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.

Happy camper!

I am a happy camper! Last week was an incredibly long week and I am totally exhausted. We have help hired for the 7-3 shift and the 11-7 shift. My brother and I will handle the afternoons, but tonight I get to sleep in my own bed in my own home and not get up until I feel like it. Thank you, Jesus! These CNA's and LPN's know way more than I do and certainly know how to take care of Mom. I am thrilled that she is going to have that quality of help. I'm off for a nap now!

Aye, Carumba!

This has been a most difficult week...way harder than I ever expected it would be. So much so that my brother and I are looking for Certified Nurse Assistants to hire. I am exhausted and have lost all my zeal for anything. I am not trained to care for anyone, but especially my mom who has incontinence of the bowel and the bladder. I did not know this before we got her home. There are two upsides to the whole thing...she is happy and I have lost 8 pounds since Monday. Along with the rest of my zeal, my appetite left, too! That part is cool. I am kind of hoping for the end of the world rumors to be true tomorrow.

Good bye sweet home of mine!

Tonight will be my last night in my home for who knows how long. I guess we will hire some sitters from time to time, but not for a while. Didn't sleep much last night just thinking about not getting to sleep in my home. Instead, I get to go back to my childhood home that was built when I was 4 years old! My brother and I have worked hard to get it prepared for Mom's homecoming tomorrow. I told her we had everything but the brass band. She just laughed. We have the hospital bed  and have moved furniture to make sure the wheelchair will fit everywhere. We have planted flowers and hung the hummingbird feeder. The cabinets and the fridge have been re-stocked and lots of stuff thrown out. I am mentally prepared for the transition, I think. I have my high speed internet and my laptop set up at her house and wifi so that all my iphone apps will work. I know she is ready to go home. I am going to get her soon to take her to church.

CRAPPY day!

When I got to the rehab center this evening, the aides couldn't wait to tell me that Mom balked again at going to therapy. One of them even told me that she said, "Hell, no"! My mother has never in her life said that, so I am really questioning what they say they heard her say. I fussed at her about not wanting to go to therapy and she fussed right back at me. I don't know what she was saying, but when I asked her if she was fussing at me, she emphatically said, "Yes"! I don't know what's wrong. She cried and I cried. I apologized for fussing at her. I don't know what is wrong, but we are going home soon and I am not going to fuss at her anymore even though we are paying $140 a day for her to get more therapy. She has no concept of that. When I left tonight, she told me to, "Be happy". I clearly understood that. I think I am just frustrated at trying to handle so much and I am just tired!!!

Glitch #1!

We ran into a road block with Medicare today. Mom has a wheelchair at home and after 13 months, it becomes ours. However, that does not include the time that she has been in the care of others (hospital and rehab center). We have one more month left on the wheelchair. Because of this, Medicare will not pay for the power chair. We cannot start counting that last month until she gets home. Meanwhile, the paperwork on the power chair expires. It's only good for 40 days. What a freakin' mess! We simply must have the wheelchair at home, so the power chair is on hold until we get this all cleared up. The rep at the power chair store is not happy because of "all the work" she has done on this case. Whatever! We have friends here in our area that own a medical supply store and we would rather get it from them anyway, but since it was Mom's cousin who was taking care of all this, we just stood back. The therapist has reservations about whether or not Mom can operate a power chair. She may be right and, actually, she probably doesn't need it inside her home. We can just get a golf cart so she can get around the acreage and not be stuck inside if the power chair doesn't work out. We are making plans to get her home in about two weeks. The saga continues!

Mom had a meltdown yesterday and today when a therapist came to get her to walk. She refused and rambled on and on and, of course, we couldn't figure out why she wouldn't go. She cried and I cried. Today, same thing happened and Stewart was there as well, so he saw what I was talking about that happened last night. She cried again. She got alright, but she did not go to therapy. Tomorrow I will take her to her church again and I hope on Monday, she gets back to working hard. If she doesn't, then we have no reason to be there. This photo was today when my brother and I took her outside to sit for awhile.

Mom update

I spoke with the therapists yesterday and they said that after what seemed to be a plateau, Mom is once again making progress. She finally got a light brace to hold her right foot up so it cannot drag and she is walking further each day. We got a ramp built into the front door of her house and her cousin, the orthopedic surgeon, has made arrangements for a power chair. Apparently, there is lots of paperwork required by the doctor and he has taken care of all that. I have gotten internet set up at her house and moved my laptop, which I rarely used anyway, to her house. Will be getting wireless set up today, so I can use all the apps on my iphone.

It's what's for dinner!

Sauteed vegetables and shrimp over a bed of rice!

Happy Easter to my peeps!

Wow!

Update: Report this morning is that all parties will survive!

At least a half mile from my home tonight, I was stopped from going any further. I could see up the road police vehicles, fire trucks, and helicopters. Turns out there was a major wreck at the intersection by my house. One of the vehicles was a police cruiser. After a significant amount of time, I was able to walk up and talk to my neighbors. They said they would be very surprised if one of the occupants made it. He was airlifted to Shreveport, but they said he was in bad shape.

More blessings!

God just keeps on blessing us! My mom's cousin, who is an orthopedic surgeon, called me again today and told me he has all the paperwork done to get her an electric cart. He also told me he was sending me some more money to pay for extra time in rehab. I tried to discourage his doing that, but he told me my mom is very special to him and she was so good to his mom (her aunt). He just wants to help her get the extra help that home health will not be able to provide. Wow! What a wonderful gift to her and to us!