud2: I wish I could say that I had a good plan in place, Shelley! I won't know what my father is capable of doing for another couple of weeks, and how much assistance that they will need. A home health aide, either live in or someone who visits for several hours a day, seems like a strong possibility, and I think it's likely that my father's driver's license will be suspended again, due to these seizures, which was a major burden to him after his first collapse in 2017.

I'm glad that you decided to order My Mother, Your Mother, and I look forward to your thoughts about it.

>62 SqueakyChu: Thanks, Madeline. I'm sorry that the home health aide and visiting nurse that attended to your father were subpar. Fortunately our neighbor, a close friend of my parents, has agreed to provide home nursing for my mother, at least, and she has helped my father in the past. The social worker assigned to my father has been a godsend, and we'll almost certainly meet her in person later today.

>63 lisapeet: Right, Lisa. My parents live in a large suburb just north of Philadelphia (you may be familiar with Sesame Place, the Sesame Street amusement park, and some people from the NYC area may remember Reedman's, which at one time was the largest auto dealer in the Northeast), so there should be plenty of resources available to them.

>64 dchaikin: "Spinning" is the right word, Dan! Things are beginning to slow down, though.

>65 karenmarie: Thanks, Karen!

>67 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara. I've been trying to get as much rest as I can during the day, as I haven't been sleeping well and have had to attend to my mother on several occasions during the early morning hours, especially Saturday and Sunday mornings. Fortunately she has rested well, or apparently so, last night, although I've been awake since 3 am (it's nearly 6:30 am here).

>68 AlisonY: Thanks, Alison. Nearly all of the content in My Mother, Your Mother would be relevant to anyone in any country, save for the specifics of insurance and programs for the elderly.

>69 markon: Thanks, Ardene.

Admiring your answering of every message here. 🤣 Wishing you and your parents (and your brother) well.

Thank you for the information on PACE, Darryl. I'll look into it as there is a provider here. My Dad is still healthy but he and I are both monitoring how he's doing as he's aware that he's not as sharp or quick anymore. He recently agreed to be driven around for anything longer than short neighborhood trips to the store, church, or the Y, where he still works out. So it's useful to look at all the possibilities as we look at his future.

Caring for someone with dementia is such an adventure. My mother would get up in the middle of the night often, which certainly affected how much rest I got when I was caring for her. I'm very much hoping that you are managing to get enough uninterrupted rest as that is so important, especially as decisions have to be made.

An enthusiastic YES from me in reviving Club Cucina! Some of the recipes listed in years past have made it into the regular rotation at my house, especially Cariola's lentil soup, which is loved by my teenage boy, especially when paired with freshly made naan.

Just catching up here Darryl, and sending my best wishes for both your father’s health, and for someone to support with your mother’s care.

">19 rocketjk: rocketjk: Your trip to Argentina and Chile sounds great, Jerry. What were the protests in Argentina about?

The protests we saw signs of were in Chile, not Argentina. The people of Chile got rid of their military dictators around 20 years ago, but their national constitution, set up by those dictators, and now supported by the supposedly democratic plutocracy that runs the country, has by now been deemed entirely unpalatable by the average Chilean, especially the young. Basic services are inadequate and not enough education is public. I believe it was a subway fare hike in Santiago that sparked the protests, but the main and most important issue in the hearts and minds of the average Chilean is that they want more control over their lives and over their futures. They want a new constitutional convention with great representation among the countries many constituencies at the drafting of that convention. The current rulers have admitted that a new constitution needs writing by and by, but that they're the ones who know best how to write it.

We were far from Santiago, where most active and potentially violent of the protests were going on, but we did see signs of protests almost everywhere we went. In the southern small city of Porto Montt, which we mostly just passed through, there was graffiti everywhere, banks and even ATMs were closed, and windows were smashed and all the national and state government offices. The people were friendly to us Americans, however, assuming we were sympathetic to their movement, which, in my wife's and my case, was certainly true. Even in the small towns we visited in the Lake Region we would sometimes see students out protesting, with their banners insisting on a new constitution. In seemed the authorities recognized these events as the harmless expressions of opinion that they were. We hardly noticed (doesn't mean it wasn't there) a police presence. However, we were warned by other tourists to be sure to stay out of camera range of the protests. The authorities definitely frown on outsiders taking part in the action, and any photo, no matter how innocent, of you with the protestors could potentially lead to your arrest. We weren't sure whether this was realistic or alarmist, but we took it to heart, regardless.

When we asked people in Argentina what they thought of the goings on in Chile, they basically told us that the Chileans are still figuring out how to run their country without dictators (the Argentinians got rid of their own much longer ago, they're very proud to tell you), but that once they get the hang of things, they'll be fine. In the meantime, they are basically sympathetic to the goals of the protestors.

We made out travel plans quite a bit before all these events began, but luckily, we decided for logistical reasons to fly in and out of Buenos Aires rather than to go through Santiago in either direction. That was lucky for us because the Santiago airport was quite iffy, with flights cancelled regularly, during the time we would have been passing through there.

To be clear, as Americans, we met nothing but kindness throughout our sojourn in the south of Chile.

On another note, I recently purchased Elderhood on your recommendation, but my wife grabbed it before I could finish the book I was in the midst of. She's just finished it and found it valuable reading. I've just started The Hamlet, the first book of Faulkner's "Snopes Family" trilogy. As soon as I'm done, I'll get to Elderhood myself.

>62 SqueakyChu: I'm sorry that the home health aide and visiting nurse that attended to your father were subpar.

The visiting nurse for my dad was not subpar. She was great! The two privately hired aides were terrible. I did not hire them. I think one was hired through wocial services, and the other my dad hired from a magazine ad. One I found snoozing in a chair while my dad, after his heart attack, I found standing and cooking in the kitchen, making a highly salted chicken soup (he had been a cook in his army days). The other aide was a man who my dad saw, through his second story window, running down he street with clothing he had stolen from my dad's apartment. My dad had been a door-to-door salesman and kept his inventory both in his apartment and the basement of the house in which his apartment was located. That clothing was part of his business inventory! The bottom line...be VERY sure of whom you are hiring to stay in your parent's home!

Another story, this one funny, about my dad at that time is that he would never listen to my nursing advice. He told me that he had a visiting nurse. I would always reply. 'But daddy, I am ALSO a visiting nurse!". He still never listened to me! :D

Just stopping by to say hello. So sorry to hear about your dad's health; am praying things get better and that you find a caring caregiver for your parents. My friend is an LVN who does in-home support. She works her a** off for her clients because she loves them. There are good people out there who truly care.

On a lighter note, I'd like to add Rain of Gold by Victor Villasenor to your list of Latinx authors. It was a bookclub pick a few years ago at my local library - chosen mostly because his family lived and worked in the area.

Really sorry to hear about your Dad, Darryl. I have not been keeping up with LT and it was only a tickle at the back of my mind from seeing some posts on facebook about things you were cooking for your Mom that made me wonder if your parents were both ok and prompted me to read your threads. I felt for you in every up and down of good news/bad news about your Dad. Glad to hear he seems to be doing better but I'm sure it has been really tough for you, your Mom and your brother but perhaps especially for you trying to hold everything together. Take care of yourself.

Oh Darryl! What a roller coaster you've been on. I'm very sorry to hear of the precarious health situation of both your parents. It's a terribly complicated task to arrange for their care, and think of your own projected and equally complicated move north. I hope you can establish appropriate ongoing comprehensive home care, which you will probably need even after your move.

My parents were not ill at the same time, and while supporting my mother during her later years was difficult, at least I didn't have to manage both situations at once,

As others have said, take care of yourself and pace yourself. I wish your parents good luck and your father a steady recovery.

I'm very late in catching up on your thread but I hope my well wishes for you and your family are still welcome. I'll be adding My Mother, Your Mother to my list - I'm glad it has been useful to you during this difficult time.

Just sticking my head in for a second to say that I started Elderhood last night. My wife has already read it and found it worthwhile and thought provoking, so I am looking forward to the reading experience, as well.

Thinking of you, Darryl, during this difficult time.

Darryl, I am thinking of you and your parents during this difficult time. Take care of yourself as well. Fingers crossed for the best possible outcome.

So very sorry to hear about your father's illness and of the pressure on you and your brother in caring for them. My thoughts are with you, Darryl.

When my husband and I came down with flu before Christmas my son visited often and brought groceries and so on. But I could see (or thought I could see) that he was thinking this was a taste of the future.

Thanks again for your kind prayers and thoughts, everyone. After a 12 day stay my father was transferred on Wednesday from the acute care hospital that he was initially admitted to on January 31 to a rehabilitation hospital affiliated with the hospital system they normally use. Now, instead of having to drive 40 miles each way to the acute care hospital (Crozier-Chester Medical Center in Upland, PA, close to Chester — avoid it like the plague!) we only have to drive a little over 4 miles on local roads to go to St Mary Rehabilitation Hospital in Langhorne, PA. He has been there for one week, and will likely need another week of care there before he will be able to return home. When my mother and I first saw him this past Thursday he looked awful, as he was moderately to severely debilitated (unable to stand unsupported, too weak to use the wheelchair to transfer himself to the toilet, unable to urinate on his own, unable to feed himself without assistance) and moderately to severely cognitively impaired. He recognized my mother and me, but that was about it, and he had great difficulty forming a complete and coherent sentence. The speech language pathologist saw him when he were there, and she gave him a cognitive exam that he performed very poorly on, as he only answered seven out of 50 questions correctly (and that score was overly generous, IMO). He went completely off the rails after the test, and kept inserting "macaroni and cheese" inappropriately into increasingly incoherent partial sentences, and it was all but completely impossible to understand what he was saying.

Needless to say I was extremely discouraged after I saw him on Thursday, and I assumed at that time that he would need to be transferred to a nursing home after he was discharged from the rehabilitation hospital. However, since then he has improved dramatically, although he remains quite debilitated and cognitively impaired. He can now walk unsupported, although he remains unsteady on his feet, he can feed himself and use utensils without supervision, although he remains on a Foley bladder catheter, as he is still unable to urinate on his own. His thoughts and communicability are vastly improved, but he will occasionally get stuck on a word, and text messaging is still difficult for him. He'll need at least one more week of intensive inpatient rehabilitation, but I'm now confident that he will be able to return home, with significant assistance from a home health nurse and home aides. I won't have to return to work until March 16th, 3-1/2 weeks from now, and hopefully by then we will have established a home care plan for both of my parents, including my mother, whose dementia is worsening and ability to do many independent activities seems to be diminishing on a daily basis.

I am absolutely gassed after cleaning and rearranging items in their extremely cluttered kitchen and dining room, running errands, cooking, and seeing my father twice today, so I will catch up here and in Club Read tomorrow.

>89 kidzdoc: This is such a painful and difficult situation. I feel for you and your parents. I know virtual hugs don't amount to much, but here's one.

Glad to have an update. You’re a great son. Wishing you well and strength to manage all this.

>89 kidzdoc: - {{Darryl}}. I am walking a parallel and similar path as you are, at this very time, only you have it twice. Just remember to keep breathing, and putting one foot in front of the other. Don't overload yourself; tackle one or 2 tasks/accomplishments a day and PACE YOURSELF. If you burn yourself out, you are no good to anyone.

Thanks for checking in and just keep doing what you are doing. Your parents are blessed to have you.

Darryl, I am sorry that life continues its roller-coaster tendencies and hope everything stabilizes soon. It's good to hear that you have time to be with your parents and time to put together a plan that is best for them. Wishing you and your family the best possible outcome, take care.

Duplicate post, LT was being a pain this morning.

Ohh, that is tough. I know you're taking it a day at a time, which is all you can do. I hope folks are showing up for you in one way or another, whether that's family or friends or neighbors. Take care, and I'm sending ongoing good wishes from here.

Echoing everyone's comments, Darryl. You're parents are very lucky to have such a loving and attentive son. Take care of yourself too.

I agree- taking care of yourself is really important.

What everyone else has said. Such a roller coaster you are riding right now...

Take care.

Hang in there, Darryl. You are such an important part of your dad's recovery. Hope everything works out for the best.

>89 kidzdoc: Being the caretaker for a parent is exhausting, and to that you've added the travel and making arrangements for the future. I know that it's often just not possible to find time to relax, so I'm wishing you strength and stamina. You're in my thoughts.

oh dear. Your situation is tough and sudden. So sorry to hear it. Everyone has already given you all the advice you might have needed, although I'm pretty sure you were there already. I hope you can arrange suitable care for your parents promptly, and that your father rallies more and your mother is better when he is home. Dislocations such as they have both suffered are hard on cognitive resilience, but maybe being together again will ameliorate some of that.

And I hope your brother is fitting in well on his new job, in spite of this stress, which I'm sure he feels as you do. Upheavals all around. Good luck to you all.

I am glad to hear that your father is doing better. Elder care from a long distance is hard to do with lots of decisions to be made in the future. Take care of yourself.

Thank you for the update. I hope that being together again will help both of your parents cope with stress and cognitive challenges. I know how exhausting being a full-time caregiver can be. I hope that you have people to give you breaks and that you are getting better sleep. I know you are a doctor and are used to long hours, but caregiving takes it out of us in different ways, especially with a family member. Thinking of you

I'll write a review of My Mother, Your Mother: The Compassionate Approach to Caring for Your Aging Loved Ones tomorrow or this coming weekend, but I have never read a book with so much wisdom, practical advice and relevance on practically every page, and I would place it not only alongside but above Atul Gawande's Being Mortal on the short list of books that I would recommend to everyone. It's written by an American geriatrician, but its lessons are applicable to any one in any country. The only reason I'll give it 5 stars is because LibraryThing won't let me give it the 25 star rating it deserves.

>104 kidzdoc: Is the book a particularly good one for people on the threshold of entering that stage of life themselves? I'm about a third of the way through Elderhood now, and I read Being Mortal a few months ago. I'll be 65 in July, other than my sleep apnea quite healthy, but still looking to prepare for the next stages so I have the best chance possible of enjoying them.

>89 kidzdoc: Thank you for the update Darryl. Good to hear that you've seen some improvement in your Dad and you're able to stay with your parents for a few more weeks. Sending love and hugs.

Thanks for the update, Darryl. You are great at what you do for your parents. Remember that you have to take care too. Sending love and hugs.

Hoping for the best, whatever that may be, Darryl.

>89 kidzdoc: Thanks for the update, Darryl. It sounds like things are going as well as can be expected. Take care. How lucky that you can stay with your parents for an extended time period.

Glad to hear there has been improvement in your father's health. Wishing you well as you continue to care for your parents & find the best living & caretaking options for them.

Happy early Sunday, everyone. Thanks again for your kind thoughts and prayers. My father came home on Thursday from a local rehabilitation hospital, after spending a total of 28 days in two hospitals. He continues to improve on a daily basis, although he continues to be mildly debilitated and weak, and cognitively impaired, with short and long term memory loss (e.g., he had to ask me how to spell my first name yesterday), expressive and receptive aphasia, mild hearing loss with mild to moderate decrease in auditory discrimination, difficulty with fine motor skills, and continued urinary retention, for which he was sent home with an indwelling (Foley) urinary catheter. He is both highly motivated to return to normal, and frustrated that it isn't happening more quickly, but we continue to remind and reassure him that he is doing spectacularly well, and has improved far more substantially than we originally thought that he would.

Now that he is back home and improving quickly my burden should be progressively lighter, and I hope that by the Saturday after next, when I'll have to return to Atlanta, there is a stable home situation, with help from an in home care team, along with support from friends, neighbors...and hopefully my brother, who lives nearby but has been almost invisible over the past four weeks. Hopefully he'll spend time with my parents today, but I wouldn't bet the farm on that happening.

I was only able to read one book in February, but my reading output and participation in this group should improve soon.

>76 dchaikin: Thanks, Dan!

>77 RidgewayGirl: Glad to be of help, Kay. Is there a PACE program that your father could use? I'll contact the local PACE (Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) in a day or two, and request an in home consultation to see what services both parents qualify for. As I knew my father won't be allowed to drive for some time, so I'll need to look into home delivery services for them, and I've encouraged my father to take advantage of his Amazon Prime membership to have items delivered to their front door at no cost, as I have done on at least a dozen occasions over the past four weeks.

It will be interesting to see how much of my father's cognitive and physical abilities return to his pre-seizure levels, which will determine how much help he and my mother need. He was already struggling to provide 24 hour care for her, as was I, so I would anticipate that they will need some help, even if he regains 100% of his capabilities.

You're absolutely right in saying that caring for someone with dementia is an adventure. My mother wants to do more to help out me and my father, but more often than not I have to help her, or undo something that she did, with patience and understanding. It's been tough to encourage her to do more for herself, while watching her fail or do badly on basic activities of daily living, and that combined with my father's frequent demands has been emotionally and physically exhausting.

I have definitely not been resting well, and even when my parents don't need me, especially at night, I haven't been sleeping well. They woke me out of a dead sleep at 7 pm last night to prepare dinner for them, and I've been awake since 3 am today, thinking about what I need to do for them today and next week. My brother doesn't seem very concerned or willing to pitch in, but my cousin who visited us from Michigan this week and my parents' closest friends and neighbors have noticed that I am worn out and have been offering to give me a break so that I can sleep and decompress.

Thanks to your enthusiastic support I will start a 'La Cucina' thread in Club Read, probably in the middle of this coming week after things settle down a bit here.

>78 SandDune: Thanks, Rhian. I definitely won't visit London in three weeks as I had originally planned, but hopefully I can make it there this autumn.

>79 rocketjk: Thanks for the explanation and account of your trip to South America, Jerry. I very much want to visit Chile and Peru in the near future.

>80 SqueakyChu: Yikes. Thanks for the heads up about your experience with home aides, Madeline. My father had visits from a nurse on Friday, along with a physical therapist and an occupational therapist, and I did ask for an aide to come out to the home. I'm hopeful that one won't be necessary for long, at least at this time. Fortunately one of their neighbors, and closest friends, is a visiting nurse, and I hired her two weeks ago to help my mother three times per week while my father was in the hospital. I intend to continue to employ her, as she has been a huge help in improving my mother's physical strength, general hygiene, and it's been good for my mother to get out of the house and have quality female companionship.

>81 avidmom: Thanks for visiting, avidmom! As you say there are good people out there, and the RN, OT and PT that visited my father on Friday were all very nice.

Thanks for recommending Rain of Gold; I've added it to my Amazon wish list.

I hear my parents waking up downstairs so I'd better make breakfast for them. I'll finish catching up later today.

>111 kidzdoc: Really heartening to hear your father is home, even with all the ensuing challenges Darryl. It must be a comfort for him to be in familiar surroundings and at least some respite from travelling to and fro from different places for you. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for the improvements to continue for him before you return to Atlanta.

I am so sorry to hear about about your father's health. I have a number of friends who are going through the same kind of dilemma- how to help parents get the right kind of help that will enable them to live comfortably in their homes.

Good to hear your father is home and you are optimistic about a long-term care plan to help your parents stay at home. Very sorry, though, that your brother is not doing his part. That must be so frustrating.

Hang in there and take care!

Wish we could send you some rest. Glad to have an update and glad your dad is home.

>82 souloftherose: Thanks for your very kind message, Heather. It's been quite a grueling ordeal over the past four weeks, but my parents, family and their friends and neighbors have all been very supportive and even more appreciative of what I've done for them, and I am both grateful that I am able to be there for them when they need me the most, and humbled by the experience of providing 24 hour care for them.

I just cancelled my flight and hotel reservations for London for this month, but hopefully I can make it to Edinburgh in August, and to London in September or October.

>83 ffortsa: Thanks, Judy. As you said, the challenge has been caring for two debilitated parents at the same time. My mother required a three week stay in an acute care hospital and a rehabilitation center early last year, but since my father was in good health he was able to do that largely on his own, with only minimal support from me and my brother.

Fortunately I was able to sleep soundly for a good four hours from late afternoon to early evening today, which I sorely needed since I woke up at 3 am and couldn't get back to sleep. I had started to take one my father's melatonin 10 mg tablets every night a couple of weeks ago, but I haven't been doing this faithfully and I forgot to do so last night. I won't forget to do so tonight!

Wow...my gentle pleas to my mother to do more for herself while her husband recuperates from his severe illness are bearing fruit. While my father and I were both dead asleep she made dinner for herself, woke up us so that I could give them their night time medications and he could have dinner and take his medications, washed the dishes after dinner (we're all good about washing every glass, dish and utensil immediately after using them), and filled her CPAP machine with water and connected it herself. That is the most she has done in an evening since I arrived here four weeks ago. That may not sound like much, but I'm very proud of her!

They certainly need a comprehensive in home care plan, for my father in the short term, and for my mother now and in the future. Now that my father has been home for three full days and I can see what support they may need and what post-hospitalization services the rehabilitation hospital has provided I can speak to a representative from the local Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, and request an in home consultation for later this week to set up continuing services.

>84 rhian_of_oz: Thanks, Rhian. Your wishes are absolutely and gratefully welcomed.

I stayed with my mother last year for a month and during that time we had to work on getting her days and nights back in synch. She often thought that when she laid down for her afternoon nap that it was the next day when she woke up. One of the reasons for that was that she was taking her medication at the wrong time. We had a home health care nurse come in once a week to fix her medication for her and that has helped her to be able to stay at home. We also found a person to come and do the housework once a week, which has also helped. Never-the-less, it is hard for my sister and I to monitor all of this from far away.

It was also hard for her to understand why it was taking so long for her to recover and she grew impatient with herself. She is doing so much better now, but it is a continual worry for us. I know you are going through the same things and dealing with these feelings is so hard. Good sleep will help and sometimes that is hard to come by. Take care friend.

>85 rocketjk: I'm glad that you and your wife have found Elderhood to be worthwhile, Jerry. I plan to reread Being Mortal this summer, and I'll be on the lookout for similar books about dementia.

>86 avaland: Thanks, Lois.

>87 BLBera: Thanks, Beth.

>88 VivienneR: Thanks, Vivienne. This episode has been an eye opening one for all of us, particularly my father, who has always been an "independent ass", as he often says, and had been able to care for himself and his family, save for minor bumps along the way. He's always been realistic about his mortality and the time he thinks that he has remaining, but coming so close to death and being unable to care for himself and his wife and having to rely on others has been very sobering and emotionally trying for him.

>90 Dilara86: I appreciate your virtual hug, Dilara.

>91 dchaikin: Thanks for your kind compliment, Dan. I couldn't have asked for better parents, and I am glad that I am able to help them at a time when they need me the most. I and they are also grateful to our family and close friends and neighbors for their support during this difficult time. The statement "Do good for others and good things will come back to you" is quite applicable, as my parents have been caring and supportive of others throughout their lives, and they are now receiving that same support in return.

>92 jessibud2: Thank you for that very sweet and wise message, Shelley. I'm sure it's obvious that my parents are the most important people in my lives, and that I would do anything for them. I do need to learn how to relax, and take some time for myself, but there is much that needs to be done before I return to Atlanta on March 14th, and I won't be able to put my mind at ease until I know that I or someone else has taken care of the most important things.

>93 ELiz_M: Thanks, Liz. I anticipate spending much of the summer with them, and hopefully I can meet up with you, Katie, Lisa and other NYC area LTers while I'm here.

Hugs to you and your parents, Darryl. It's a very stressful time for sure.

>95 lisapeet:, >96 AlisonY:, >97 torontoc:, >98 katiekrug:, >99 SqueakyChu:, >100 RidgewayGirl:, >101 ffortsa:, >102 benitastrnad:, >103 labfs39: Thanks, Lisa, Alison, Cyrel, Katie, Madeline, Kay, Judy, Benita and Lisa. Things are getting better by the day. My father has two physician appointments today, and with any luck his indwelling (Foley) urinary catheter will be removed by his urologist this morning.

>105 rocketjk: Is the book a particularly good one for people on the threshold of entering that stage of life themselves? I'm about a third of the way through Elderhood now, and I read Being Mortal a few months ago.

In my opinion, yes.

>106 souloftherose:, >107 Ameise1:, >108 dukedom_enough:, >109 BLBera:, >110 markon: Thanks, Heather, Barbara, Michael, Beth and Ardene.

>114 klarusu:, >115 torontoc:, >116 katiekrug:, >117 dchaikin: Thanks, Claire, Cyrel, Katie and Dan.

>119 benitastrnad: That is tough, Benita. I adjusted the times my father was giving his wife her medications; now, instead of getting them at 6 am, 9 am, 2 pm and 9 pm (ugh) I'm giving them to her after breakfast, lunch and dinner. My father is getting his meds twice a day, after breakfast and dinner. The visiting home nurse that came on Friday recommended a service by a local pharmacy that delivers daily prepackaged medications to the homes of elderly patients for $1 per month, which is better than the Pill Pack service that my brother found out about last month. I'll contact the pharmacy later today or tomorrow to get more information about this service, which should be of great help to my parents after I leave the weekend after next.

>122 streamsong: Thanks, Janet.

>123 kidzdoc:
Oh I wish that daily prepackaged medications delivery was available out in the wilds of Kansas. My cousin lives next door to my Mom and does check on her almost every day, but that prepackaged medications thing would have helped to keep the out-of-synch and oftentimes double dosing of pills in check.

That was what was the real problem. She would get up and take her pills not realizing that she was taking them twice in the same day. But overall she is doing so much better. There was a noticeable difference in her when I was there at Christmas than when I was there in September. She was so much more alert and engaged. She started going to an elder exercise group and even her tone of voice on the phone was so much better after she started that. She didn't want to go to exercise because she was unsure of her balance and footing, etc. but the longer she went the more confident she got. A better diet has helped with that as well. I wish that we had a nutritionist that would come and visit with her once a month about what she is eating, but ...

The longlist for this year's International Booker Prize was announced last week. This prize replaced the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize starting in 2016, and it has a format similar to the Booker Prize, with a longlist of 12 or 13 books, and a shortlist of six books. The author and the translator of the winning book are both recognized and split the prize money equally.

This year's longlist:

Red Dog by Willem Anker (Afrikaans – South Africa), translated by Michiel Heyns
The Enlightenment of The Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar (Farsi – Iran), with an anonymous translator
The Adventures of China Iron by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara (Spanish – Argentina), translated by Iona Macintyre and Fiona Mackintosh
The Other Name: Septology I–II by Jon Fosse (Norwegian – Norway), translated by Damion Searls
The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischvili (German – Georgia), translated by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin
Serotonin by Michel Houellebecq (French – France), translated by Shaun Whiteside
Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann (German – Germany), translated by Ross Benjamin
Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor (Spanish – Mexico), translated by Sophie Hughes
The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa (Japanese – Japan), translated by Stephen Snyder
Faces on the Tip of My Tongue by Emmanuelle Pagano (French – France), translated by Sophie Lewis and Jennifer Higgins
Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin (Spanish – Argentina), translated by Megan McDowell
The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld (Dutch – Netherlands), translated by Michele Hutchison
Mac and His Problem by Enrique Vila-Matas (Spanish – Spain), translated by Margaret Jull Costa and Sophie Hughes

The shortlist will be announced on 2 April, and the longlist on 19 May.

I'm not familiar with and don't own any of these books, but I'll find out more about them this week and next.

>125 kidzdoc: Usually I've read a couple and have a few more on my wishlist, but this year the only book that was already on my radar was The Memory Police.

Noticing The Eight Life, which rachbxl loved.

I'm currently reading The eighth life and loving it, but it is a chunkster!

I'm finally checking in for the new year and you're already on part 2 of the thread!

So many interesting books for my TBR, especially The Glass Room.

And my favourite soccer teams: Barcelona (good lord, watching Messi is like seeing a ballet performance sometimes - perfection in motion), Arsenal, Liverpool, and all lhe others I tend to root for.

Glad you're concentrating on CR20 this year. You always have one of the most interesting threads.

>111 kidzdoc: Glad to hear your dad is recovering now at home, Darryl. I hope all goes as planned, so you can return to your work...etc.

>125 kidzdoc: Saw that list recently. And I finished The Memory Police recently but haven't reviewed it yet. It's a wonderfully thoughtful and well-written; and it lingers in the mind long after the last page has been read.

A publicist at a conference talked me into The Eighth Life—she had wonderful things to say about it (though OK, I know, that's her job), but I downloaded the e-galley rather than schlep the hard copy home. It's a BIG book.

I also have The Memory Police and Mac and His Problem (titled Mac's Problem in my American galley), but haven't read either yet. It's a good-looking selection, though.

Glad to hear things with your folks are settling a bit, Darryl. Taking medication on the right schedule was a big impetus to get my mom a live-in aide when we did, and ultimately what spurred the decision to move her to a facility (because the aide can't actually give her medication, and she wouldn't take prescribed antibiotics and got an infection). Fortunately there were many pretty good years between those first and last decisions. Hope you continue to be well in these weird, germy times.

Interesting list! Like others I have read The Memory Police, other than that have only heard of The Eighth Life and Tyll. Time for a bit of research!

ETA: several are available from my library so I have placed holds on The Enlightenment of The Greengage Tree, The Discomfort of Evening and Mac and His Problem

Hi Darryl. Skimming through and seeing the news about your father. I'm glad he's doing better and is home now. And I'm glad your mother is taking on a bit more in terms of taking care of herself.

I've favorited >6 kidzdoc: as I want to read that stack of books over the next year or two, as well. I've read Signs Preceding the End of the World, Tell Me How it Ends (six stars for that one if such were possible), The House of Broken Angels, and Lost Children Archive, and I own Dominicana (thanks to a nudge by Joe).

>125 kidzdoc: Interesting list. I've not heard of any of them either but will do some investigating. I'm not likely to read the entire list but I'd like to choose a couple of them, at least. I'll have to see what the library has available.

Hi Daryl,
I knew that you would have something somewhere about the Longlist....and here it is. Thank you for doing this. I don't recognize a single title there. The Eighth Life sounds interesting. Will watch and wait to see how the titles on this list pan out.

So sorry to hear about the tough February your family has had. It sounds like things are finally moving in the right direction. Sending wishes for continued progress for both of your parents.

>125 kidzdoc: Thanks for sharing the longlist, Darryl.

I have read The Eighth Life (for Brilka), a big tome but well worth the time.
Serotonin is on the shelves, I haven't read it yet, but Frank did. He liked it, but then he liked all Houellebecq's books.
Yesterday I took The Discomfort of Evening from the library, I hope to read it later this month.

>125 kidzdoc: I am not familiar with many of those books either, Darryl.

I am very relieved that your dad is slowly on the mend. Given my own mum's quite extraordinary recovery, I am rather of the view that anything can happen and I'll continue to keep your old man in my thoughts and prayers to that end.

I guess this is where you’re hanging out these days. Sorry to miss you in 75, but glad to still see you around Lt!

Hugs to you and your family! That’s amazing that you were able to take time off work to support your parents.

Oh my word....I can't imagine how crazy life must be if you are back to work now.
Sending out my wishes for good health for you and your family. And much gratitude for you and all the healthcare workers right now.

I hope all is well with you Darryl. I imagine it's out of the frying pan into the fire in terms of how your return to work has gone.

>125 kidzdoc: That’s an interesting-looking list. I’ve only read one of them, Tyll, which I liked very much. I know about, or have read other books by, about half the authors. It sounds as though The eighth life will be the one to watch — several people have raved to me about it, but the length puts me off a bit...
I really liked what I’ve read by Jon Fosse, but I don’t know anything about Septology.
Red dog sounds like something to bear in mind for the coming Southern Africa theme read.
I can’t imagine them bothering to give a big prize to Houllebecq at this point in his career. It would be like giving the Nobel to Peter Handke. Oh — wait a minute...

Glad to hear that things have been going better for your parents, but I expect you’ve got other things to worry about now...

Happy Saturday, everyone. Thanks again for your kind thoughts. I returned to Atlanta on Sunday, after spending the previous six weeks with my parents, and I finished a five day stretch seeing patients in the hospital last night. Because of my "advanced" age (I'll turn 59 on Tuesday), history of asthma, and especially because I had planned to visit my parents next week, instead of spending my birthday week in London, I was assigned to a floor with no patients with respiratory infections, to minimize the chance that I would be exposed to COVID-19. The decision was made by someone above me to assign the pediatric and family medicine residents to work with me starting on Tuesday, as they were on the floor where the kids suspected of having COVID-19 were being housed, which I reluctantly accepted. This morning I learned that the senior resident who worked with me on Thursday had been having a cough since last Friday, but still showed up to work her shift, told me that she was well with no respiratory symptoms, then developed a worsened cough with chest pain that night (she wasn't coughing when we were on rounds together that day). She was tested for COVID-19 infection yesterday, and the result won't be available until mid week. So, thanks to her, I am now self quarantined until I know if she has COVID-19 or not, and I probably won't be able to visit my parents, as there is a good chance that one or both could become seriously ill or die if I passed the virus to them. I am absolutely livid that the resident ignored the advice given by her program director and Children's, and may have unnecessarily and foolishly exposed me, other staff members, patients and families to the virus, and could have conceivably placed my parents at risk of severe illness or death if I had flown to Philadelphia today instead of waiting until Monday.

I am having a mild cough, which I think is due to allergies (the pollen count in Atlanta today is 1883, up from 108 on Thursday, as the dogwood and cherry trees are blossoming), but I'll stay inside until I'm sure that I don't have anything more serious. Oh well, I least I now have time to catch up in Club Read and read...

I was wondering how you've been faring during the COVID-19 pandemic, Darryl. I'm sorry to hear that a resident may have exposed you and you won't be able to visit your parents as a result. That really sucks.

>142 bell7: I just found out that the senior resident who worked with me on Tuesday and Wednesday saw our first COVID-19 patient on Monday, who I understand is on life support in our PICU. I now seriously doubt that I'll visit my parents next week.

>143 kidzdoc: Oof

>144 bell7: That baby was tested for COVID-19 on Monday, and the result came back positive this morning. The resident who worked alongside me on Tuesday and Wednesday became symptomatic with cough and chest pain on Wednesday, and was ordered to self quarantine starting on Thursday. I'm told that I don't need to self quarantine yet, but I suspect that I'll have to do so starting next week.

I'm hoping you have a boring and symptom-free quarantine, Darryl. I'm certainly feeling the seasonal allergies this year more than normal. Every time I sneeze (often) one of my family members shouts, "Not a sign of the coronavirus!" as we have to make our own fun these days.

I'm very glad you didn't get on a plane and fly to see your parents. That could have been a disaster. But it has to be hard to be so far away from them at this time.

>145 kidzdoc: Thanks, Kay. I hope so, too. Within minutes after my flight landed in Atlanta on Sunday I developed nasal congestion, sneezing and itchy eyes, which was undoubtedly due to tree pollen here.

You're right, if I had flown to Philadelphia today it easily could have been a disaster. My parents were profoundly disappointed when I told them that I may not be able to visit them next week, but they understood why it wasn't a good idea to do so.

I am in what is called " self-isolation" as I was on a plane and out of Canada for 24 hours. I discovered that grocery stores let me shop online and then delivered. ( 3 day wait the first time and 6 day wait the second time)-so- time and plan your grocery shopping carefully ( I foolishly forgot to put chocolate on my first grocery list)
I am doing a lot of reading and cleaning. I am able to got for a walk every day as long as I don't bump into anyone
( easy to do in the suburbs) My nephew who is working from home is going to move to his parent's house next week as his apartment building elevators get crowded with people- and there will be more room to move around.
Stay safe!

>141 kidzdoc:
A resident - so, young? Young people always think they're invulnerable, and don't think that others aren't.

Thanks for checking in, Darryl. I have also been wondering how you have been doing. How are your parents, since you've left? Did you manage to set up home care for them and, given the current covid situation, how is that working?

I hope none of the possible lousy outcomes come to pass for you. One senior in my mother's senior residence in Montreal has tested positive for covid 19 and is now in hospital. The whole residence is in lockdown, and meals are being brought to their apartments so they don't have to go out. So far, my mother is doing ok. I think she'd probably do better if she could just stop watching tv all the time. At least I have convinced her to watch Canadian news, not CNN or worse.

Hang in there, and stay healthy!!

>126 RidgewayGirl: Same here, Kay. I've usually heard about at least a couple of the Booker International Prize longlisted books, but not this year.

I'll have to check to see if Three Percent has published its Best Translated Book Award longlists...not yet, apparently.

>127 dchaikin: Rachel has been a good source for book recommendations, so I'll plan to read The Eighth Life.

>128 Sakerfalcon: Thanks, Claire! I'll definitely read The Eighth Life now.

>129 auntmarge64: Hi, Margaret! Sorry for my delayed reply. I would love to reread The Glass Room, although I doubt I'll do so this year.

My favorite football (soccer) clubs are Atlanta United, the wildly successful local MLS team, Arsenal and FC Barcelona. I've been to four Atlanta United matches, but no other professional football games. Several years ago I purchased a ticket to see Barcelona play Valencia, but I suddenly became ill just as I was about to take the Metro to Camp Nou, and decided to stay in my hotel room. (Fortunately my symptoms quickly resolved.) Valencia scored the first goal, then Neymar scored four times in quick succession, as Barça won the match easily. Arrgghhh!!!

Club Read will be my home on LT from now on. I plan to replace my activity in the 75 Books group with another online book club for people of color, especially African Americans and Latinx, so that I can interact with readers who have more similar backgrounds and interests.

>130 avaland: I'm glad that you liked The Memory Police, Lois. I'll plan to read it as well.

Thanks for the update, Darryl. I hope you do not have the virus and it is just allergies, as you speculate. Interesting about the changes you have decided for your literary social media, makes perfect sense.

>131 lisapeet: I see that the paperback edition of The Eighth Life has 934 pages. I was shocked to discover that the US Kindle version costs nearly $30! I'll see how much it costs from The Book Depository, and check for it in my local library system.

The paperback versions on Amazon and The Book Depository are roughly the same price, less than $25, or $5 less than the Kindle version. Hmm...I already have two chunky books that I plan to read as soon as I finish Lost Children Archive, namely Ducks, Newburyport and The Mirror & the Light, so I may wait to read The Eighth Life for now, but I'll plan to read it if it's chosen for the Booker International Prize shortlist.

I hired home aides for my parents this week from Visiting Angels, which has a superb reputation locally and nationally. The aides have been good, although my parents don't think they need them, especially since their neighbors have been checking on them daily and because I cooked like a madman last week and stocked their large stand alone freezer nearly half full with homemade food for the next couple of weeks. I was assured that there would be a minimal number of aides visiting my parents, usually one during the week and another on weekends, but they have been seen by at least four aides since Tuesday, which makes me concerned that one of them could pass COVID-19 onto them. I called Visiting Angels to cancel the visits scheduled for next week.

>132 wandering_star: How did you like The Memory Police, Margaret?

>133 EBT1002: Thanks, Ellen. Unfortunately I seem to have spoiled my mother during the six weeks I was there, as she became very used to me doing everything for her, including tasks that she could easily do herself (e.g., get water, Ensure or fruit from the kitchen, change the channel on the television, setting up her CPAP machine, helping her to put on or take off clothes). Although she expressed a desire to do more herself in the last week I was there, to help take the burden off of my father, she continued to ask him and I to do things for her every five minutes, and protested bitterly when I gently chided her for not doing so herself. Sigh; she's such a spoilt princess...

Excellent! I hope to finish that stack of recommended books by Myriam Gurba by the end of 2021 as well. My reading came to a near complete halt over the past six weeks, so I'll have to reevaluate my goals next week, especially if I have to be in quarantine for due to COVID-19 exposure this week.

>134 tangledthread: Thanks, tangledthread. Unfortunately my father apparently suffered a stroke, and he has a focal area of abnormality in his brain, which we discovered when his repeat routine EEG that he had last week was markedly abnormal. His new neurologist called me on Monday, and although she thinks he will make some degree of improvement over the next year it is very unlikely that he will return to the level of cognitive function he had before his seizure 1-1/2 months ago. He's probably had mini strokes in the past as well, as his CT scan shows moderate cerebral atrophy and evidence of ischemic changes to his brain, due to lack of oxygen. I'm not yet sure what, if anything, can be done to prevent further strokes or other ischemic events, and this may represent the beginning of the end for him. He remains very confused and debilitated, and it's far from certain that he'll be able to care for himself and my mother, even with assistance.

>135 FAMeulstee: You're welcome, Anita. I'm glad that you also liked The Eighth Life, and that Frank enjoyed Serotonin.

>141 kidzdoc: that's nuts! and this too => >143 kidzdoc: I'm sorry you're dealing with this.

Ah jeez Darryl, that's both rotten luck—your possible exposure—and good luck, that you hadn't made it down to your parents' before you learned about it. One of my best friends is currently self-quarantining in her dad's spare bedroom because she flew down to Florida to help him out—he's in his 80s, has had a stroke but is doing well with a home health aide—and then found out that there was a possible exposure in the Brooklyn building where she lives. I'm making sure to call her every other day or so, just to check in and chat.

But hearing about a baby in NICU on life support is just heartbreaking. I know there are stories like this all over the country right now, but that's like a little voice piping up to remind us of the fact.

My son was evacuated off of Grenada last Sunday—they chartered flights for everyone at the school who wanted to leave, and strongly suggested that they do. After a flight that was delayed for hours, two hours spent on the line for customs at Newark, and a three-hour drive up to Binghamton, he's safe and sound and has been spending the week—as he does every week—studying. His girlfriend is a labor and delivery nurse, and the rules are pretty strict: only one visitor allowed there (none allowed in the rest of the hospital). They have had two diagnosed COVID patients in that hospital, neither one of whom was very ill. One of them has already been discharged.

>141 kidzdoc: I am absolutely livid
Oh my, and you should be. I've been wondering how you are navigating COVID-19 since you are on the front lines and also caring for elderly parents, and it has to be extremely worrying.

I have a friend who visited her son in France in late February, and about a week after returning home developed body aches and a cough. She is a retired nurse, was appalled at how unprepared the local medical system was for assessment, and is composing reports describing her convoluted and frustrating saga to the people who should be in charge. She eventually tested negative for COVID-19 but doesn't entirely trust that the test was done correctly, and she tested negative for all the normal stuff too, and she definitely has something, so she has informed everyone she was in physical proximity to (not me - I've only emailed and talked on the phone) during the week she didn't realize anything was wrong, and urged them to self-quarantine.

I am so sorry that circumstances have turned out for you and your parents the way they did. Being a senior, I can’t say much for quarantining other than it’s necessary. I hope your respiratory issues are simply from your allergies. You and your parents must be devastated not to be able to have the visit you planned. I feel sad for everyone. All of you must feel as I did on Friday evening when we had our Sabbath dinner with no children or grandchildren present. During the blessing over wine, my husband choked up and I also began to cry. I’ve never experienced anything like this. It is what it is. We all must not lose hope and work our way through this. Hoping for the best as we move through the next few weeks.

Now awake after a very long nap...

>136 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. Unfortunately it's now very unlikely that my father will make a full recovery, and I can only hope that both parents will be able to remain in their home of nearly 45 years for another year or two.

I'm glad that your mother is doing better.

>137 ChelleBearss: Thanks, Chelle. In the US the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows eligible employees of covered employers up to 12 weeks of unpaid job protected leave to care for a new child, care for a sick family member, or recover from a serious illness in a 12 month period. Fortunately I qualified for FMLA, and was granted it by my employer and the company it hired to grant leave.

>138 tangledthread:, >139 AlisonY: Last week wasn't a bad one on service. Our census is half of what it was before I left at the end of January, and we called off two hospitalists every day to use our service more efficiently. I only admitted two patients in five days, which is the usual number I would admit in one day during a typical 8 am to 5 pm shift. The tough part was my decision to delay my return to Atlanta until late Sunday afternoon, as I didn't get a day off to shop, cook and relax before I returned to work on Monday. Now that I've been exposed to one, and possibly two, pediatric residents with COVID-19 infection there is a good chance that I will have to stay put at home for a week or two, even if I remain healthy or relatively so.

>140 thorold: I'll have to explore the Booker International Prize longlist in more detail next week. The longlists in the past few years have been superb, but I also have a lot of books that I had already intended to read this year, and I've read almost nothing so far in 2020.

>148 torontoc: I hope that you remain well, Cyrel. Atlanta was practically a ghost town this week, as there was as much car traffic on the drive home from work as there would be on a holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas, even at 5 or 6 pm. It was shocking to see how few people were driving all week, and people and employers here seem to be mostly working from home, including the administrative staff in my group. The mayor of Atlanta ordered a shut down of all restaurants, bars and nonessential businesses as of Friday at midnight, except for takeout service, but 70-80% of these businesses were already closed. Supermarkets are open, with some restriction in their hours of operation (e.g., Publix, my preferred local supermarket, is open from 8 am to 8 pm, rather than 7 am to 10 or 11 pm). Fortunately my pantry is moderately well stocked and my freezer has at least two weeks of homemade food in microwaveable containers, along with uncooked chicken and seafood, even though I haven't gone shopping in nearly two months, and I purchased a 12 pack of toilet paper in January, so I would easily be able to stay at home and not go outside for at least two weeks. Since I'm not symptomatic and have been told by one of Children's three COVID-19 experts today that I did not need to self quarantine I will go to Publix and Whole Foods tomorrow and Monday to stock up on fruits, vegetables, herbs, paper towels and a few other items, so that I'm even more fully stocked in case I do become ill and need to stay home for an extended period of time. I do need wine, though!

>149 dukedom_enough: A resident - so, young? Young people always think they're invulnerable, and don't think that others aren't.

Exactly. The first resident, the one who was exposed to our first COVID-19 patient, acted appropriately and responsibly, as wore PPE (personal protective equipment, namely a mask with goggles, a disposable gown and gloves) when she was in that patient's room, and she took herself off of clinical service as soon as she developed respiratory symptoms on Wednesday. However, the second resident, who went to clinic on Wednesday and rounded in the hospital on Thursday despite being told to stay home if she had any respiratory symptoms, behaved foolishly and recklessly, and she may have exposed dozens of people to COVID-19 if she tests positive. The attending physician who oversaw the residents' clinic on Wednesday also failed to follow guidelines, as she told that resident to wear a mask in clinic instead of sending her home immediately and telling her to isolate herself there rather than come to the hospital the following day.

Ironically, I was supposed to have worked on the floor where patients with suspected or proven COVID-19 infection are being cared for, but one of my partners reassigned me to another floor that has very few if any patients with respiratory illnesses. I would have been fine if I didn't agree to take over the teaching service starting on Tuesday, as I only had two patients with respiratory infections all week, one with influenza A and the other with bacterial pneumonia. I may end up paying dearly for my generosity in working with the residents, and I'll be reluctant to do so from now on.

>150 jessibud2: Hi, Shelley. I did set up home care for my parents on Sunday, as an aide from Visiting Angels has been coming over for 4 hours per day since Tuesday. However, my parents feel that they don't need that much assistance, thanks to me shopping and cooking like crazy last week and regular visits from their closest neighbors, and since they have seen at least four aides already this week they, their neighbors, and I are concerned that one of them could pass COVID-19 onto them. I cancelled aide visits for next week, and we'll see how it goes for the next week or two. I'll now almost certainly stay here in Atlanta for all of next week; I requested a week of vacation for my birthday week to spend in London visiting LT friends, but I changed my plans after my father's illness to stay with them. As it turns out my orginal flight from Atlanta to London last night was cancelled by Delta, due to US and UK travel restrictions, and even if I was well I wouldn't have gone anyway, even if my parents were in good shape. One of their closest neighbors and friends is a visiting nurse who I hired five weeks ago to look after my mother 3-4 times a week for 2-3 hours at a time, and she promised to check in on both parents every day, even on the days she isn't working with my mother. Another close neighbor is checking on them daily, and both of them have been in touch with me every 1-2 days, so I know that they are being watched closely. I'll probably only go there next week if my parents develop symptoms concerning for COVID-19 infection, as I would rather pick up the virus from them than infect them myself.

I'm sorry that your mother's living facility is in lockdown, and I hope that she doesn't become infected with COVID-19. My mother has to have the television on every moment she is awake, and they have been watching CNN (Coronavirus News Network) almost nonstop, except when I insist on watching PBS, especially the PBS NewsHour, my favorite television program, which is far more educational, thorough and thoughtful and much less histrionic than any other television news source.

>152 avaland: Thanks, Lois. I continue to be completely well, and my very mild cough can be easily attributed to allergies. I do have asthma, though, and I tend to have attacks and lower respiratory tract disease when I contract significant respiratory viruses like RSV, influenza and HMPV (human metapneumovirus) and Mycoplasma, the usual cause of walking pneumonia, so I am at greater risk of becoming mildly to moderately ill if I were to become infected with COVID-19, along with my "advanced" age. As a second line health care provider seeing patients sick enough to be hospitalized and their parents there is a realistic chance that I will become infected at some point, though. (I consider myself to be a second rather than front line physician, as I'm not working in our Emergency Department or in a clinic, urgent care center, or primary care office, although my partners may beg to differ.)

Unfortunately LT has almost zero active members who are people of color, which normally isn't a cause for concern or thought, but the negative public and private responses by some members to my position about not wanting to read American Dirt made me very uncomfortable and realize that I was clearly in the minority in my view as an African American. To be fair, most people in the 75 Books group were thoughtful and respectful, as was everyone in Club Read, but some of the comments expressed by a small minority were chilling. I will certainly continue to participate fully in this group, but I feel that I would be better off in a community of readers who are mainly African American and Latinx, to become exposed to more writers of color who are not hyped by the publishing industry, and get the opinions and thoughts of other people of color in a warm and supportive rather than an intermittently hostile environment.

I see that there is a COVID-19 thread on Club Read, and I'll contribute to it starting tomorrow.

>154 dchaikin: Thanks, Dan. I'm quite upset that I have been unnecessarily exposed to COVID-19, especially after my group took pains to limit the possibility that this would happen, and, far more importantly, that I won't be able to check in on my parents this week as a result.

>155 lisapeet: Right, Lisa. I would normally have flown to Philadelphia today to spend the week with my parents, and I'm now glad that I decided to wait until Monday to do so.

I don't know anything about the COVID-19 patient in the hospital I work in, except that I understand that he or she is a baby. Data from China indicate that infants and young toddlers are more likely to become seriously or critically ill from this infection, so I pray that the wee one makes a full recovery.

ETA: That patient is actually a previously healthy 12 year old girl, and she is indeed on a ventilator in our PICU and is fighting for her life.

The medical, physician assistant and pharmacy students that normally round on the inpatient service were all told to stay home at the end of the day on Monday, and the residents and fellows have been instructed to minimize their use of PPE (personal protective equipment), as we have been sending our extra supplies to the adult hospitals in metro Atlanta, who are seeing many more proven and suspected COVID-19 patients than we are. It is possible that we may be asked to house some adult COVID-19 patients, as the major adult hospitals are at or near capacity. I would hope that we pediatricians are not asked to care for these patients, though, to minimize our risk of infection and because none of us have taken care of sick adults in many years (I haven't seen an adult patient since 1997!).

I'm glad that your son is back on US soil, and I pray that he and his girlfriend remain well.

>156 qebo: Right, Katherine. I am operating under the assumption that I have been exposed to COVID-19, and will take more precautions that I normally would to keep from spreading the infection to others. Since I returned to work on Monday I haven't been anywhere except to the hospital or home, save for a take out taco run on Thursday after work, and I cancelled my planned visit to my local barbershop this morning after I learned about the sick resident. I'll go to Publix and Whole Foods early tomorrow or Monday, but otherwise I'll probably stay put at home until the Monday after next unless I become ill or am told to self quarantine for two weeks. I'll stock up on groceries and other items to prepare for a two week stay at home, just in case.

I hope that your friend does well.

>157 SqueakyChu: My parents and I are all gutted that I won't be able to visit them next week. I did have reservations about making the trip on Friday morning, before I learned about the sick residents, so I was mentally prepared to cancel my trip, but two of my partners convinced me to go ahead with that visit yesterday morning. It would have been nice to celebrate my birthday with them, especially since I can't do so with friends in London, but I've had to work plenty of birthdays and not spend the day with family and friends over the last quarter century, so it won't be a huge disappointment not to be able to do so.

I'm very sorry that you weren't able to celebrate dinner on the Sabbath with your children or grandchildren; your comment made me more sad than the thought of not seeing my parents next week. It will be a very rough upcoming month or two (or more) for all of us, but I'm glad that the president and government are finally starting to take this pandemic far more seriously. We need more PPE and testing kits, though!

I'm so sorry you aren't able to go and see your parents Darryl. What a frustrating set of circumstances.

As for The Memory Police, I liked the premise and the writing. I don't think the writer had a good idea for how to end the book, which affects the way I remember it. But I enjoyed reading it.

>151 kidzdoc: Atlanta United is such an amazing American Soccer story. They are arguably the epicenter of our soccer culture right now. To build a team that is that strong right out of the gates and to have the community embrace the team the way it has is such a cool story. With no strong connection to soccer (only two schools in SEC field a mens team) to rapidly redefine the fan culture is something else.

My condolences for being an Arsenal supporter.

Darryl, I’m just catching up and am so sorry about your parents, and your own quarantine. We are living in such uncertain times right now. I’m sure not being able to see your parents is frightening. Sending you a virtual hug. Take care.

>157 SqueakyChu: My father is alone these days, staying well by staying home. He's 81, so while he's healthy, he's also high risk. We're having him over for our usual Sunday night dinner together, but via FaceTime. He's an extrovert who likes a crowd and so this is hard on him.

I'm glad you continue to show no symptoms, Darryl.

>165 RidgewayGirl: I feel so sad for your dad.

>166 SqueakyChu: It's not easy for anyone. We've been talking a lot on the phone and while he's content to die whenever it's time, we agree that in a hospital hallway while not receiving adequate care because the health system is overwhelmed is not the way to go. For anyone.

Darryl, so sorry to hear that you may have been exposed unnecessarily. Some people seem completely incapable of believing that ‘it’ (whatever ‘it’ is) can happen to them. Because of my asthma and having being diagnosed with COPD (albeit mild) I am self-isolating as much as possible. I am lucky in that I can work from home (which has been encouraged by my boss for all office staff). Both Mr SandDune and J are now at home as well, schools and colleges being closed.

Sorry for everything you are going through with your parents. My mom is 90 and has serious COPD (on oxygen 24/7), and she has had a Visiting Angel almost 2 years. She resisted at first, and didn’t like some of the ones they were sending her, but she now has an angel she really likes, and that individual is the one she usually gets. It’s been a godsend for her, and until the past few weeks she enjoyed accompanying the angel to the grocery store, in addition to her weekly hairdresser visit.
My daughter and son-in-law in Houston are keeping me advised about what’s going on in the hospitals in Houston. They were both off of work this week on a previously scheduled vacation for the kid’s spring break, and ended up staying at home rather than the planned trip to the beach. The kids will be homeschooled for the rest of the year. My daughter at Texas Children’s learned that in her specialty, developmental pediatrics, they won’t be conducting new patient intake visits (mostly for autism), and follow up visits will be teleconferences. So she is hoping to work from home as much as possible. My s-I-l at Methodist, is an anesthesiologist, and will be working as usual. He jokes (or maybe it wasn’t a joke) that masks are being locked up like opioids to safeguard them.
Because o f my husband’s transplant we have been following handwashing/sanitation and social isolation for a year. We are becoming more stringent though. Right now I’m stressing about whether I should go to PT for my knee replacement surgery, or skip it. Not concerned for me, because I’m in excellent health with no underlying conditions other than being nearly 70, but my H is very vulnerable.
And my big overall freak out is the uncertainty of our planned move to Florida. We remained in Seattle for Husband to have his one year post-transplant checkup at the Hutch. That occurs during the week of 4/6. We have movers scheduled for the following week, plane tickets to Florida, and no place to live in Seattle after 4/15. Eek!

>167 RidgewayGirl: Agreed. :(

I'm sorry to hear you're going through all that, kidzdoc!

Darryl, so sorry to hear that this unneccessary exposure scuttled your plans to visit your parents.

>169 arubabookwoman: Eeek! is a reasonable reaction I think.

I'm sorry to hear about the cancellation of your plans and hoping for the best for your possible exposure.

I'll look forward to what you bring back into this thread from your other book group. My soon to be daughter-in-law is writing one of her thesis (double masters) on fantasy written by black authors. While I know that is not your area of interest, I've been able to help her out (or maybe she is just sweet enough to say it's a help) with a few links that LT friends have so graciously shared.

Just sayin that there's another Covid thread on the Pro and Con group. There are a couple physicians and scientists that hang out on that thread who are posting really good articles.

Happy birthday, Darryl. Hope you find a way to enjoy it today! (I have 2 friends who share this birthday as well, one lives in Montreal and one in Florida. We grew up together so we go back a very long way!)

Darryl, I'm so sorry to hear the prognosis for your father. Watching a parent decline is very painful, and not being able to travel there right now must be too. I hope the home health aides will be useful long term in keeping your folks at home.

My heart goes out to you, Darryl, both with the stresses of work and the exposure it puts you too right now, especially with your asthma and of course coping with the need to long-distance care for your parents.

I don't know whether you'll get breath to enjoy it but anyways - Happy Birthday!

Oh and by the way on a more bookish note. I was pleased to see that Valeria Luiselli won the Rathbones Folio Prize for Lost Children Archive. I read her quirky The Story of My Teeth and the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Happy Birthday, Darryl! May it be the only one like this. Stay well.

Adding my wishes for a happy birthday.

Found you! Happy Birthday!! Thanks for all you are doing in the crazy time. I hope you were actually not infected and that you manage to stay well -- sending best wishes to your father.

I’m sorry to hear that things are unlikely to significantly improve for your father, and sorry to hear that you, your patients and others were all put at such unnecessary risk because of the ridiculous actions of the resident. I truly hope you don’t come down with it.

I’m thankful we’re on lockdown in the U.K. as people just weren’t taking it seriously enough. Maybe they will now.

I hope you can enjoy your birthday week at home with plenty of good food and reading material.

>182 SqueakyChu: Thinking of you on your birthday, Darryl. I hope it's a calm, peaceful day for you. Cook up a storm today! I'm making lentil soup right now! Wish I cold invite you over for dinner, but we're self-isolating. After this craziness is all over, I still hope to make time to meet you. Wishing for a brighter future.

Thanks for your kind thoughts and birthday wishes, everyone. I thought that this would be a good reading week, but I've been too distracted by the current condition of my parents and their long term future, the ever changing plans and recommendations taking place in my hospital and the country as a whole, and my own possible SARS-CoV-2 exposure. I'm also more than a little scared to return to work on Monday, which is the first time I've been afraid to work in my nearly 20 year career as a pediatric hospitalist.

My partner, office mate and friend Dr LaToya Oglesby posted this commentary on her Facebook thread this morning, which expresses my thoughts, concerns and fears, and those of many other physicians and nurses. She gave permission to share her comments, so I'll do so here as well.

Some people are still saying this is “just a virus like the cold or flu” and I find these words infuriating. I have been an attending pediatric hospitalist for almost 14 years and I have never been scared to go to work until now. I don’t scare easily. I can’t imagine how my colleagues in adult ICUs feel, but it’s probably some combination of fear, sadness, and hopelessness. Most of the patients I admit have some degree of fever, cough, and respiratory distress. These patients could have one of the usual suspects (RSV, rhinovirus, flu, HMPV) or they could have COVID-19, I don’t know. I wear my PPE (personal protective equipment) but worry about running out. I know the risk of mortality is higher in older patients and those with underlying medical conditions, but I am also aware of healthy patients in their 30s and 40s passing away. I’m aware of a healthy, athletic 25 year old on a ventilator. I’m aware of a 42 year old healthcare worker with a 4 year old child who died from it. This one hits close to home, because that’s me. I don’t just worry about what happens if I get it, but I worry about exposing my loved ones. I don’t say this for pity. I say this to encourage everyone to take it seriously. Stop making it political. Stop with the conspiracy theories. I say this so those complaining about being forced to stay at home with their families will realize how fortunate you are to be in a safe place with the people you love, even if they are getting on your nerves. I say this so those who love to complain about doctors, whether it’s the waiting time in the office, or thinking a google search is superior to our medical knowledge, clinical judgment, and experience, will realize doctors are at the frontlines, not your search engine. So perhaps when this is all over, there can be a little more respect. To my colleagues, stay strong, stay healthy, you are real life superheroes.

Our leadership and administration at Children's is doing an admirable job, IMO, given the limitations we have in supplies of PPE (personal protective equipment), the severe shortage of media to perform SARS-CoV-2 testing (it will be at least another two weeks before we can perform in house PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing, we have to get approval from Children's Coronavirus Response Team before we can order the test, and the Georgia Department of Public Health ultimately decides which specimens it will submit for analysis — at least half a dozen tests submitted by Children's was denied by the GA DPH), and the concerns expressed by hospital staff, community pediatricians and family practitioners, families and the community at large. None of us, including my partner who has worked for over 40 years, has seen anything like this pandemic, and we know that the worst is yet to come.

I made a massive supermarket run on Monday (I bought over $400 in groceries from my local Publix Supermarket and Sprouts Farmers Market), ran some errands on my birthday the following day, but I've been indoors since then, and I probably won't leave until I have to return to work on Monday morning, save for a possible trip to my local BMW dealer to get a new tire, as one of mine has a slow leak due to a screw in it.

The pediatric resident whose illness was the cause of the cancellation of my visit to my parents' house this week fortunately tested negative for SARS-CoV-2, and is doing much better. The other resident who was exposed to our first patient with COVID-19 (the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2) was not tested, is under a 14 day quarantine, and is also improving after she developed lower respiratory symptoms. Fortunately I have been completely well since I returned to Atlanta, but the incubation period for the virus is from 3-14 days, so I won't be completely in the clear until next Wednesday.

Due to my "advanced age" (I'll turn 60 next year) and chronic respiratory disease (asthma) I have been reassigned to floors in the hospital other than the one where the patients with proven or suspected COVID-19 are being cared for (along with our PICU). Hopefully that will minimize my risk, but all front line physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists and health care workers remain at high risk of becoming infected, and I would be very fortunate indeed if I didn't contract the virus.

>162 wandering_star: Thanks, Margaret. I remain frustrated and upset that I wasn't able to visit my parents this week, as there were several tasks that I had intended to accomplish that won't be able to be done until I am able to return...whenever that is. Children's has essentially banned all unnecessary travel, which must be approved by the two top physicians beforehand. Fortunately I know them well, and have very warm relationships with both of them, and the Physician in Chief at Children's knows what has been going on with my father and has sent several supportive and personally touching emails to me. However, I would not feel comfortable going there at this time and for the foreseeable future, and it may be several months before it is safe for me to travel there.

Thanks for your comment about The Memory Police.

>163 stretch: You're absolutely right, Kevin. Very few people, whether locally, nationally or internationally, would have predicted that Atlanta United would have been such an incredible success on the pitch and in the stands, especially since the Atlanta Silverbacks, the professional soccer team here from 1998-2015, received almost no support and recognition and couldn't sell enough tickets to fill its 5,000 seat stadium in suburban Atlanta. Atlanta United's first match was in front of a sellout crowd in Georgia Tech's historic Grant Field (seating capacity 55,000) in Midtown, not far from where I live, and they continue to play in front of raucous near capacity audiences in our new shining jewel, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which is absolutely gorgeous. Several of my physician colleagues and I attended a regular season match last season against the Chicago Fire, in which over 71,000 fans were in attendance (the stadium seats 72,000). This picture was taken near the top of the 300 level (upper deck) of the stadium, with my dear friend Jon, a pulmonologist at Children's, his son Jack (who playfully calls me "Uncle Dirk"), and a nurse we work with, who happened to be sitting with her friends in the row directly behind us:



I love the diverse following the club has, as is shown in this photo, and folks here, including its many transplants, have embraced the team and united the city as no team has ever done before. Practically everyone I know here has been to at least one Atlanta United match, and many of us go to multiple matches every season. I'm a diehard supporter of nearly all the Philadelphia sports teams, but I support the Five Stripes unconditionally.

My condolences for being an Arsenal supporter.

Ha! The main reason is that Paul Harris (Polaris-, a former member of Club Read who remains a close personal friend, as I see him in London once or twice a year) assigned that Premier League club to me, who I followed with mild interest before Atlanta United won my heart. I routinely pass by Emirates Stadium, the Gunners' home grounds, whenever I travel by train from London King's Cross to Cambridge to visit two other dear former LT friends, Rachael (FlossieT) and Fliss (flissp), but I've never attended a match there. Paul is a former East Londoner and West Ham United man, and hopefully we can attend a match at London Stadium sometime in the near future.

It still boggles my mind that I've met LTers on dozens of occasions in seven different European countries: England, Scotland, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal and Germany.

>164 NanaCC: Thanks, Colleen. Fortunately my parents have several close neighbors who treat them with unlimited love and respect, and they keep a close eye on them and regularly let me know how they are doing. I've already received text messages from two of them this afternoon, with two photos of them lounging on Bob's front porch. It would be vastly more worrisome if it wasn't for them, and my gratitude to them is boundless.

>165 RidgewayGirl: I hope that your father continues to be well, Kay. Does he have neighbors or close friends to talk to, if not visit?

Thank you for sharing the message from your colleague and keeping us updated here about how you are. I hope the (admittedly few) individuals I've seen posting around LT claiming that people are over-reacting and more people die in car accidents and why should this flu-like thing cause the shutdown of businesses and institutions like libraries, will see this and maybe re-think that idiocy.

All of you on the front lines of confronting the pandemic are in my thoughts. Seeing the reports in the local media from NYC and NJ itself has been so upsetting, I can't imagine having to live it. Take care, my friend.

>183 kidzdoc: Praying for you kidzdoc! It seems the only thing, besides staying home (which is a wonderful thing for introverts like me anyway!) we can do. And I have stayed home since last Tuesday when I went to the grocery store! It seems like most people in my city are doing their part in staying put. Today I went on a trip, though. All the way to my backyard!

>185 katiekrug: I'm amazed how stubborn people can be. I have a cousin who was touting the "this is ridiculous" BS on his FB page & then posted a few days later "hey maybe we should take this serious." He's pretty stuck in his beliefs; so that was huge coming from him.

>166 SqueakyChu:, >167 RidgewayGirl: There was a very disturbing story earlier this week about COVID-19 patients left to die unattended in nursing homes in Spain. If this epidemic gets as bad here as the CDC predicts (its four models showed a range of 200,000 to 1.7 million deaths in the United States, as compared to 675,000 Americans who died in the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic) the same thing could easily happen here.

>168 SandDune: I'm sorry to hear of your diagnosis of COPD, Rhian; can I assume that this diagnosis was made recently? I'm glad that you, your husband and son can remain at home. I'm staying at home alone, and only venturing outside to perform mostly necessary errands, with an early morning trip to my local barbershop on my (our!) birthday being the only nonessential trip (fortunately he and I were the only ones in the shop at that time, as it had just opened). I thought about going to my local supermarket this morning to buy dry active yeast to make a recipe for zucchini buns that I found, but I decided that the risk outweighed the benefit, and I'll order it online instead. (I have no idea why my local supermarkets are completely out of dry active yeast!)

>169 arubabookwoman: Eek! indeed, Deborah! I hired aides from Visiting Angels for my parents last week, but it was a complete waste of time and money, as the aides mainly sat in their house, watched TV and looked at their cell phones, according to my parents and neighbors. I cancelled visits for this week, and although they could use the help it will be difficult for my parents, particularly my father, to accept help from them in the future. I'll consider seeing if they would be willing to have someone from Seniors Helping Seniors come to the house, as those aides are closer in age and would be much more in tune with my parents' needs.

I pray that your husband stays well during this crisis, and that your living situation is resolved in a favorable manner.

>171 avidmom: Thanks, avidmom.

>172 markon: Thanks, Ardene.

>173 streamsong: Thanks, Janet.

I found a link to several online book clubs geared toward people of color, mainly African American and Latinx, but I haven't explored any of them yet. I hope to do so later this week, and I'll be glad to share any interesting books or comments I learn about here.

Thanks for letting me know about the COVID-19 page on LT. I recently joined a COVID-19 Facebook group for physicians and nurses, which I've been following closely, and I'll try to do the same in the groups in Club Read and Pro and Con.

>174 jessibud2: Thanks, Shelley!

>175 ffortsa: Thanks, Judy It is difficult to watch beloved parents decline, and this is clearly the beginning of the end for both of them. My mother, who suffers from dementia, has been in worsening shape for several years, but slowly so, but this crisis involving my father was sudden and very substantial. He did improve dramatically during his two week stay in a local rehabilitation hospital, but that seems to have leveled off over the past three to four weeks, and I'm not sure how much more will occur.

>187 kidzdoc: I know, Darryl, and I'm terrified. I keeping going from bouts of anxiety to depression. This is not me. I will only feel better when I see the trajectory change directions. This is going to be a very difficult few weeks ahead for everyone. My daughter is a nurse in labor and delivery. Another friend of mine is a nurse who just volunteered to work in the respiratory wing of her hospital. Praying that all of you bring comfort to others, but, more importantly, stay safe. {{{Hugs}}}

(I have no idea why my local supermarkets are completely out of dry active yeast!)
...because everyone is home baking... including me!

the aides mainly sat in their house, watched TV and looked at their cell phones, according to my parents and neighbors.

Yep! I warned you about some home health aides! Others are wonderful.

>176 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul.

>177 PaulCranswick: That's great news about Lost Children Archive. I'm reading it now, and I hope to finish it by Sunday.

>178 RidgewayGirl: Thanks, Kay.

>179 benitastrnad: Thanks, Benita.

>180 Berly: Thanks, Kim.

>181 lunacat: Thanks, Jenny. Based on my conversation last week with my father's new neurologist, who is absolutely superb, my father may improve to some degree over the next 12 months, but it is very unlikely that he will return to his former high level of function.

>182 SqueakyChu: Thanks, Madeline. I didn't cook on my birthday, but I did make Creole crawfish étouffée and corned beef with potatoes and carrots yesterday. I didn't make anything today, but I'll make seafood risotto (Risotto ai Frutti di Mare) and jalapeño cream cheese chicken enchiladas in the next day or two.

>188 kidzdoc: D--My FIL had one of the very last "optional" surgeries for heart bypass 11 days ago. My MIL is also suffering from dementia. It has been a challenge to negotiate home care and visiting. At the hospital, we went from 2 visitors permitted, to 1, to none. Luckily my SIL came down from Seattle and she is helping out too. She can work virtually and has no kids, but when she leaves, it will all fall to me and maybe my oldest daughter. After my SIL, we are the two most self-isolated and so hopefully not carriers. Also, my FIL just told us he wants to have a conference call today on DNR. Yikes.

Good luck navigating your parents home care. My thoughts are with you. Stay well yourself!!

>183 kidzdoc: Hi, Darryl. Thank you so much for posting your colleague's message, and for all your own heartfelt writing about your situation and your parents'. All the best.

>182 SqueakyChu: I saw the pictures of them. They looked great! I would enjoy cooking more if I weren't so anxious and have no appetite. I lost several pounds over the past couple weeks, although I try to eat healthy, sleep enough (which was hard in the beginning of this), and take a walk every day (although, truthfully, I'm scared to be away from home and see people on the street). I now know what it must feel like to diagnosed with paranoia! Seriously. A friend today suggested that I meditate to overcome a sudden-onset feeling of depression. That seemed to work. I think I'll try it for anxiety as well going forward. We will get through this together, one day at a time.

Doctors heal in so many ways. Thank you to them all:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEvIyarC248

Hi Darryl - just checking in and wishing you and your colleagues continuing good health while this horrible pandemic works its way around the globe. It's amazing how swiftly all our lives have been affected by it.

Also hope your parents remain in their best health, you definitely did the right move in cancelling that service. My mother is with my brother and his wife. It's not ideal as they are both still working essential jobs, I can't have her stay here as she can't access our upstairs bathroom and my other brother has been caught out with no kitchen or laundry during renovation work, and now going into lockdown.

>184 kidzdoc: My father knows many people in his neighborhood, including the next door neighbors who are young and healthy and keep an eye on him. He also is an active part of a smallish church, which means that plenty of people are calling him and checking in. He's less lonely than i thought he'd be since he regularly talks to people who aren't just me. But I do make a point of talking with him every day and in going over to see him (where we talk six feet apart in the driveway) at least twice a week. I'm in a much less stressful situation than you are.

>185 katiekrug: You're welcome, Katie. I'm certainly sympathetic to the thousands of businesses that have been forced to close and the millions of Americans who are unemployed as a result of the pandemic, especially since my colleagues and I are still getting paid and haven't lost our jobs. According to a story I saw on yesterday's PBS NewsHour, the best program on television IMO, 3.3 million Americans filed for unemployment claims last week, which is unprecedented, and millions more will likely do so this week as well. The social burden may seem excessive to at least some people, but the number of cases of SARS-CoV-2 is rising dramatically, and we're only seeing the beginning of the number of hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 that will surely occur. It was also reported yesterday that there are now more people known to be infected with the virus in the US than in any other country. Due to our extreme limitation in testing that number (82,000+, IIRC) is likely to be a severe underestimate of the people who are actively infected.

For many people, mainly the young and healthy, SARS-CoV-2 is likely to be a routine viral infection like influenza, rhinovirus or the usual coronaviruses that we see routinely (there is a rapid test for routine viral pathogens, which includes three coronavirus strains, OC43, NL63 and HKU1, but not SARS-CoV-2). However, the mortality rate of the novel coronavirus has been estimated to be 2-4%, versus 0.1% for influenza, so it is 20 to 40 times more lethal. In Atlanta two of our main hospitals, Grady Memorial Hospital and Emory University Hospital, are operating at capacity, and the ICUs are full, so we are at risk of being overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients. There was talk of housing adult COVID-19 patients in my hospital, especially since we are nowhere near as busy, which caused more than a little bit of panic amongst the medical staff, but the chief medical officer of Children's squelched that rumor two days ago (whew!). Georgia is also very underserved in terms of acute care hospitals and physician subspecialists outside of its major metropolitan areas (Atlanta, Columbus, Macon, Augusta, Savannah, Albany), and the care in this facilities ranges from adequate to absymal, for adults and children. It's very possible, and probably likely, that these rural and small town hospitals will be even more overwhelmed and have difficulty in providing critical care to their communities, but they will be unable to transfer many of their patients to larger medical centers in major cities, as their beds will be filled. The same will likely hold true for other Deep South states like Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.

On top of that, physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists and other health care workers are falling ill with or being exposed to COVID-19 and are having to stay at home for 1-2 weeks if they have minimal symptoms, or requiring hospital care if they are severely ill. I'm getting at least 3-4 daily emails from physician recruiters looking for pediatricians and hospitalists to provide short term coverage for hospitals, clinics and primary care offices, versus 3-4 such requests per week, and the need will undoubtedly skyrocket over the next 1-2+ months.

>186 avidmom: Thanks, avidmom. In the past six days I've been out of my house for a total of 5-6 hours, had no visitors or seen anyone, and it's possible that I may continue to stay inside until Monday morning.

Oy. There are a lot of people who aren't heeding the calls for social isolation seriously, particularly spoiled and clueless millennials in large cities like Atlanta and Chicago.

>189 SqueakyChu: Right, Madeline. I'm sure that you've seen the very scary graphs that show that the trajectory of SARS-CoV-2 patients looks like a space shuttle lift off, which would be even more vertically oriented if we had enough test kits for all Americans. It will be weeks to months before the curve begins to flatten here.



Yes, apparently everyone is home, baking bread!

Here's Why All the Yeast Is Sold Out Right Now

I'll probably make an early morning visit on Saturday to my local Latino supermarket, H-Mart (the Korean supermarket chain), or one of the farmers' markets outside of the city to look for active dry yeast, as I found a recipe for mouthwatering Asian zucchini buns that I would love to try this week, especially since I have all the other ingredients I need to make them, save for chili oil.



Yep, you did warn me about some home health aides. The hands of the ones who visited my parents were tied to a major degree, as my parents were resistant to having them come and couldn't think of anything for them to do, while simultaneously relying on neighbors to take them to the supermarket, their local pharmacy, and for walks outside of the house. My father describes himself as an "independent ass", and although he has now begun to ask for help from me, my brother and their closest neighbors he is fiercely reluctant to do so from strangers.

>191 Berly: Yikes...I wouldn't consider bypass surgeries to be "optional"! Bianca (drachenbraut23) posted an article from CNN on her Facebook timeline about a couple who could not see their baby in a hospital NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) due to visitor restrictions. When I read the article I noticed that it was Northside Hospital, which is directly across the street from the hospital I work in. This week Children's announced that only one adult would be allowed in any patient room, and that all people entering the hospital, including employees, would be screened at all entry points, including having their temperatures taken, before they would be allowed to enter the building.

>192 rocketjk: Thanks for your kind thoughts, Jerry.

>193 SqueakyChu: I'm sorry that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected you so badly, Madeline...but I can emphasize with your concerns. I suspect that I won't sleep well on Sunday night/Monday morning, before I have to return to work, and even though I've only been on service one of the past eight weeks I would love to be called off due to our low inpatient census. (However, since I've only worked 1 out of 8 weeks that isn't likely to happen!)

>194 jessibud2: Nice! Thanks for sharing that video, Shelley. I will refrain from joining in, as my singing voice isn't what it used to be and would undoubtedly scare small children and dogs.

>195 avatiakh: Thanks, Kerry. I'm sorry to hear about your parents' situation, and I recognize that I'm far from alone in having elderly parents that need attention. I have enough room in my home to house my parents, but that would mean a 700 mile journey south from Philadelphia to Atlanta, and they would be separated from their closest friends and church members. My brother and his partner live much closer but she is very selfish and cold hearted and wouldn't want them in her home.

>196 RidgewayGirl: Excellent, Kay. Your father is similar to my parents in having close neighbors and churchgoers who care for and look after them.

Darryl, I just heard something on the radio that I think will make you smile. People doing good. Toronto is a hub for film and tv shooting. There are several medical shows shot here and they apparently use real medical equipment as props (masks, etc). They have now rounded them up and have been donating them to local hospitals. What the woman interviewed said was that for an industry whose livelihood is based on pretending, they felt this was something real and concrete they could do to be part of the solution at this time. She also said that, being a medical tv show, they always have medical consultants on hand and the actors and behind the scenes workers have developed such respect for what the medical people do for a living. When asked how she would like to thank them, she didn't hesitate to say that the best way to thank and honour front line health workers was to stay home, and honour the restrictions we are being asked to implement. Good on them!

Darryl, belated birthday wishes from the Bronx. I hope you've had some connections with folks, even remotely, who brought a smile to your face. I'm sending continued well wishes to you and your parents—I'm so glad they have kind and involved neighbors.

The whole situation is very scary, and my hat is off to you and all medical professionals and first responders, whether you're working in a high-risk facility or not. Here in New York, as I'm sure everyone has read, hospitals are at (probably at this point beyond) capacity, and I think we're a while away from the curve falling off. There's talk of bringing in medical and nursing students to help, though since my son is only finishing his second year and hasn't started clinical rotations yet, so I don't think they'll want him. He says that he's the least impacted person ever—he just stays inside and studies, which is what he was doing before the virus hit.

>200 jessibud2: That's very cool. In my little corner of knowledge, we're seeing university libraries—and some publics as well—using their otherwise unused 3-D printers to make parts for masks and other PPE.

Belated Happy Birthday wishes, Darryl.

I, too, am sorry about your parents' continued decline and can ony imagine how frustrating it is for you to not be able to visit them now.

Good luck finding yeast.

I also hope that the stress of returning to work on Monday is offset by the comfort you'll be bringing to parents of sick children.

Stay well, Darryl!
So sorry about your parents, hard that you are not able to visit them.
(((hugs)))

I may have finally broken out of my two month long reading slump yesterday. The right rear tire of my SUV had a slow leak due to a huge screw embedded in it, and since I had recently purchased new tires from the local dealer where I purchased it I went to the service department to get a new one, and to have routine maintenance performed on it. (Fortunately the shop has a large waiting area for its customers, so I kept at least 6 feet away from everyone and brought a bottle of hand sanitizer, which I used liberally.) I was there for nearly three hours, and I managed to read a big chunk of Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli, which I enjoyed. I'm now emotionally invested in the book, and I may finish it by the end of the month.

I started reading Ducks, Newburyport this week, but was too distracted by my parents' situation and keeping up with the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, including a steady stream of emails from my partners, along with WebEx meetings and changing recommendations and policies from the Coronavirus Response Team and physician leadership at Children's, which was informative but anxiety inducing. I still plan to participate in Dan's group read, but I'll take advantage of the 8 week option. I also picked up a book I purchased from Daunt Books in London in September, Afropean: Notes from Black Europe by Johny Pitts, which was reviewed favorably in The Guardian and elsewhere and made several "Best Books of 2019" lists in the UK.

>198 kidzdoc: My FIL's symptoms were not yet "severe" and they estimated he could wait a month or two for surgery, so since it wasn't an emergency, it was "optional." Go figure. I'm glad he got in in time.

>204 kidzdoc: Hurray for Lost Children Archive! That one is in my TBR soon pile by my night table. Glad to hear you are enjoying it.

>200 jessibud2: I'm glad to hear that, Shelley, especially the message to "stay at home". As several front line health care workers have said I would also love to be able to work safely from home, especially since I'm a situational introvert (ambivert) and, obviously, a bookworm, and I can happily and easily exist without the company of others for at least a week or two.

>201 lisapeet: Thanks, Lisa. I did have several enjoyable and smile inducing conversations this week, with a lovely older foreign born (maybe Afrikaner?) cashier in my local Publix supermarket on Monday (the cashiers often ask what I'm planning to cook, as my purchases almost entirely consist of fresh fruits, vegetables, uncooked meats and frozen seafood, with one or two guilty pleasures thrown in), my barber on Tuesday, and a very busy but warm and friendly service advisor at the car dealership yesterday.

I have been following comments made by Governor Cuomo of New York, and I think he's right in saying that the peak in cases of COVID-19 won't occur for another 2-3 weeks. One of my medical school classmates is an attending adult pulmonologist at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, and I'm sure that she and her colleagues are working extremely long hours in very stressful settings, and I pray for her and their safety.

When I was a second year medical student at Pitt (the University of Pittsburgh) many of my classmates and I volunteered our "services", even though we barely knew how to use a stethoscope or blood pressure cuff, in different school sponsored projects. I shopped, cooked, served meals and washed dishes for dinners for homeless people in a local Presbyterian church once or twice a month, took histories of well and sick children in a clinic for the homeless in another part of the city, participated in the "Medical Explorers" program, in which minority (and some non-minority) medical students would speak to and counsel minority undergraduate students at Pitt who were interested in becoming physicians, and served as a member of a section of the Pittsburgh chapter of The Bone Marrow Registry, which sought to increase the number of African Americans who participated in the registry. I was also on the board of Pitt's chapter of the Student National Medical Association as a second year student. (Wow, I had forgotten how busy and active I was that academic year!) Participating in those activities was a welcome relief from studying all the damn time, and it made me a more well rounded and dedicated student, as my grades were actually better than they were during my difficult first year when I did nothing but study, but didn't do very well. Hopefully your son can do something other than study, given the restrictions in activities outside of the classroom.

>202 karenmarie: Thanks, Karen. I looked for active dry yeast yesterday afternoon in Patel Brothers, a small nationwide chain of Indian supermarkets whose only branch in Georgia is located a few hundred feet from the BMW dealership I had my car serviced in. I arrived there barely after it opened at noon, but the 8-10 boxes of yeast were completely empty. I'll give up my search for the time being, as I have plenty of bread, along with bagels and bialys that I ordered from Russ & Daughters, a 100+ year old Jewish appetizing shop located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. I'll make zucchini buns sometime next month, when the hoarders and people buying up items to sell on the dark web at exorbitant prices cease their overactivity.

>203 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita. Sadly it may be 2-3 months before I can visit them, although hopefully I can travel to Philadelphia during a 2+ week stretch from late April to early May that I'm not scheduled to work.

>205 Berly: Same here, Kim. I'll let you know how I like Lost Children Archive once I've finished it.

You should be able to order yeast from King Arthur Flour and get it delivered quickly. That is where I get all of my yeast. It will come in a bum package but you can just take some out and put it in a smaller container. Wrap the remaining package tightly and freeze it. Yeast will keep that way for a long time.

I'm glad you're enjoying Lost Children Archive! I've been reading lighter things right now, just because my brain is having a harder time fully engaging with more challenging lit.

We do have a natural advantage over extroverts and non-readers in this current crisis.

>207 benitastrnad: I ordered active dry yeast from Amazon, which will arrive tonight.

>208 RidgewayGirl: Thanks, Kay. I'll take a bagel on finishing any books in March, but hopefully I'll do better in April.

>209 kidzdoc:
That works too! I have been ordering baking supplies from KAL for most of my life and like their supplies. That could be because I am accustomed to them, but I like the philosophy of the company. Their yeast comes from a supplier in Montreal that has the same strain of yeast they started out with in the 1700's. Yeast is a very interesting critter. Enjoy your baking with whatever strain of yeast you have. Baking is a great experience and so much fun to do. I find it very therapeutic.

Hi, Darryl, and I've been thinking about you lately. I missed your birthday--Happy birthday, and I hope the next year is better than this one is turning out for you.

You said you were going to watch my thread a little more closely, and I felt embarrassed. I have been reading mostly for sheer amusement, and not for mental stimulation. You see, when I retired it was not by choice. I had a sudden onset of terrible pain, which turned out to be spinal stenosis. But I was having an awful fibromyalgia flare at the time, and I couldn't tell what was going on. I tolerated pain for much longer than I should have; at first I needed help to move in bed. But I could tell my fibromyalgia (which my rheumatologist told me was quite severe, mimicking Lupus a lot of the time) was in my legs, and that confused me, in the little time I had to think. My poor husband depends on me for medical perspective, and I didn't have any. Eventually I tried nerve blocks, which helped very little (and the paresthesia getting them was nearly intolerable) and I ended up with spinal surgery in the end. That was almost a year ago. At first one of my legs was paralyzed--that lasted a couple of months, and then, some weeks ago, I had a recurrence of pain--not quite as bad, but lancinating when I walk. I am spending far too much time in bed, and taking more hydrocodone than I wish. My spine was a mess on MRI, with multiple layers moderately stenotic, and one severely so, pinched off. It was that level on which I had the hemi-laminectomy, L3-L4, and I guess that either another level is pinched severely now, or the same has recurred. Anyway, last year I read very little, only spending my time, well, rather writhing about or trying to hold very still. I was most of a year in bed, and I know how bad that is, but I thought I just needed to wait for my flare to subside. I feel stupid, now.

Anyway, it is really bothersome, again, and I must wait until this Covid thing is somewhat resolved to get another MRI. It is hardly "necessary".

The point of this apologia is this: I was an ambitious reader all my life (taught myself to read by the age of two) and the last two years I read almost entirely for distraction, which is the best tool, of course. My fiber arts have languished, my serious pastry-making has languished, I have lost track of most of my friends. I have had the fibromyalgia for over 30 years, and it has been nearly crippling. I did keep working as a bedside nurse until my full retirement age, I loved it so, but I am almost 68, and must now give it up. My mantra has always been that "I will not be made useless" but I am nearly conquered, I think. I would like to go volunteer at the tertiary hospital where I worked. I am valuable, critical-care-trained, and experienced. I am blessed with a calm disposition, and the ability to manage a crisis without yelling or losing perspective. But I don't think it is realistic. Even taking people's temperatures at the door may be too difficult for me.

Club Read has helped me read a little better again, but if this next year is anything like my last year, I may stick to romances with vampires, for god's sake ... and then I might as well defenestrate myself (really just kidding). One of my grandchildren turned 4 yesterday, and I managed a present from Amazon and a Skype visit. How fortunate to be in this age of advanced communication!

I am sorry for your continuing problems, and sympathetic to your professional challenges. I send you what joy I can manage. Take comfort in the usefulness of your work and your colleagues, enjoy what you can of your family--I held my mother as she died a few years ago, and I miss her sorely, but not as she was at the end. She died of inanition, at 92.

I am usually a cheerful sort. I am sorry to pour this all over you, but I wanted to explain that my reading may not be all that worth examining. I just finished reading The Deerslayer, and that was worth it. My father loved James Fenimore Cooper, but I had never managed to try him before. The first 300 pages were rather a trial, but the rest was great, even if I didn't like the scene with the Deerslayer being explicitly Christ-like. I am an Agnostic, and it was a little forced, to me. Not as well done as Aslan in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Hi, Darryl

Just dropping by to say I've been thinking about your during this difficult time. I hope you still have some moments of peace and relaxation in your life. I'm also really sorry to hear that your corrupt governor is being a tool. No one needs that.

Darryl, I hope you've gotten some therapeutic baking in. I have all the materials, including yeast that should probably get used this month or lose it, but not the time. Today is definitely a banana bread day, though, since we have an enormous bunch about to turn brown.

Anyway, thinking of you and wishing you some good peaceful, even joyful moments in this dark and strange time.

Hi, Darryl,

Feeling a little abashed at hijacking your thread for my own woes. I'm better now.

How are you doing with your time? Reading, and baking (thank you, Lisa) are truly therapeutic. The smell of yeast in the air is healing and wholesome. Thinking of you and your parents.

So, Darryl, I finally started a shopping list on Instacart and, yep, you were right! No yeast anywhere (except what you ordered from Amazon). I might try using my two year old yeast. I’ll still have bread even if it comes out hard as a brick! Tomorrow I’m thinking of trying to make bagels.

I hope all is peaceful with your parents and that you are getting some time to decompress between work shifts. Thinking of you and your coworkers and hoping and praying all of you will make it through this nightmare safely.

P.S. Why is everyone baking bread? Is that instinct?

I just found this...which answers my own question.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/03/27/coronavirus-why-everyon...

>215 SqueakyChu:
The old yeast should be fine. When I used older yeast instead of using 2 packets or 2 1/2 tablespoons, I add another 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon and then watch it closer. If the yeast was viable and you added yeast to it, it will raise faster and higher, so you can compensate by just shortening the rise time. If it wasn't as viable then let it go the regular rise time. The key is to watch it closer.

>210 benitastrnad: That's impressive that the supplier of the yeast sold by KAL has maintained the same batch since the 1700s!

I purchased 12 packets of Fleischmann's Active Dry Yeast, the brand I'm most familiar with, and I received them from an Amazon Shopping deliveryman earlier this week. I had a jar of Fleischmann's in my refrigerator, but once I noticed that the expiration date was sometime in 2016 I threw the yeast away, figuring that it would be easy enough to find it in Publix. Wrong!

>211 sallypursell: Wow...you have had a very rough year, Sally! I'm very sorry to hear that, and I hope that you can get an MRI ASAP. My hospital has also been postponing elective surgical and radiographic procedures, along with clinic visits, due to the pandemic, and not because we are filled with sick patients. We called off two hospitalists every day for the past three weeks, and on Friday we called a third person off, as our inpatient census dropped to the mid 20s, less than half what it normally is in early April. The adult hospitals in metro Atlanta are operating at near capacity, and since this week, and possibly next, is supposed to be the worst weeks of this pandemic, it is possible that we may be asked to accept and care for adult patients. As of last week the thought was that we would agree to care for adults 21-25 yo with simple medical problems who were not thought or known to have COVID-19. We've only had four patients diagnosed with it in our entire system (three hospitalists, and dozens of urgent care clinics and subspecialty offices throughout metro Atlanta) as of last Thursday, two of whom are recuperating at home, one who nearly died in our PICU, but is now on the mend, and I know nothing about the other child, so we have been minimally affected...so far.

>212 Nickelini: Thanks for your kind thoughts and wishes, Joyce. My request to decrease my hours (from 80% of full time to 60%) was finally granted and will take effect on Monday, so instead of working Monday through Friday for the next two weeks I'll only work Wednesday through Friday. My favorite day of any week is No Work Monday, so I'm happy about that. Georgia's corrupt redneck Republican governor finally instituted a shelter-in-place order for the entire state, starting this past Friday at 6 pm, although the far more competent Democratic mayor of Atlanta instituted similar measures nearly two weeks ago. The hospital has been eerily quiet, and automobile traffic Intown is almost nonexistent, but people continue to go to Piedmont Park, the largest one in the city, which is 1-1/2 blocks from where I live, as if no restrictions are in place, especially since the weather has been very nice this week (sunny with high temperatures in the upper 70s to low 80s F (25-27 C)). I've stayed inside since just after Friday's 6 pm curfew, and I'll only go out briefly tomorrow or Tuesday morning for a quick trip to Publix, my preferred local supermarket, as soon as it opens at 8 am. Trips to buy groceries are permitted, but I wore my work badge while driving to and from the hospital all week, and I have a form letter in my glove compartment of my SUV from Children's that states that I am an essential employee traveling to and from work, in case I get pulled over by a policeman for not obeying the city's or state's shelter-in-place order, which can lead to as much as a $1,000 fine or a 12 month jail sentence (although I think it is extremely unlikely that any first time offenders will be punished that severely!).

I and my physician colleagues who are employees of Children's are also under orders to not travel, unless it has been approved in advance by our Physician-in-Chief, who is a friend and former professor of mine when I was a pediatric resident over two decades ago, and knows what is going on with my parents. As a result I'm now under much less pressure and stress than I was at this time last month, so I've finally been able to relax enough to be able to read for pleasure this weekend.

Thanks for the catch-up, Darryl, and good that you haven't been as stressed at your work as so many other front-line workers have been.

How are your parents managing so far, and how is it working out with their in-home care?

>213 lisapeet: I haven't done any baking this week, Lisa, as I have more than enough food on hand, especially after I placed a massive delivery order from Russ & Daughters, the Lower East Side century old Jewish appetizing shop, which arrived on Friday of last week. Now that I have yeast and don't have to work until Wednesday I'll make Pan Fried Zucchini Buns for the first time tomorrow, and another batch of Risotto ai Frutti di Mari (Seafood Risotto) on Tuesday. One of my physician colleagues told me on Friday about the butternut squash and pea risotto that she made in her Instant Pot last weekend, and I may give that a try as well, as I have an acorn squash, and plenty of frozen peas and arborio rice on hand. Apparently this risotto only takes 10 minutes to pressure cook in the Instant Pot, which is a definite time saver, but I love the process of cooking risotto on the stove top. I may make the Instant Pot risotto on Monday, and see how it compares with the traditional method after I make the seafood risotto on Tuesday.

Per Kay's request I will create a La Cucina (The Kitchen) thread on Club Read next week, as I have several new recipes I've made and have liked since the 2018 version of La Cucina.

Ooh, banana bread. I have four or five overripe bananas that would be perfect for that. I'll probably store them in my freezer and make a loaf next weekend. Speaking of bread (and yeast) I ordered a Cuisinart Bread Maker, after Jill Celeste (mrstreme, a formerly active LTer who was the administrator of the Orange January/July group) aske me if I had one and suggested the 2 lb model in a Facebook post last week. I found it on sale from Williams Sonoma for $110 with free shipping, down from a list price of $185, and my bread maker will arrive early next week. I can all but guarantee that I'll make at least one loaf of bread next weekend or early the following week, as I have enough flour on hand.

>215 SqueakyChu: I'm sorry that you couldn't find yeast, Madeline. I must have gotten lucky when I found Fleischmann's Active Dry Yeast on Amazon last weekend, as Colette, one of my nurse friends told me on Friday that she tried to order it shortly after I did, but none was left. (I promised to share some of mine with her, though.) She and one of her 2nd floor colleagues, Caryn, both of whom I consider to be good friends and fantastic nurses, are both Jewish, and, like you, they each made challah last week, as they are superb cooks as well.

Caryn said that she would make chicken matzo ball soup this weekend, and I'll probably do so next weekend, using the recipe for the Mexican version that Jim (drneutron) shared with me several years ago.

I hope that your bagels turn out well. Have you ever made bialys?

I have been able to progressively decompress since I returned to Atlanta, as the inpatient service has been very quiet and I've been able to leave on time as a result.

>216 SqueakyChu: Yes, baking breads, cakes and cookies seems to be at an all time high, both in North America and Europe!

>217 benitastrnad: Ah...good to know. Would the extremely old Fleischmann's yeast I had in my refrigerator (which expired on 10/18/16) been salvagable using this method?

>219 jessibud2: You're welcome, Shelley. My colleagues and I fully realize that we are extremely fortunate to not be busy and to not have many COVID-19 patients, and we hope that this continues for the next few weeks.

How has the pandemic affected Canada? I haven't heard anything about what is happening in your country.

The in home help I hired for my parents the week after I left was a spectacular failure, as my father stubbornly told them there was nothing for them to do, so I paid over $750 for them to chat and watch television with my folks.

I'm very glad that you are able to relax and read this weekend. I was a bit worried about you since you weren't posting.

One of our microbreweries/pizzerias that is still able to do carry out orders is advertising that they are making available some of their restaurant supplies. These include yeast, bleach, rice, flour and even tp. I think this is brilliant.

I just ordered a Thai pie and a two pound bag of yeast (which was the smallest they had, but still half the price of even smallest amounts on Amazon).

My brother made a beer bread that doesn't need yeast- I can put a recipe on the thread that you will create next week.

Canadian Pandemic-15,443 cases 297 deaths
Ontario 4038 cases 139 deaths 1448 have recovered from virus
Many who have died have been residents in long term senior care facilities.
Everyone has been told to stay home- our heroes and heroines are the many chief public medical officers who hold press conferences every day- Dr. Theresa Tam is the Chief Medical Officer of Canada, Dr. Eileen de Villa is the chief medical officer of Toronto. Last week the Premier of Ontario and medical officers gave a press conference with projected numbers on who could get this virus and how many could die of there is limited compliance, more strict compliance and no compliance with calls to stay at home and self isolate. The numbers are terrifying.
Needless to say I am home and will go out once this week to pick up a groceries that I ordered and paid for online .
My brother is organizing a " Zoom" Passover seder- should be interesting!

>222 streamsong: Thanks, Janet. I spent most of yesterday sleeping, but I've made good progress so far in the book I'm currently reading, Afropean: Notes from Black Europe by Johny Pitts, which I saw on display in Daunt Books in London last September. I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far, and I should finish it no later than Tuesday.

I plan to read these books in April:

The Adventures of China Iron by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara
Afropean: Notes from Black Europe by Johny Pitts
American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin by Terrence Hayes
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith
Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music by George E. Lewis
Texaco by Patrick Chamoiseau
Ualalapi: Fragments from the End of Empire by Ungulani Ba Ka Khosa

Someone, maybe Benita, had mentioned that some bakeries are selling or giving away yeast, which is a great service.

I looked for Fleischmann's Active Dry Yeast on Amazon. Two sellers are offering one 3-pack for $35, with a $25 shipping fee. In comparison I paid just over $7 for four 3-packs from Amazon Shopping, with a $5 delivery charge.

>223 torontoc: Sounds good, Cyrel! I look forward to seeing your beer bread recipe.

Thanks for the data about COVID-19 cases in Canada.

CNN has just reported that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been admitted to hospital for "routine tests", 10 days after he was diagnosed with COVID-19.

A note on grocery shopping, Darryl -- it's been my experience that one of the most crowded times to shop is first thing in the morning, as well as late afternoon/early evening. If you can, I suggest going to Publix on a weekday around 11, when the stores are largely empty. Costco, which as had crowds gathering well before opening every single morning, is as close to deserted as I've ever seen it late on the Tuesday morning I went, likewise Publix and Target. The parking lot is a good indicator of how busy a store is and since my schedule allows, I'll go over and just leave again if the parking lot looks even moderately full. Of course, I miss any chance of grabbing high interest items like toilet paper or Lysol spray, but I'm ok on those. My Publix has yeast again, and I found flour at Target, so we were able to have naan with our Palak Paneer a few days ago.

I hope your allergies are not too bad - I'm being hammered this year, but this is made worse by my insisting in being outside in the yard for hours because of cabin fever and the weather being so lovely.

>223 torontoc:- Thanks for that, Cyrel. I have to say that our premier (of Ontario) has shocked and impressed me with his updates and his response to all of this. I have always considered Doug Ford to be, basically, *baby t-Rump*, but he has truly stepped up to the plate and I take off my hat to him (not impressed enough to ever vote for him but still). Our Prime Minister has also addressed the nation with daily updates and question/answer sessions afterwards. He even directly addressed the kids of the country and taken their questions. After a year filled with controversy and scandal, he has certainly redeemed himself with his response, too. I hope it's enough but honestly, I feel our leaders are for the most part, doing an excellent job of reassuring the country without spreading panic. And, as you said, the medical officers of health, nation-wide and in the provinces, have been outstanding. My heart truly goes out to the States for their lack of leadership from the top. I wonder how different a picture there would be now if Obama were there to *lead by example*….

>226 RidgewayGirl: Ooh, great advice, Kay! I was going to go to Publix at 8 am, when it opens, but I had wondered if other shoppers had the same idea—and apparently they do. In the B.C. (Before Coronavirus) Era I usually made my weekly trip to Publix on Sundays at 7 am, when there normally are very few customers in the supermarket, but I'll have to rethink my shopping plans. I just looked at my shopping list (I normally create next weekend's shopping list on a 3 x 5 inch card Sunday afternoon after I return from going to Publix, and Whole Foods Market, Sprouts or Trader Joe's if additional stops are required), and there isn't anything I absolutely need before next weekend, as I received yeast and chili oil (to make Pan Fried Zucchini Buns) from Amazon this week. I may wait until next weekend, or the week after next, to go shopping, or go one day after work.

I normally stay inside at this time of year due to spring allergies, even when the weather is as lovely as it is, especially since my asthma is also triggered by tree and grass pollens. I've started to take my inhaled corticosteroid (Qvar) even though I haven't had any respiratory symptoms, which will hopefully help me if I do contract COVID-19 from someone in the hospital.

>228 kidzdoc: Like you, I am taking Qvar to keep ahead on the asthma thing. And I am avoiding my hubby who is quarantined upstairs. He has a presumptive case and has been fighting it since last Friday, but seems to slowly be on the mend. Both he, myself, and a colleague were exposed at a business meeting, but I managed to stay healthy--yay!! The colleague is also sick but recovering at home. Phew.

My heartfelt thanks to you and all the other people in the front lines as we try to make it through this thing. I am really glad your hospital has few cases and that your hours are reduced.

I am resorting to Zoom meetings with friends to maintain my sanity. Last night we had family BINGO night, including daughter who lives elsewhere and sick hubby from upstairs. He won twice, so definitely on the mend.

I wish you great books and fun cooking. : )

If you don't have a beloved banana bread recipe, Darryl, I just made Smitten Kitchen's Ultimate Banana Bread and it's wonderful. I didn't have any Turbinado sugar for the top, so just used regular cane sugar and halved that, and it was perfect—very fine-grained and tender.

We don't have an Instant Pot, but we have a pressure cooker—a big heavy Swiss Kuhn Rikoh with next to no moving parts, and it's a workhorse—and we make Mark Bittman's pressure-cooker risotto, which takes about seven minutes. Not just porcini, but just about anything can go in there after the main part is cooked—asparagus, butternut squash, zucchini. We leave out the wine because we never have it around (my husband doesn't drink), and it's probably not as subtle as the kind of risotto you stand over stirring for an hour. But it's great for weeknights, or just short notice, and really versatile.

>220 kidzdoc:
2016 expiration date is quite old for yeast. I am not sure if my method would compensate for yeast that old. You probably did the right thing with it.

However, me being the ultra frugal person I am, I would probably have tried it. I would probably double the amount of yeast asked for in the recipe. If it didn't work you wouldn't have been out much as most dough is just flour, water and yeast. That would have been before this event as now yeast is scarce. I would still have tried it and just doubled the amount of yeast. If it wasn't as viable it would just take longer to rise. There are those who believe that a long slow fermentation on doughs makes much better tasting bread, so perhaps that would have been the case here.

I baked a lemon blueberry swirl bundt cake today. I have some homemade blueberry jam to use up and I thought I would get it all used today. No such luck. I have enough blueberry for another batch of bundt cakes. Now I will have to worry about finding flour. When I got groceries yesterday afternoon the flour I use (KAL all-purpose) was barely on the shelf. Looks like flour will also be hard to find - but there were eggs.

I second the advice on times of day to shop for groceries. I shop exclusively at my local publics because it is close to where I work and live. I went on Saturday afternoon about 3:00 p.m. and there weren't many people in the store. I did not have to stand in line for a checkout cashier. I found the same to be true last weekend as well. I think midday would be a good time to go get groceries.

>217 benitastrnad: I wouldn’t even know what I was watching, but I’ll give it a try. LOL! I’ll try to do what you said, though. No one sells yeast near me any more, and I am boycotting Amazon.

>218 kidzdoc: Oh, 60% time! That’s what I worked almost my entire career. I loved my four-day weekends (every week). Good move! My daughter-in-law, a L&D nurse does 3 12 hour shifts a week. That’s enough!

I am so glad things are less stressful for you now, Darryl. I hope they continue that way.

>220 kidzdoc: I’ll be making Matzo Ball soup this Tuesday because Passover starts that evening. I hope it keeps all of us healthy (except for the chicken!).

I didn’t get around to making bagels yet. Maybe after Passover is over I’ll give it a try. I did make Irish soda bread today, though! It’s a very cool recipe using diced apples, currants, and caraway seeds! It’s delicious!!!

>227 jessibud2: Our states in the USA are completely untethered. There is total lack of leadership at the top although I’ve never been able to watch anything that featured tRump during his entire time as president. For guidance and reassurance during this pandemic, I’ve been listening to New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo, Maryland’s Republican Larry Hogan (whom I’ve disagreed with on issues but who has proven to be an excellent leader during this pandemic), and reading daily alerts from my city of Rockville liaison on email. All have provided competent and informative updates.

>229 Berly: I'm glad that you're also using Qvar to keep your asthma in check, Kim. I usually start taking it in early March, once the pollen count in Atlanta begins to skyrocket. It's 2556 today, but that's down from nearly 10,000 on the Sunday before last. I also stay indoors with doors and windows closed as much as I can when the pollen count is high, as excesive pollen alone is enough to bring on an asthma flare up, especially combined with a viral URI (upper respiratory infection). Fortunately I only have a very minimal and insignificant cough and am breathing comfortably so far, with no URI symptoms

Steroids, including inhaled corticosteroids such as Flovent and Qvar, also induce the production of pulmonary surfactant, a molecule that uses surface tension to keep open the alveoli, the small sacs at the termini of the bronchioles where oxygen is delivered to the bloodstream in exchange for carbon dioxide. In respiratory distress syndrome, whether adult (ARDS) or neonatal, especially in extremely preterm infants, there is a lack of surfactant production by the lungs, which directly causes respiratory failure. Early studies of healthy younger adults who have died from COVID-19 have found that a good number have developed ARDS. So, it would be highly advisable for anyone like us who suffers from chronic lung disease (asthma, COPD, emphysema) to take inhaled corticosteroids on a regular basis (I use the 80 mcg/puff strength, two puffs twice a day), in order to maximize the amount of surfactant the lungs are producing.

I pray that your husband doesn't have COVID-19, makes a full recovery, and doesn't pass on whatever he has to you.

>230 lisapeet: Thanks for that banana bread recipe, Lisa! I have everything I need to make it, including Turbinado sugar, but I don't have a 9x5 baking pan. I'll buy one when I shop at my local Publix Super Market tomorrow, and make it that afternoon. I'll let you know how it turns out, and post the recipe in the La Cucina thread that I'll create shortly.

Thanks also for the pressure cooker porcini recipe. I'm curious to see how Instant Pot risotto turns out. I always keep a bottle of dry white wine on hand for cooking, and I'll make seafood risotto (on the stove top, as I need to make shrimp stock using shrimp shells) this afternoon. Lisa, my friendly infectious diseases colleague who told me about the butternut squash and pea risotto she made in her Instant Pot recently, hasn't sent me the recipe, to my knowledge, so I'll have to ask her about it in the next day or two.

>231 benitastrnad: I tossed the old yeast (but not the Fleischmann's glass jar) that I had several weeks ago, after I saw the expiration date, as it wasn't expensive and I assumed that I could easily find more.

Lemon blueberry swirl bundt cake sounds delightful.

I must have misread the estimated delivery date of the Cuisinart bread maker I ordered last month. I thought it was going to come on April 9-10; it will actually arrive on July 9-10! Fortunately my 12 packets of Fleischmann's don't expire until November 2021.

After reading advice from you and Kay I'll go to my local Publix at roughly 11 am tomorrow, before the customers who pick up sandwiches for lunch arrive.

>232 SqueakyChu: I should probably boycott Amazon, but I've been ordering more from them this year than ever before, especially when my father was in the hospital and I was caring for my mother, as it was far easier to have items we needed delivered to the house than to go out shopping, given her dementia and debilitation.

>233 SqueakyChu: Yes, three work days per week on average sounds much better, and I'm happy to not have to work this Monday and next. My younger partners who are paying off student loans, mortgages and child care expenses need the hours far more than I do, and I think two of them absorbed 0.1 FTE (full time equivalent) each. I and my one partner who is older than I am cut back our hours this year, after many years of working a full time or nearly full time schedule (I've been a 0.8 FTE, which in my group is considered full time, for at least the past 15 years).

I'll celebrate my 20th anniversary working as a hospitalist on August 1, which undoubtedly puts me into a unique bracket. I doubt that more than 10% of currently practicing hospitalists in the US can make that claim, and even though Ann, my oldest partner, has been in practice far longer than I have she has been a full time hospitalist for "only" 12-15 years.

I should make another batch of chicken matzo ball soup this week, as I like to always have "Jewish penicillin" on hand, but I'll probably wait until this coming weekend or next week to do so.

>234 SqueakyChu: I agree completely. trump is a completely unreliable source of information, and I've been listening to NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered, watching the PBS NewsHour, and reading The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the medical literature to keep abreast of what is actually happening. Fortunately it seems as though the oft cited curve is being to flatten, although this week promises to bring thousands, and possibly tens of thousands, of deaths in the US, unfortunately.

Ah. I took another look at the email from Williams Sonoma that I received after I purchased the 2 lb Cuisinart bread maker. It states an estimated delivery date of April 10-13, but the tracking number now says it will come July 9-10, so I wasn't misreading it. Every damn body is baking bread in this country!

I am reading a book titled 97 Orchard street about that street and number in New York City. In that book I ran across this passage about yeast on page 29. (I have just started the book.)

"A footnote to the German bread story centers around a New York immigrant named Louis Fleischmann, born in Vienna in 1835. His early history had nothing to do with bread or baking. Rather, Fleischmann was a soldier, an officer in the Austrian army. In the 1860's, his two brother, Ma and Charles, emigrated to Missouri, where they set up a business producing the kind of compressed yeast used by Viennese bakers, a product unknown in America. In 1874, Louis decided to follow them. In the centenary year of 1876, Louis and his brothers set up a "model Vienna bakery" at the great Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. A smashing success, its main product was something called "Vienna bread." Buttery and delicate, with a glossy brown crust, it was the perfect texture for dunking in coffee. Riding on the success of the model bakery, Louis Fleischmann opened a similar establishment on Tenth Street and Broadway in New York City. ... Alongside the actual bakery, Fleischmann opened an elegant cafe that quickly became a favorite dining spot among German intellectuals and opera stars. It was also popular with ew York society women, who flocked to the baker after a strenuous morning of shopping on the Ladies Mile, the strip of department stores, that once ran along Lower Broadway. Of all the dishes on the menu, Vienna Bread was the star attraction. When Teddy Roosevelt was police commissioner of New York in the 1890's, he used to walk uptown from his office on Mulberry Street and stop at the bakery for a lunch of Vienna bread and milk."

If you absolutely can't find commercial yeast you can always cultivate wild yeast. You can find out how to do this on Google. It is what most of us call sourdough. (An old popular folk name for it is Herman.) It will take about two weeks to grow enough yeast to keep your own sourdough. You will also have to maintain it with somewhat regular care and feeding. The beauty of this wild yeast is that it is unique to the place where you live and it will distinctly flavor that bread with that local flavor. It is this local wild yeast that makes San Francisco sourdough or Frankfurt (Germany) sourdough have the unique flavors that have. That is why Red Star yeast (the yeast that KAL sells) and Fleischmann's yeast have a bit of a different flavor from each other.

There is a good chapter on this in the book 52 Loaves by William Alexander and there is a chapter on it in Michael Pollan's book Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation.

When my sister moved from El Paso, Texas to Bozeman, Montana she wanted to take her sourdough with her. I recommended two methods - the first was simple. A plastic cottage cheese carton filled with her sourdough starter. The second was an old timer method. Take your sourdough starter and spread it out on the kitchen counter on top of a cotton kitchen towel leaving a 1 inch margin around the edges. Make a thin layer of the dough and let it dry out completely until it cracks. Then roll the towel up like a jelly roll and pack it in your suitcase. You can even take this through the airport if you check your bags. It will go dormant and keep in this dried form for about a year. If you want to use it, just crack off a bit of it, add water and a bit of sugar. Let it get foamy and then proceed with your regular bread recipe. It will take you some time to figure out how much to crack off and use for your bread.

When you get where you are going, just add water and a little sugar and put it in your new container. Set it in the back of your refrigerator and use it when you need it. Feed it after you take out your starter with more flour and a tiny bit of sugar and you can keep your own yeast for years. If it develops a layer of grey water on it - Don't throw it out. It is still good. Just mix it up and add more flour and sugar. You can find replenishing recipes for sourdough starter all over the internet.

Most sourdough doesn't have a strong taste. It is rare to find those with distinct tastes. That is why the "German" and San Francisco and even New York sourdough is so prized.

>237 benitastrnad: Thanks, Benita; that's great! I own a copy of 97 Orchard, which as you know by now is the location of the Tenement Museum in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. I last visited the museum in the 1990s, although I'm frequently in the area, and sometimes on Orchard Street, whenever I visit the city, especially when I buy bagels, bialys and smoked fish from Russ & Daughters, the century old Jewish appetizing shop on Houston St near 1st Ave. I placed a huge delivery order from Russ & Daughters that arrived 10 days ago, which I'm still working on; I had pastrami cured salmon with cream cheese, capers and a slice of red onion on a toasted bialy for breakfast, which was absolutely heavenly.

I should try to read that book this summer.

I looked up Charles Fleischmann on Wikipedia and found this interesting tidbit:"Fleischmann's great great granddaughter Elizabeth Holmes founded Theranos, a failed and fraudulent blood testing Silicon Valley startup."

>239 kidzdoc:
That is an interesting tidbit about Elizabeth Homes and Theranos and the tie to Fleischmann's yeast. That company is the subject of Bad Blood - a book I have on my voluminous shelves.

Someday I intend to eat at Russ & Daughters.

>238 benitastrnad: Thanks for that interesting information about sourdough and yeast, Benita. I agree; sourdough bread from San Francisco is far more flavorful than any I've had elsewhere, and I always get it whenever I go there.

I hadn't heard of Red Star yeast before I search for active dry yeast on Amazon last month. I didn't buy any, as the only brand I was familiar with was Fleischmann's.

>240 benitastrnad: I also own a copy of Bad Blood, and I hope to get to it later this year.

I've only been to the Russ & Daughters appetizing shop on E Houston St, and not to the café, which I think is located on Orchard Ave. If you're there I would also recommend a visit to Katz's, a classic Jewish delicatessen which is also on E Houston St, close to the appetizing shop.

>241 kidzdoc:
Years ago there was a Katz's Deli in the northern suburbs of Atlanta. I can't remember where it was exactly, but when I would visit friends in Dunwoody I would stop there. They also had a small grocery store with Jewish food delicacies. I remember purchasing 10 pounds of green Greek olives for a Christmas present for my mother because she liked olives.

>242 benitastrnad: Interesting! You're right, there was a Katz's Deli in Dunwoody, which is immediately adjacent to Sandy Springs, where the hospital I work in is located (we're directly across Johnson Ferry Road from Northside Hospital, a.k.a. 'The Baby Factory', which is usually the medical center where more babies are born than anywhere else in the U.S., and very close to Emory St Joseph's Hospital on Peachtree-Dunwoody Road; the area where the three hospitals and numerous physician offices nearby is locatd is called "Pill Hill" by local residents). I hadn't heard of or been to the Katz's Deli in Dunwoody, and don't know if it has any relation to the far more famous and much older Lower East Side establishment, which opened in 1888 and was made famous by the movie "When Harry Met Sally". Russ & Daughters, on the other hand, only goes back to 1914, and the Café is probably no more than 10 years old.

There is a sizable and longstanding Jewish community in the Sandy Springs/Dunwoody area, and two of my Jewish partners live there.

There is a new Jewish deli, The General Muir, located in Emory Point village on Clifton Road across from the CDC and just north of Emory University's campus, which has gotten rave reviews, and, based on comments I've read, may be the best one in the Deep South. If you, Kay, Pattie and I meet up for the Decatur Book Festival again this year we should go there, as it isn't too far from downtown Decatur. That area of Atlanta, Druid Hills, also has a sizable and longstanding Jewish community. I imagine that you've seen "Driving Miss Daisy", and seen the house in North Druid Hills that was the fictional home of Miss Daisy, who was Jewish. I've passed it hundreds if not thousands of times, when I drove from my apartment in Virginia-Highland to Emory's Egleston Hospital for Children when I was a pediatric resident at Emory.

Hi Darryl, I lost track of you somehow. I'm sorry to read about your dad's health, but glad to hear he has improved, if is unlikely to return to the health he previously had. I know how hard that is to deal with, and how hard it is being pulled in multiple directions.

And then of course we have C19. I've been working from home full time for over two weeks now. Making a couple of shopping trips a week. Managing to get most of what I want, but having to make do and mend sometimes too.

Like you, with existing health issues that put me in the more vulnerable categories I am pretty much in lockdown. I'm glad to have a book or two for company.

Stay safe and well.

Interesting comments about the Tenement Museum and environs. I visited it maybe ten years ago? And found it fascinating, as well as having lunch at Katz's, which was a memorable meal. If the Decatur Book Festival still happens, I'm all in for grabbing a meal at The General Muir.

>239 kidzdoc: What an interesting connection between Holmes and the Fleischmanns! I interviewed John Carreyrou, who wrote Bad Blood, for a panel a few years ago and read the book beforehand... if he mentioned that, I forgot.

Also, ordering from Russ & Daughters is a great idea! I lived in the East Village for many years, and loved that place. I'll have to take a look. The Tenement Museum is a neat place too, for anyone passing through NYC in the future—they've really developed it into a very good museum from humble origins. Great gift shop, too.

>246 lisapeet: Their gift shop is amazing. I got a watch there where the bracelet is made of old-time typewriter keys that I think is wonderful.

>240 benitastrnad:, >241 kidzdoc: Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
I read it last year. After trying unsuccessfully to get my non-fiction book group interested. May've been too sciency for their tastes, but the relevant cultural aspect is how far you can get in life with brazen lying and elite connections. I would expect that to a doctor it would be enraging.

Darryl, here's a heads-up for you. Tonight, from 8 to 10 pm, on PBS, is the first of a 2-part Ken Burns documentary based on Siddhartha Mukerjee's book, The Gene:

https://programminginsider.com/pbs-to-debut-ken-burns-presents-the-gene-an-intim...

>249 jessibud2: Or if you only have half an hour, Mukherjee spoke with WNYC's Brian Lehrer on COVID-19 yesterday.

I finished Afropean: Notes from Black Europe late last night, which lived up to its billing as one of the Best Books of 2019, as chosen by BBC History Magazine, The Guardian, and New Statesman. I'll probably start a new thread after work and write a review of it then.

>244 Caroline_McElwee: Good to see you here, Caroline! Because of the pandemic and the extremely high pollen count I chose to stay indoors the past 4-1/2 days.

>245 RidgewayGirl: Yes, I'm definitely up for a meal at The General Muir if the Decatur Book Festival happens this year.

>246 lisapeet: Ordering from Russ & Daughters isn't cheap! I'll treat myself to it on special occasions every 2-3:years, which I chose to do last month when I had to cancel my trip to Philadelphia to visit my parents and spent my birthday week home alone.

>247 RidgewayGirl: I haven't been to the Tenement Museum in at least 30 years. Hopefully I can pay it a visit later this year.

>248 qebo: I suspect that a biomedical resarcher would find that Elizabeth Holmes' actions to be much more infuriating than a physician would. It's increasingly difficult to get NIH or private funding, and money that went to Theranos likely meant thst legitimate projects weren't being funded or recognized, and private investors might be less willing to support other potentially groundbreaking technologies. I spent four years in an academic research lab at NYU Medical Center between undergraduate school and medical school, so I'll plan to read Bad Blood later this year.

>249 jessibud2: Ooh, thanks, Shelley! I'm a member of my local PBS &;NPR stations, so I'll be able to watch that series on PBS Passport, the network's streaming service. I saw him speak a couple of years ago in London during a 5 x 15 program dedicated to that year's Wellcome Book Prize shortlist, as five of the six authors talked and answered questions for 15 minutes each.

>250 lisapeet: Thanks. Lisa! I'll listen to that interview this weekend.

>251 kidzdoc: Theranos was out in the world selling fake results to real people:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/07/05/theranos-elizabeth-holmes-...

Congrats on being able to reduce your hours! Enjoy those Monday's off!

>252 qebo: Yep.

>253 ChelleBearss: Thanks, Chelle! As I said to Katie (katiekrug), the best day of any week is No Work Monday. I'm off today, and will be for the next four Mondays.

____________________
I finally finished writing my review of Afropean, so I'll now start a new thread.