10 posts tagged “neighbor”

Mom has a second appointment with the surgeon tomorrow. I am hoping he takes the second drain out. See, that's been my job since she got out of the hospital. Measuring and recording her discharge, emptying the drain and disposing of it. It's been an interesting process for me. Certainly the dilution of the fluid has been appreciated, those first few days was, well, like concentrated. To me, the level of drainage hasn't changed much, so I'm still not sure tomorrow will be our day. But I'm hoping.

Her appointment with the oncologist is Thursday afternoon. I'll be glad to hear what he thinks/recommends. I told her from that point she needs to take all the time she wants to decide what she wants to do.

Neighbor update: Her daughter is coming tomorrow and taking her to an assisted living facility in the Houston area on Wednesday. I'm sad to have it happen because I know how difficult this has been for Jill, but I am glad to have some of the responsibility lifted off my shoulders.

All I can think about is Gina and her broken hip. It happened about two years ago. Just like Gerry, she fell. Unlike Gerry, they chose not to fix hers. Instead she laid in a bed for three months. Moaning in pain. Completely incoherent. They didn't even put a diaper on her. Just a pad like I use for my dog. It breaks my heart to remember.

Gerry's surgery went well. The hip was broken in three places, but they were able to pin everything back together. She'll be in the hospital a couple of days and then to rehab.

She's checked in and in a room. The hip is broken at the socket. Surgery is tomorrow. I think I stood four of those hours. Thankfully I am home, showered and ready for the season finale of Mad Men.

I've been running payroll for mom's neighbor's caregivers. Jill sends me the invoices and I get the cash. The brother has been a real pain in the ass lately, so she's asked me to do the paying directly. Not really an ideal option for me, but we gave it a try this weekend.

I paid one lady yesterday and went to pay the other this morning. I was hoping to catch them before they went to church. As I pulled up to the intersection before their block, I saw an ambulance and fire engine. I could tell they were either at neighbor's house or mom's.

Gerry tripped on some uneven ground and fell. They think she dislocated her hip (she can wiggle her toes, which is good). They took her to the hospital. Jill's phone is off. I suspect she is at church. The caregiver went with her to the hospital and brother is going to follow "when he wakes up." I'm sure I'll end of there eventually. Whoo.

Good gravy am I ever glad this week is over.

Neighbor was moved into a skilled nursing facility late last night. She has to be on antibiotics for four weeks for the MRSA. She seems to be doing ok (the dementia helps with that). Her kids? Not so much.

Chemo started this week for my friend. It wasn't until the third day that she started feeling puny. It sounds like right now she is really pukey.

Mom gets another shot next week. I sure hope another one will help even more. I think she's shown good strides in improvement. The leg cramps are still around and she equates that with not doing well, not matter how many times I tell her the two issues are not related.

Gigi is doing better. Still not eating much. Just not quite back to her perky self. The brownie she ate was huge. I had to cut what I ate into bite sizes with a knife and fork. Her heart rate was 200 and her temp was 102.7. Even though I am broke because of it, I am still so glad that she woke me up.

I am off this week and am so hoping to have a reprieve from everything. My goal was to get the house more organized and now I'm two days behind. I'm not going to get too wound up about it and just do what I can.

I'm just home from the hospital. Neighbor has MRSA in the heart valves. Not good. She is quarantined and will be moved to a skilled nursing facility because it could take weeks on antibiotics to kick this thing. She's 87, so the odds are working against her, but you never know . . .

Mom's breathing has started acting up again -- she just finished the antibiotic yesterday.

And my Spurs lost tonight to the stupid Lakers. Sheesh.

I've spent the bulk of my weekend with mom's neighbor. I've know Gerry all my life. She has Alzheimer's now.

And the bulk of my time with Gerry has been in the hospital emergency room. Saturday night they let her go home. Sunday night they checked her in.

First they decided it was a UTI, which is common in seniors. So they sent us home with an antibiotic.

Yesterday she got progressively worse. Wasn't talking as well as normal. Couldn't stand on her own. Hadn't pee'd all day. So we took her back. They checked her blood cultures from the night before and found one is growing some sort of bacteria. In her blood. Which is bad at any age. Very bad when you are 87.

I've taken today off to help get some things done. Her younger son lives with her and needs some sort of professional health care person to help with her daily now. Jill lives in Houston. I was able to stop her from driving over Saturday night. She would've gotten here in the middle of the night and by then her mom was zonked out at home. So she came yesterday morning.

The son panics easily. Which sends her into a long-distance panic. Course, I'd be freaking out too if it was my mom. I told her to trust me that I would tell her to come if I thought she should. At least she got some sleep that night, cause I'm sure she didn't get much hanging out at the hospital all night last night.

Frankly, I'm a little bushed myself. But, this is what you do, you know?

My mom and her neighbor have known each other over 50 years. My brother and her kids grew up together. Her daughter is like my big sister.

Gerry is 86 now. And she's losing her memory. In an Alzheimer's kind of way.

For the last week or so she's been having tests and they've discovered something on her brain. They've told her she can't drive anymore (yes, she was still driving and yes, the thought of her on the road scared the shit out of me).

Anyway, this is really about my mom more than the neighbor.

You should hear the terror in her voice as we all talk about Gerry not driving anymore.

That is her biggest fear. Losing the ability to drive. Losing her freedom. This has been a very emotional week for her. I've not yet said, Mom, this is not about you, but we're working that way.

I try to ride with her on a monthly basis. Or follow her some where. To keep my finger on the pulse. She's not scared me yet, so we continue to live our lives like normal.

I don't think about my mom not being able to drive. All my life I've imagined that she will work till the day she dies. Which means she will have driven herself there or driven herself home beforehand.

As I was flipping through my mail when I got home, I found an envelope with my first name handwritten on it. I figured it was from my neighbor. His dad died recently and I'd left him a condolence card.

Neighbor travels a lot and when he does, I feed his cats. On my porch. With the food he leaves for me. Such a struggle.

Anyway, the note is nice:

I just wanted to say thanks so much for the card and everything you've done for me. Everyone should be so lucky to have a neighbor like you!

P.S. Have an evening out on me!

Mind you, this guy has mowed my grass countless times and I'm not sure what else I've really done for him.

I open the enclosed envelope expecting maybe a gift card or something, only to find a $100 American Express Gift Cheque.

My first thought was <insert neighbor's name here> have you been smoking crack?

And that's the exact line I opened with in my "you are so generous but no" note back to him.

Yesterday morning while I was working in my yard, Anna, my neighbor from across the street, came over and invited me to her brother's house for an Easter celebration that evening. She called it a prayer service that was geared for children. And then we would eat.

I'm a little on the reserved side. My immediate reaction was to come up with some excuse, but it would've been a lie and that seemed wrong with the Easter thing.

So I went with a store-bought apple pie. It turned out to be a lovely evening. I was stunned when it was 10:30p. I thought I'd be long gone by 9p (it started at 7:30p).

I'm not good with strangers. With making small talk. I feel like the sore thumb in a crowd. But I worked really hard to make eye contact and be really gracious. Thank you so much for inviting me into your home. Yada-yada.

Mind you, I don't know Anna very well. As we stood in the kitchen we had the "now, where do you work?" conversation. I tried to stay with her as long as I could, but she eventually dragged me out to meet people. It is so nice to meet you. And then I wandered about the house, admiring the bright colors and decor.

Eventually we made our way into the back yard for the service. There were as many children as adults and they were the actors for our stories.

I sat next to Anna's best friend Maria. Know when you have instant rapport with someone? That's what we had. We kind of glommed on to each other so Anna could socialize with her family and friends. We were laughing and joking and teasing in no time at all.

The evening included stories from the Bible, songs, reading, even a PowerPoint presentation.

It was really a lovely evening. It was cool outside with a nice breeze. Kind people. A tasty potluck meal. Excellent lemonade. A good story.

I'm glad that I went.