The sun was out, and how, on President's Day. After a nice brunch at Whole Foods, I took the 29 bus to Mel's stop, on Main. I made one stop at Panda to get some grub for my brother Mel. It was going on One O'clock.
I needed a stop so I parked myself in front of the Five Points Senior Apartments. Crazy Helen had thrown me out over one year ago, perhaps because she had been implicated in the theft of my brother's car. I felt great that Mel was still alive and the last thread to my past and parents. I also hoped that Mel had been to the dentist to remove his infected teeth. I call the long winding Sea Cliff the Bates Motel. I believe that is the motel in the movie Psycho.
After I signed sanitized my hands, and placed a mask over my face, I walked to station four in the back of what I call the Wax Museum. Several patrons sat in the halls as I made my way to his room, 135 B. Mel was sitting in bed and tray sat on a stand.
"That you George...Glad you made it..." Mel is legally blind due to a mistake by a Vietnamese eye doctor who treated him for Glaucoma ten years ago.
"Got you Panda Mel...ah"
"George, you eat my lunch and bring the Orange Chicken over here..."
In front of Mel's bed is a walker with his closet behind that. He has a patio that looks out into an empty courtyard. I placed his tray of Sheppard's Pie on top of his drawers. I gave him a fork and directed it to the meal. Mel had lost a lot of weight. His unruly hair did not bother me, but it was his hollow face on top of a quivering jaw.
"Mel, I see that your teeth are still there..." Mel was in some discomfort and I knew better than to go to staff but I did. The social worker's door was open. I knew better than to speak to a was manikin, and as usual Social Worker Chris laughed and left. She told me that Mel had refused to go to the dentist which i knew was a lie.
"George, I refused to go to the skin doctor and not the dentist...George is there any food left?
"Chucks friend brought me a Tri-tip steak...His friends are wonderful to me.
After lunch, I told him to get his walker and follow me. Mel could barely see now. I wonderedif he had been to his eye doctor for shots or as the nurse in station four told me, only the doctor can schedule an appointment. This time, Mel could barely walk. Was he getting enough food? I had told Amber at rehab in the basement that Mel needed his teeth taken care of. Unlike Christy they listened to me. Mel wished to walk some more but the assistant wished to change his diaper and I was getting madder by the minute. I told Mel good by and knew I needed about one hour sun.
That night I took two blood pressure pills and had trouble negotiating the day that followed. Mel's doctor during these events is a Mr. Joseph Nasser, a governor of the Huntington Beach Hospital on Beach.
Nuts and Bolts for today: Make sure to get the health and legal rights turned over to you if you too need to take a loved one to one of these Wax Museums.
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