General Update #124

Dusty called Joyce on his walk home from campus ~8 p.m. (8/27/2020) to check in with her before it got too late to call.

Joyce was extremely conversational and "baseline normal" during the visit, only briefly forgetting that Dusty had already discussed the good news (being cancer free) with him earlier in the day. Joyce stated that she was quite happy and joke she was potentially "too excited to sleep" from the good news that she did not have any signs of cancer. She expressed relief about not having brain or spinal cancer, stating that she was concerned that would be what the doctors would tell her. She is most thankful that she has been given more time to be with family and to enjoy her life. 

Joyce was excited to think that soon she will be returning to the farmhouse and joked that she probably cannot even recall what the place looks like anymore since she has been gone so long. Joyce and Dusty did the math and confirmed with each other that this is still the longest she has ever been gone from the farm and it will be good to fix that.

Joyce is looking forward to getting hugs from the family again, and admitted that it has been hard not being able to touch and hold her kids, even if they are all now grown adults. 

Joyce and Dusty discussed how she would like to celebrate her return to the farmhouse when it occurs, rough ideas about how to manage her care, ideas about navigating her diabetes, and thoughts on the coming fall weather and what to do around the house together for baking items that have been dreamed up and added to the "to bake" list. 

Joyce and Dusty discussed family, living and deceased, from both sides of her bloodline and in-laws and briefly had a dialogue about family growth, change, and existential oddities and deep time matters in general (such as how many human lives were lived out and done in order to get a person to where they are living in the present today). 

Joyce discussed what she had been watching on the Create channel and some of the other shows she had found distraction in the last few days, some of which she is out of order for and wasn't sure she knew what was going on in the overall season arc (like the new season of NCIS) but it was nice for her to find something familiar, and see actors she liked play out their scripted dramas.

Dusty reviewed the rough timeline, as far as he currently had grasp of at that point, with Joyce about the remaining steps toward her discharge from the Aspen Park facility. Joyce was confident that she had waited this long to go home, so she could wait a little longer. Dusty confirmed that she would get back to the farmhouse. 

Joyce ended the conversation once Dusty reached his apartment doorstep, acknowledging that she knew he was Dusty (unprompted) and wishing him and the rest of the family a good night.

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Dusty called Aspen Park ~8:25 a.m. (8/28/2020) to connect with Maggie, following up on the missed call from yesterday. Sue answered and reported that Maggie had not yet arrived on site for the day. Dusty confirmed he will attempt to follow up with Maggie later if she did not reach out to him first.


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