Happy Labor Day!

I hope that you are lucky enough to have a job to be off from today!

Your President is wishing the labor unions a happy day today. Yeah! They are a major part of the reason our nation is in the bad shape it is in now! People better wake up and get a clue before the next election or watch this wonderful country further decline .

Woo Hoo!

My brother got someone to come in at 5 today for Mom. He told me not to come at all today, so I didn't. I went to a cookout and socialized with my friends and had a great time. We got some residual sprinkles from Tropical Storm Lee, so it was nice and cool and windy outside. Looking forward to much cooler weather this next week...a welcome break from many record breaking days of over 100 degrees. Some days I just have to take a break!

Thank God!

Doctor could find no problems with my brother's liver or gall bladder. Doc suggested he see a cardiologist, but he probably won't since it has only been a few months since he had a stress test. I tried to find someone to fill in for me on Sunday at Mom's so I could go to a cook out, but I struck out on that. We only have one person who has done that shift since one of our caregivers had to move to Texas. She is one of the CNA's that took care of Mom in rehab and she works the evening shift there. She is working on Sunday, so she can't work. We need someone else who could fill in. I hate to be limited to only her days off to get a break for myself. Oh, well....I'll deal with it. No big deal!

Sorry!

I have been forgetting to post here since I spend most of my computer time on Facebook. Things are going smoothly for Mom. My brother has been sick and is having a CT scan tomorrow because an ultra sound last week showed a spot on his liver. Fortunately, I had my 6 month check up with my doc and everything came out normal....no highs or lows on any of the lab results, so I'm good!

What a week!

After moving to rehab, Mom went into complete meltdown and did nothing, but cry. Finally, after taking all I could take with her crying, I went to the nurse and asked her to start taking the necessary steps to get mom discharged the next morning. She did and we took her home yesterday. Now she is happy. Caregivers are back and we have a break again. The caregiver said she was not as weak as we thought. She was just "playing us" and it worked. She cried so much that we thought she had had another slight stroke that affected the emotion part of the brain. She didn't cry once yesterday, so perhaps not.

I enjoyed my one night away in a beautiful resort in Lake Charles and getting to see my adopted family! Had not seen the kids in over two years. The kids enjoyed the lazy river and we enjoyed the beautiful setting. After going out to dinner, I came back to the hotel, stepped in the casino and put in $20 and took out $58...went to my room!

Time for an update!

It's been crazy! Mom has been in the hospital twice since I have updated. First, she had a UTI and was on IV antibiotics for 3 days in the hospital. She lost everything she had gained relating to physicality. Could not even stand up, so we were back to square one. We had finally got her up and walking a little bit when she had another set back...this time it was throwing up and diarrhea which sent her back to the hospital where she is now. She went there last Wednesday with a heart rate in the 30's and vomiting. Finally, an ultra sound of her gall bladder showed some small stones. She has never had that before, but doc is pretty sure that was the culprit with a small stone getting stuck in a duct and making her sick. No damage was done, so we are not doing anything about that. Heart rate has come back up after taking her off Atenelol. Yesterday, she was accepted and moved into the in-house hospital wing for rehab. Hopefully, she can regain some strength and we can continue working with her at home with my brother and me and home health physical therapists.

Tomorrow, I am taking a day off and driving down to Lake Charles to meet up with a friend from South Carolina. Looking forward to a night at L'Auberge du lac Resort.

It's a "God thing"!

Update: My brother just called and we have a lady for tomorrow and Tuesday when our regular caregiver has a doctor appointment! See...I knew it would work out!

Why does blogger keep jacking with things! Leave it the hell alone! I keep trying to change the update above to red and it will not let me! WTH!

We struck out on getting a caregiver for the weekend. I had already told Mom she would just have to deal with an amateur this weekend...ME! Well, tonight our daily caregiver called to see if we had found someone. She said she would come in tomorrow. WooHoo! I will have it on Sunday, but I am happy to NOT have it during the day tomorrow. We are still in need to someone to come in the occasional evening to give me a night off. It will work out! I know it will.

Another HIccup!

Our weekend caregiver and sub for the weekly daytime caregiver had to quit to move to Texas and care for her grandchild while her daughter is in Kuwait. She really liked working for us and hated to leave. We have several leads for replacements...mostly some CNA's that took care of Mom while she was in rehab. They are really good, so I hope it works out schedule-wise for them. This would be a job in addition to their regular jobs. 

Mom now has some gout. Her feet have been hurting, so yesterday the home health nurse took blood and I just got a call that her uric acid was high. I take meds on a daily basis for gout, so I know how very painful it is.

On a personal note, I have been using my Wii fit for about a month and really feel better. It's amazing what regular exercise can do to improve overall attitude and health. It's too hot to walk outside. It's too hot to even go outside! The yoga section always makes me feel better even if it is all I do.

MIssing in Action!

Didn't realize it's been so long since an update. Mom is back in the hospital with UTI on IV antibiotics. Been there since Sunday. She has taken a few steps backwards physically. Can't walk but a few steps with help.

On top of that her car broke down on the way to the hospital, the sewer has been stopped up again and just about everything has gone to hell in a handbasket, whatever that means! The car is being towed tomorrow. The sewer had to be dug up again by my brother and the plumber called again. Once again the caregivers had been putting those damn moistened wipes that I buy for their convenience in the toilet. We told them not to do that and also put a sign on them and they did it anyway. Well, they won't anymore because I removed them from the house. I should tell them that every time we have to call a plumber, we use more of Mom's money. When her money is gone, so are their JOBS!

New Ceiling Fan

New Ceiling Fan

Just testing out how to do some stuff in Blogger. Not exactly planning to install a ceiling fan like this!!!

Uh Oh!

Today was the last day that PT came to see Mom. My brother and I took her out tonight to walk on her driveway. She did really well and walked almost to the end of it. After that, he rolled her around the property so she could see his ornamental gourds. I have no idea what he is going to do with them, but they are very interesting to watch grow. He has also planted some pumpkins and some cushaw, but they are slow about coming up! Tomorrow I will check with the people that we got the wheelchair from a long time ago and see if it is now ours. It should be ours after 13 months, but all the time she was in the hospital and rehab did not count against that time. I want to get started again on trying to get a power chair for her. It was hard to push her around  in that wheelchair in the grass on the property today. Her cousin, who is a doctor, has said he will do the paperwork again to get that chair. The paperwork he did before has since expired and must be redone. We are also checking on perhaps getting Medicare to pay for the adult diapers and rubber gloves that we have to buy a lot of. They are very expensive.

Amen!

Wow! Much needed break!

Friends and I went to an upscale steakhouse last night for dinner. We all needed the break.....one has had to put her husband in a nursing home (he's much older than her) and the other just lost her husband. I really splurged and had the lobster.....yum....haven't had lobster in many years. It should have been a short trip of about 30 minutes to get back home, but due to an 18 wheeler overturned near our exit, it took us 2 hours to go a few miles.

Yesterday, I got some solar screens installed on my huge bedroom windows. This morning I really slept in because those screens had it really dark in my room, but I can now open the blinds in the daytime and not have so much heat come in as well. Soooooo...overall, it's been a good 24 hours. Back to the grind today of doing my part to care for Mom.

Smooth sailing....

That crazy bluebird is making me crazy. He still will not stay off my windows and my patio door. I'm told he sees his reflection and is very territorial. All he does is make a mess. This is MY territory. Today I covered the panes on the patio door with with that kitchen wrap stuff that sticks to itself. I hope to retrain the stupid bird because I can't see out with that stuff on the door. He needs to go somewhere else!

So far, things are going smoothly at Mom's. Her regular day caregiver has to be out tomorrow for a doctor appointment, but she called the weekend person to come in for her. We didn't have to do anything. She is even giving her instructions about taking Mom to the hairdresser. We were very lucky to get the people we hired to take care of her. Every one is good and dependable. Mom is happy and that is all that matters. And.....we finally got an inch and a half of rain. It's not much, but it sure helped! My city has placed water restrictions effective immediately.

'nuf said!

It's hot!

And it's way too early to be 100 freakin' degrees! My grass is dying even though it gets watered every day.  The aquifer from which our water comes is getting low due to severe drought ,,,,,so soon we will be on water restrictions. Maybe I should just go ahead and let it die, but my neighbors would not like that! We all take pride in our homes and especially our yards. I even got my yard aerated last week so the water could get to the roots of the grass and not just roll off the hard ground and thatch. Thank goodness for an air conditioner that works great! I have a call in to a company  to get an estimate on some solar screens. My neighbor got some last week and they look great and made a huge difference in the coolness in her house.

WooHoo!

I had a caregiver come in at 5 today and give me the night off...first one since October 29th. The evening was spent going to a grocery store in Bossier City and Chik-fil-A! Big night on the town, but I was glad just to go do something by myself. My friends have trouble getting together......one had to put her husband in the nursing home (he's much older than her), another has her husband in the hospital, another has her mother living with her, another is out of town caring for her mother-in-law, another is on stand-by waiting to be called to New Hampshire where her sister is in bad shape...another has her nephews here from Maui......and it just goes on and on....so it isn't just me that is tied down!!!!! I even felt guilty that a stranger was putting my mom to bed tonight. That's my job and I have done it every night even when she was in the hospital and the rehab. I have to make sure she is comfortable and tell her good night and that I love her. I told her that before I left her this evening, but it wasn't the same as telling her after I put her to bed.

We had our first major problem caused by caregivers. Someone has been putting the baby wipes in the toilet. The whole septic system got stopped up and my poor brother had to dig it all up and run the snake through it and after a couple of days of trying, he finally got it unclogged and that's what he found. Of course, no one admits to flushing those things. Only an idiot would not know those things are NOT flushable! They are not the little Charmin wipes that are flushable, but the big baby wipes! We also had to get new field lines put in today. That was not the result of the wipes being flushed, but something that just needed to be done due to roots of the huge magnolia tree which my brother also cut down earlier this week. That man has worked so hard this week and all of it at my mom's. Today after the guys finished with the field lines, my brother had to go paint at his church. He is glad this week is over. He admitted he is weary and he never says that.....he just keeps going and going like the Energizer bunny! I feel sorry for him.

Gotta make changes!

It has become clear to me this week that I need to find someone who can come in occasionally during the 3-11 shift that my brother and I currently cover. I had to miss a Memorial Day cookout and tonight I am missing out on going out to dinner with friends because I have to be there to prepare something for Mom to eat, take her to the bathroom and put her to bed every night. My brother cannot take her to the bathroom. People have told me that I could become resentful and I don't want that to happen. I'm on a mission now to make that happen so that I can have a little bit of a life!

Thanks!

Still not quite normal!

Although my life has resumed somewhat of a normalcy, it's not what I was accustomed to. I guess this is my new normal. At least, I am sleeping in my own bed, but there is something about changing diapers on my own mom that is just not right! I didn't think I could do that, but I have had to. I have actually come home a couple of nights before the night caregiver arrived because Mom is asleep and sleeps very soundly. Today, I actually went to Bossier City which is the next city over and much bigger. I was able to get the car washed, get a hair cut and eat some Chinese food. After returning home I have been able to get the yard treated by the yard people and get it watered in since I don't have a sprinkler system. Also, arranged to get the yard aerated next weekend. Finally, a productive day for me. Now, I'm off for my shift with Mom.