Gary Chronicles - Event 12 - Ativan and getting neat and tidy

I will be adding some more funny ones soon.  Promise. This one is but frustrating.

 

Gary’s 43 yo heart doesn’t know to stop.  It just doesn’t.  Also, Louk.  For the last few days he has been agitated.  His tailbone is taking a lot of pressure but he is just confused enough to not stay on a side to help relieve the pressure.  No skin is broken…yet.

 

G was started on Ativan a couple of days ago.  For all my nursing friends, we all know what it looks like when Ativan is NOT your drug.  Instead of being calmer and relaxed, he has been awake for about 12-14 hours a day.  Agitated, pleasantly, but agitated.  It’s like he has been catholic for a couple of days….stand up, sit down, kneel, stand up, sit down, kneel, …..  Yesterday while I was here (SIL and Kristy and I are alternating) and he was wiggly.  We were able to get the nurse in to see his tail feathers during one of his standing acrobatics episodes.  He either leans on me and puts his head on my shoulder or we stand forehead to forehead.  This time he was looking at me, while standing.  He’s been confused and wiggly with busy hands.  He puts his hands up to my shoulders and starts to straighten my shirt.  You know, how the shoulders get off balance and they need to be fixed before you can pull the shirt straight.  He smiled and continued to straighten.  By pleasantly confused you can see that was a pleasant moment between us.

 

A couple of hours later he wanted to stand again. This time we pivoted to the chair so we could straighten out the bed before putting him back in it.  He is sitting in front of me, I’m rubbing his back.  Well, his spine, you can’t go back and forth across his back because his scapulars stick out so far it is impossible to do so.  SO, if you are a pudgy girl, like me, when you sit down in a chair for a long time and you have shorts on, the shorts tend to bunch up.  Then you get up and straighten them up.  Sit down, rinse, repeat.  OK…back to the story.  He’s sitting in front of me.  I feel something on my leg and look down. He is straightening my shorts!  He looks up and says, silently, *wrinkled*.  So he got me all straightened around and back to bed he went.

 

This kid…..

So when you have family who stays with the patient who takes care of all the issues with the patient in the catholic exercise agitation, the staff don't have to deal with it.  The doc and staff here have been great.  They have been trying to get to the sweet spot, truly.  The Ativan was a wild card.  Anyway, I talked to the doc this morning and said we are leaving around 1p because we are all exhausted.  Just letting him know.  My SIL, Meg had been up with him allllll night.  Leaving him altogether wasn't really the plan BUT as Gary said, only lessons that cause a little bit of pain sink in.  The staff needs to feel the pain of the agitation going on in here.

As I said, the doc has been great and he decided to double up on medication to keep him calm.  Was it my convo or Meg's convo that did that?  I feel it was Meg's.  He had the orders and he was putting in while I was talking to him.  Looking across Gary at Meg's face and exhaustion made an impact.  Very articulate, is she and her face backed her up.  Gary told me once that Meg is way smarter than he is and he is a smart motherfucker.  Just like that.  No embellishment.

Hopefully the efforts made by staff and doc today will be effective. He needs the rest as much as we do.

Gary & Dad Chronicles - Kristy - Event 11

 "Kristy!" "Kristy!" "Kristy!"..... these men.

You should know that if there is a heaven anywhere at all, Kristy is going.  No question and no having to account for any transgressions.  Nope.

Dad got sick about 13 years ago.  He had an abscess on his spine that was operated on and cleaned out, twice.  The first one was 17 days from pain starting and after the man went to 5 different ERs.  Finally a doc admitted him to see what was what.  After that he went to a nursing home for some rehab.  He went home with Kristy after that.  Blah Blah Blah, second surgery (they told us it would likely be back for another wash out) to the nursing home on killer antibiotics.  Again, he went to live with Kristy.  Fast forward 12 years.  She had taken care of everything she possibly could.  Series of out-patient surgeries, stents in various arteries, neurology, VA doctors, kidneys, eyes, teeth....  I won't be able to name all of them.  Just know that it was the longest 12 years of her life, in my opinion.  The last few years he was alive were particular challenging with conspiracy theories and forgetting things and forgetting that he even was told something he shouldn't forget.  

The refrain above is the sound track of her life.  The voice of Dad, and now Gary, saying her name is laced with the same inflection, the barrage of orders, the impossibility of finishing one order before moving to the next.

As most of you know, Dad died on February 1.  Gary is slated to go pretty soon.  We have been in AL for about 6 weeks going into the 7th.

So these 2. Phew. Which way was better:

Dad.  He couldn't hear.  One ear in particular was troublesome. He was forever leaning in with...beg your pardon?....I'm sorry I didn't hear you?....come again?....  Consequently, everything he did was loud.  He would call for her and she would be on her way and he is calling for her again.  He woke our mother up at 0430 every damned day and said...Brenda, have you seen my keys?  I don't know why SHE didn't' kill him! I don't know how Kristy did it all those years, but for anyone who loved Wes Louk, you have her to thank for keeping him alive for another 12 years.  You're Welcome.

Kristy and I knew that Dad was not doing well on a couple of fronts, medically.  Of course, Gary was about 1.5 years in to a 2 year diagnosis with Colon Cancer.  We discussed the shittier situation that was facing us.

1.  Dad dies first - Shitty for Gary to lose Dad. BUT we would be able to concentrate on nothing but Gary and managing one Louk man would be quite enough for all of us. If they were both alive when Gary needed help, well I can't imagine how many people she or I would have killed by now.

2.  Gary dies first - Shitty because Dad would lose a child.  I can't possibly think of anyone to wish that on.  Dad wasn't super good with emotions.  He was good with a "love you". "you alright, baby". "it'll be fine, baby".  Losing someone in this way and having to deal with those deep emotions for himself would have been impossible.

So when you are trying to think about how every event should go, the option #1 was the better option. Selfishly, it made things easier to handle without Dad here.  I've already been short with Kristy and with Gary at one point, if Dad had been in the mix AND Kristy or Gary wanted to murder him,  I can't.

It is still shitty that Gary had to lose Dad in addition to all he is going through.  He is about as good as Dad handling hard stuff.  Gave us the opportunity to just be with Gary.

The beginning phrase of "Kristy!" "Kristy!" "Kristy!" started again when we got to AL.  Same inflection.  Same need for full throttle answers and actions.  Not sustainable.  She was here the last time we came down and I stayed for about a week.  Kristy stayed for a couple of weeks after I left.  She was wrung the fuck out.  I think she would have walked home rather than stay longer.

This phrase from Gary was her spine flashbacks of Dad.  Gary and Dad were alike in every way.  I'm not cutting this one thing out that was better in either of them.  Full tilt.  Her exhaustion was 12 years old already.  This time when we came back, I'm not leaving with out her and it will only be hours to days for Gary now.  This is shitty to everyone in every way.

Gary Chronicles - Entry 9 - you have to laugh....

You have to laugh.  You just have to laugh in these situations.  There really isn’t another way to survive it.  The last few days have been exhausting, needing to be finished with it all, all the while, needing him not to die.  

 

Gary is in the inpatient unit for the hospice he is with.  The inpatient unit is incredibly beautiful and save for exactly one nurse, all staff members have been wonderful.  The nurse I am speaking of is medically exact but her approach leaves a lot to be desired.  Not talkative and minimizes what the family is telling her. Now I have seen families who are hindering the care of the patient.  We aren’t them.  They set up a neb treatment, I take it off and turn off the machine.  Needs to have new water or sprite? We do that.  If they try to give him food we make sure everything is set up and take care of doing whatever he needs, which is sip of chicken broth, if he gets anything down.

 

Anyway, Gary is so frail.  He fell about a month ago and didn’t break anything.  I just can’t understand how, but he didn’t.  Right along he has wanted to get out of the bed and go to the bathroom.  Even got a bath one day!  The walking to the bathroom was getting harder and harder.   Night before last he was walking to the bathroom.  I stand in front of him, he puts a hand on each of my shoulders and we walk carefully to the bathroom.  My job is to hold on to his PCA and the medication bag.  Once we are in the bathroom, my job is to continue holding the PCA and bag AND hold the back of his shirt back so he can see what he is doing.  This time in particular, all things had been accomplished and it was time to go back to the bed.  Queue the circus music and everyone gets ready to walk through the room.  He puts his hands on my shoulders and we start walking.  I know I am going to slow for him.  Know how I know that?  I’m glad you asked.  He smacked my ass and said giddy-up!  AND…queue that circus music again!

 

He woke up a little while later and Kristy was by the side of his bed where his drinks, dip and dip cup are setting.  Everything needs to be just so.  The sprite should be in one position, the dip cup in another location, dip ahead of the dip cup, water should be put a little further away from him.  Kristy moves his sprite cup closer to him and he takes it and drinks some.  Kristy is fussing with his table, and he goes to put the sprite down, then he moves it to another spot on the table, then another.  All the while she is trying to take it back from him.  At this point she looks up and he has the wicked gleam he gets when everyone realizes that he was just being an ass.  He was being a fun ass.

 

Quick to say something rude or sarcastic has disappeared.  As we go, the further his communication decreases to strictly necessary sentences and then just words.  We were still getting little glimpses of the man, but today the communication is just mumbles where he likely isn’t talking to us. It’s the skeleton in the bed who looks worse than ever and skinner than we ever could have imagined.  Meg, Kristy and I have shared some photos between each other.  We delete them after.  They are really meant for us to try to chase down some timing that won’t involve our decisions.  No one needs to see any of that.

So, we eat together here and there.  Check the next update for the hilarity of eating together. 

Gary Chronicles - Event 8 - Sarcasm

 Disclaimer:  I am irreverent and have nursing humor.  Take it as it's intended to be, funny and sarcastic.

I've seen it a hundred times.  A family is in agony because they thought their loved one would die quickly. Sometimes that just ain't so.  They move to comfort care and then second guess.  Ok...irreverent and sarcastic, buckle up.

This kid.  Do you know who Jeff Dunham is?  The ventriloquist who has Ahmed The Terrorist as one of his characters?  Well, look.  It's what he looks like, ravaged as he is.

This kid.  For the last month he has done nothing but order things from amazon.  North of $10K in a month!  Buying what you ask?  I'm glad you asked. 

    Remote control car

    Remote control boat

    Legos

    Large tool boxes that he was going to make up a complete set of tools for Meg

    There is so much more....

At leased,7 BIG lego sets for building some car or another, some military vehicle or another, blah, blah, blah...lego set.  NOW each of these things comes as a kit, with me?  This guy, this fucking guy takes every lego piece out of every set, that could have been sent BACK, and organizes them by their commonality.  In organizers that he ordered.  To go on shelving units that he ordered.  Why did he pull them all apart, you ask?  I'm glad you asked.  Because he wants to build whatever he wants to build.  So it is done.  Thank the stars my BIL came into town and helped to organize everything.  I told you that this guy is an engineer, yes?  He is.  He is absolutely brilliant.  Just like the minds of all geniuses, lunacy!  Absolute coordinator of chaos. 

So all that is enough. NOW imagine a living room in a lovely little house where it is decorated cute with plants and inviting couch and blankets to stay a while and snuggle in.  ***Screech!!*** every god damned box on the planet with shit he will never use is by his chair.  It oozes out of his immediate orbit and starts to take over.  Boxes and organizers for the boxes and....exhausting.  Finally my sister tripped and fell so he would get them message to get his shit out of the way.

But none of that was what I wanted to tell you.  The last 3-4 days have been more exhausting.  He was not getting good management of symptoms, mainly pain, so he was taken to the inpatient center.  It's called Shepherds Cove and it is stunningly beautiful, built to give families room and time to smile and greave together.  They set him up on a PCA-Patient Controlled Analgesia - that will give him continuous pain medication and will allow for him to give himself more every 15 minutes, if necessary.  The night they were getting it started he was wild, pisssed and ready to see fueled with straight adrenaline and leave the building.  We worked all that out.

So this guy is on elephant amounts of medication and we have been getting him up to the bathroom.  Have to go with him because he can't hold his PCA and the bag of medicine and hold his shirt up to see what he is doing (more to make sure he doesn't pee on his shirt) and to be sure he is steady.  Well, today he does all of these things and decides he wants to sit in the chair (my sleeping chair) and try to eat some lunch.  So this guy is as alert as he has been in weeks, sips of this, small bite of that and then he is finished.

Stick with me. Couple things here.  In Alabama those signs that let folks know that it is a no smoking campus?  You know like we have at home.  Well, in Alabama there is a cigarette AND a skoal tin.  So the boy dips.  Put-in a dip and falls to sleep.  Someone will come in and need to do something for him and its, I need to take out my dip, can I pee first, can you just leave that one here., heat my heating pad, fix my bed, I need my sprite and dip cup, the sprite is flat - will you go get me a new one.  OMG.... this guy.

When he is asleep it's hard to know for sure if he is alive.  I won't bore you with the details, just trust me.

So they increased his medication and here is the rub.  The second guessing piece.  He perks up.  Talking to us, audibly clear as a bell.  My first thought was OMG what if they want to send him home.  I know how to take care of him but I don't wanna.  The medical director came in and he was right on the page with this being a mysterious rally and that we were days away.  He doesn't think he should go anywhere and we should be able to the sisters (Meg calls us "the sisters") rather than 100% caregiving.  He's not going anywhere.

Don't you get up and talk to me like you are going to walk out of here and go do something fun.  Don't do that.  I know the rally.  I know the time after the rally.

Now.....real talk for families who have loved ones who are dying.  I give you permission for the following:

1.    Being bone fucking, back breaking and emotionally exhausted 

2.    Feeling like you want it to end because you would could go home and sleep in your own bed.  Then it's dammit, he is 43.  It's bullshit.

3.     In the case of Meg, I am quite sure she will like having her house back from all the space invaders.  I want to me in my own house and no one has even been there!

4.     Just getting the news that it is over.  It's done.  Finally.  2 years of anticipation of the nightmare to come.

And many times over we are thankful that Dad died first and didn't have to lose a child.  To see Gary like this would kill him.  Kristy and I went back and forth with who should go first.  This is the way it turned out and it has allowed us to focus just on Gary.  Worded out the way it needed to.

OK...no more bitching about being tired while I am up at midnight with THIS GUY.

Gary Chronicles - Entry 7 - Emotion

 The Gary Chronicles – Entry 7 – Emotion

 

This is going to be a sad one.  No dripping sarcasm or ridiculous quips.

 

Gary is a marvel, sometimes in a good way and sometimes not.  He is every inch Dad.  100%. I’ve mentioned before that they are so much alike, and Gary didn’t see Dad for a long while when Gary was young. It’s genetic.  I have a 70/30 theory.  Kids come as 70% who they will be.  Parents only have about 30% they can succeed with or fail miserably in molding the young brain.  But this is different.  Gary and Dad… they have the same frame of their bodies, crooked and the left side a little higher than the other.  When they would argue, I promise you it was hysterical.  I asked them what it was like arguing with the guy in the mirror.  Hand gestures, same side eye.  Most of all they were true to themselves.  Both of them would say fuck you and move on if crossed.  They meant that shit to the core.  If one of you were cut off by either it would be final and it would not be recoverable.  They loved just as fiercely.

 

The more we meet friends of Gary’s the more we understand the guy he’s been in his everyday existence.  My impressions of the men in his life are as follows.

 

1.     Shane & Amy.  They are a matched set.  They love tenaciously and without fear.  But, Shane.  He is like Gary, without malice, quick to laugh, wicked sense of humor.  Shane has said in no uncertain terms that there are escapades with Gary that he will take to his grave.  Not everyone needs to know everything. Shane & Amy came to the rescue when Gary was in particularly strange situation and their house was sanctuary.  Shane came and indulged Gary’s manic flight of ideas; patient with him, knowing he was going to be pulled and pushed in different ways.  Shane is like the rest of us, he doesn’t like people, but he loves Gary without hesitation and with a willingness to announce to the world, as he tells Gary, I love you man.

 

2.     Daniel.  Another good man who will take some things to his grave that relate to Gary. Daniel has no malice.  He did let one story out from their carefree days.  A memory shared with laughter.  Gary has always played things close to the vest.  No one really knows what has gone on in Gary’s head, he doesn’t ever give everyone all the information.  Today I saw the most ridiculously tender moment between Gary and Daniel.  Gary and Daniel have known each other likely for more years than they were strangers.  A testament to Daniel being able to just have an easy friendship with Gary.  As Daniel talked to me today, he said he hadn’t known Gary was an engineer until recently.  What he did agree with us is, Gary is brilliant. To that I also say, Gary wouldn’t have been able to really hang with someone who didn’t have any brain power.  It wouldn’t have been possible.  As Daniel sat with Gary, they were both quiet.  Gary reached out and put his hand on Daniel’s head.  Daniel stayed right there in the moment, stick still.  And then the tears came for both he and Gary.   I love you buddy.  It was genuine.  **is there anything worse than a man crying?  Impossible to go without tears of you who are seeing it**

 

3.     John, my BIL.  John is younger than Gary.  Just by a couple of years. I feel curtain this has been a difficult thing to deal with.  Gary was around when John and Kristy started dating.  That’s a long time.  John drove 10+ hours to come to Alabama and see Gary.  He was a godsend for one thing… he understands Gary’s language with tools and organizing the 7 zillion things Gary has purchased in the last month.  John patiently listened to Gary’s requests.  Then he got up and did things that needed doing while Gary slept and got the hell out of the house if I was giving Gary tough love.  That tough love typically equals me yelling at him with a quick “I’ve had it” moment.  It’s been hard on John already and hearing the raising of voices is just the cherry on top.  John fixed or fixed as much as possible, around the house.  He also moved around furniture to suit Gary’s manic flight of ideas and an inability to stay on task.  John was so patient with him.  He knew all of the right spots to joke or agree with Gary.  He understood when Gary was worn out and needed to rest and took Gary’s queues innately.  John and I learned to speak with only our eyes. Had to be done!  Moral to this story is no one can be more appreciative of his kindness.  Another good man.  John is a good cut up too.  Never a dull moment but also a good example of someone who must be pretty smart.  You have to be to stand on the same level with Gary.

 

Gary and John have a unique relationship.  They both lost Dad. Dad lived with John and Kristy for the last 12 years.  For Dad being a pain in the ass, he was like the other men I have listed, without malice, he was good to have around.  Even though John isn’t blood surely doesn’t mean that John didn’t lose some one important.  Gary wanted more time with Dad and we couldn’t quite get there.

 

Each of these men love fiercely and love Gary that way.  He may have played things close to the vest, but you always knew where you stood with him.  Gary stood with these men.

Gary & Dad Chronicles - Nails - Entry 6

 The Gary & Dad Chronicles – Getting my nails done

 

When Dad was in the hospital in January, we couldn’t go visit.  We were finally allowed but my sister and my brother were at my house.  There was so much going on.  I typically have a nail appointment late Monday every other week.  So, we knew that Dad was going to be transferred to my center on that Monday, I rescheduled my appointment.  I think I had been without nails for 3 weeks for some reason.  So, I made an appointment for Tuesday morning at 8:30a.  Both Kristy and I had moved all kinds of things around at that point. Nearly all of the time Gary was in was spent dealing with Dad day.

 

So, Dad gets to my center at about 5pm.  Rolled in and my sister, brother and I got all gowned and gloved up and went in to see him once he was settled.  He had COVID so we had to get dressed up like little yellow PEEPs.

 

We all got time with him, he looked just like he was sleeping according to Gary.  He did.  We hadn’t done any live saving stuff, so he wasn’t jacked up from all the “do everything” interventions.. 

 

7:30am the next morning the nurses called to let us know he had died.  The three of us were standing there frozen in time.  I asked if the other two wanted to go in and see him.  Gary said hell no.  Kristy didn’t know what the right thing to do was.  I told her there was no right and no wrong.

 

Kristy asked what I was going to do.  I said go and get my nails done, then I would be into the center.  No more cancelling nail appointments.  Dad would be in the exact same shape when I got there as he was currently.

 

Fast forward to present day and this brother of mine coming into the inpatient unit to get pain and anxiety managed.  He wants me to stay tonight.  Tomorrow, too and for days to come.  So, I say to my sister, I need to get my nails done.

 

Then it occurred to me these Louk men keep messing up my nail schedule. It’s rude.

 

Gary Chronicles - Entry 5 - This bitch....

What folks tell you about a patient who is your family is nothing.  Just all of it. No one can prepare the family who thinks they know what it's going to be.  It is the hospice nurse who knows to the ground she is nothing but office help at this point and doesn't know what is up or down.  My sister Kristy is the real powerhouse in the caretaking business.

So drugs.  They are a beautiful thing except for the time when they decided to have a upside down and sideways effect.  It wildly swings from funny to infuriating and begging for quiet while he is in his mania!

Comedy was this evening's menu.  All things are extra from him.  He asks for something to drink, you get up to get it and he calls your name and says it again.  Well, Kristy's the name he calls.  He doesn't get that he JUST asked the question.

Tonight was the progression of him being willing to take us at our teasing as teasing.  Sometimes he has to be reminded that there is still sarcasm in this life and that we are not out to get him.  He is the WORST with his partner of 25+/- years.  If there is something weird that happens while Meg is in the house, he will lash out and think the worst of her, first thing.  Not deserved, btw.  You know I would say if it were!!

When the yellow/tan skeleton decides that he needs to be walking around, everyone holds their breath!  He is off balance and has fallen, held up by my BIL, John to avert another fall.  He likely weighs 90 lbs.

Non-sense comes out of his mouth.  Sometimes he can weave a story and then provide us clarity on the one piece that is missing.  Then we catch up.  He turns something on TV (which has to run all the time) and becomes agitated because Kristy is on her phone, I am on my computer or my phone and it doesn't feel like anyone is watching WITH him.  Irritated.  If he is watching and listening he shushes us.  If we watch with him and are into it, he wants to tell every story with every distraction and then roll back for the TV show and start over.  It's nuts.

He had an infection in his eye.  He could barely open it and was in pain.  We got abx and eye drops for him from hospice.  Ornery, no on the abx, they don't taste good.  No, he's tired and doesn't want to do eye drops.  

Fast forward to today.  Can hospice get me to an EN&T to check my ears, says he.  My eyes are getting better but my ears still have fluid and are stuffed.  So I say.....remember that abx we got from hospice?  If you had actually taken that you would likely be over.  Now, he's taking it.  Also he had 2 contacts in.  Refused to take it out.  Either of them; until a friend came over and took it out for him.

Had me make him an eye doctor appointment.  His prescription isn't updated so he needs order new contacts. Ahem.  New contacts?  OK...what are you gonna do? How long will you live to wear them?  I'm the one who delivers the bad news.

His ability to swallow is on the brink of not being a thing.  He is on so much medication that the use of the liquid meds we have in the house is going to be so insignificant.  The hospice has an inpatient unit.  We are hoping to get him in there for some IV medications continuously.  We will see.  We call and check in daily to see if there is a bed.

His belly is starting to swell.  He will likely need to be tapped.  It is starting to make it hard for him to deep breathe.

So we are in the confusion/sort of crazy/paranoid/funny/grouchy/needy/demanding/whispering/yelling/asshole/LOUK man!

Just keep swimming.....

Gary Chronicles - Entry 4 - Muskrat

 So...Gary has had 100 lives.  He has been in car accidents, so drunk he has fallen asleep on his 4-wheeler,  and I could go on and on.  It started when he was 3 and his mom got in a car accident that was impressive in its severity.  Gary was in a body cast for a bit.  But now, our story.

Once upon a time, around a year ago plus or minus a few months, Gary was in a car accident.  He was so much more than drunk it was crazy to me.  I have never been drunk that way.  Not ever.  Not once.  I don't know what he drank but he ran into the ditch.  He ran into a BIG ditch.  He totaled his car.  He hit so hard the steering wheel SNAPPED the fuck IN HALF!  That's pretty hard.  Have any of you ever been in an accident and snapped the wheel in half?  Ever?  Have you ever been drunk enough to snap the steering wheel in half?  How about not wearing a seat belt and end up only with an egg on the forehead?  This kid did.  He was drunk enough to be a rubber band and just bounce.

A friend came out to help my SIL to get him somewhere, keep him calm, really to help him not do anything stupid.  I'm help him not to another stupid thing.

Of course the police came.  They asked him what happened.  He told them he saw a muskrat and swerved to miss him.  A muskrat.  That's the animal he picked.  Of all the critters that could be out in the road.  A muskrat.  What in the thundering blue hell is a muskrat, for the love?!?!?

My SIL called me because most times I can calm him down and he listens to me.  Not this time.  He was telling hospital staff they didn't know who he was, and he was going to call the mayor!  Dialing and they whole deal.  I got on the phone and told him all the calm down things.  He said he wasn't going to calm down and said goodbye with a "love you long time" and hung up on me.

OK, so let's get back to the muskrat.  When the laughter came back enough times he looked up the muskrat.  Gary lives in north Alabama.  There are wetlands rodents.  They look like a cross between a gopher and beaver.  Anyway, they are all over the U.S.  For his convenience he decided that they live in north Alabama and southeast Tennessee.  It fit his narrative.

So, in honor of him, every critter on the side of the road or we see scamper and can't recognize, is a muskrat.

That was the backstory. Someone came to house and he was telling the story about the muskrat and the snapped steering wheel and said, "the car swerved, the ditch did not."