Mother died at 3:35 Friday morning...she was less than a month shy of her 85th birthday. Even though I know in my heart that this was for the best and expected, it came as a shock and it hurts.
On Wednesday of last week the nursing home called my sister at work and told her that Mother had taken a turn for the worse, they were unable to get a pulse, blood pressure reading or an oxygen reading. She called me and I met her at the nursing home. Mother was alive, but comotose. We met with the Hospice nurse and the nursing home nurse and they told us it wasn't looking good, but that you never know... We stayed most of the afternoon. Mother was unresponsive and had no idea we were there. We were told that there was no reason to stay and that they would call if there was any change.
Because my sister had jury duty on Thursday and was out of pocket I called the nursing home early Thursday morning to see how the night had gone and to see if I needed to go to Tallahassee. I was shocked when her nurse told me that Mother had roused in the middle of the night and hollered and made a general ruckus that woke several of the folks there and that she was sitting up and having breakfast. Sounded much better!
When my sister finished with her jury duty she went by the Nursing home and found Mother in the same state that she had been in when we were with her on Wednesday, but there was a cup of broth on her tray.
Friday morning before 5 (I'm not sure exactly what time) I woke to the dogs barking their heads off and my doorbell ringing and ringing. It was my friend Ann. My sister had called her because she couldn't wake me by phone (I sleep on my good ear). Anyway, Ann told me that Mother had died and I needed to call my sister at the nursing home, which I did. I met her at our step-father's house.
To make a long and rather boring story a bit shorter I'll just say that Thursday I made 2 trips to Tallahassee and that in between there were countless phone calls, etc. Yesterday was filled with same. Today we bury her.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
updates
Lunch yesterday with two old friends was delightful! We picked up friendships where we left off years and years ago as if the years inbetween had never happened! It was all too brief however. I hope we'll do this again before too long!
I had dinner with Leah Jane...we had left-overs from Ann's birthday dinner last weekend. Everything was still delicious.
Mother is now under Hospice care. They will augment the care the nursing home is providing and do periodic reevaluations of her condition. No drugs or invasive care will be used. As the Hospice lady pointed out to my sister some people live for years under Hospice care, some don't.
I'm sitting here listening to Mercy snore. Not only is she a master purrer, she's a master snorer!
It's a little chilly this morning...the furnace has cut on a couple of times and the thermostat is set on 58!
I had dinner with Leah Jane...we had left-overs from Ann's birthday dinner last weekend. Everything was still delicious.
Mother is now under Hospice care. They will augment the care the nursing home is providing and do periodic reevaluations of her condition. No drugs or invasive care will be used. As the Hospice lady pointed out to my sister some people live for years under Hospice care, some don't.
I'm sitting here listening to Mercy snore. Not only is she a master purrer, she's a master snorer!
It's a little chilly this morning...the furnace has cut on a couple of times and the thermostat is set on 58!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Changes
Thank goodness, Spring does seem to finally be here! We are still in the high 30s to low 40s in the early mornings, but it's warming up to the 60s in the day time. I have had to use the little heaters a bit, mostly in the bathroom when I shower, but mainly I'm not using heat and it's so nice!
The first few azaleas are starting to bloom. They are always spotty at first and then seem to just all burst open at once. I love that! The Japanese magnolias are still blooming as are the red buds. Bulbs are blooming everywhere and everything looks so festive! Oh, and the blueberry bush is just covered with blooms!
Yesterday I got just a bit of Spring cleaning fever. I cleaned the front porch and back porch as well as the French doors inside and out. It's amazing how much better that make one feel...then I Swiffered the ceiling and walls in my bedroom. It looks like it has a fresh coat of paint!
Today I'm having lunch with two old friends...one of whom I see fairly often because she moved back to town right after I did and one I haven't seen in 42-43 years! We were majorettes together a hundred years ago! This should be fun.
As of Tuesday I no longer have a job. That's good news and not so good news...I don't feel like going into it too much, just that I was told to "take early retirement". Will be paid for 6 weeks with insurance. The first few days have been sorta odd, but it'll be fine.
The nursing home has called for a Hospice evaluation of Mother. When I find out the outcome I'll let you know.
The first few azaleas are starting to bloom. They are always spotty at first and then seem to just all burst open at once. I love that! The Japanese magnolias are still blooming as are the red buds. Bulbs are blooming everywhere and everything looks so festive! Oh, and the blueberry bush is just covered with blooms!
Yesterday I got just a bit of Spring cleaning fever. I cleaned the front porch and back porch as well as the French doors inside and out. It's amazing how much better that make one feel...then I Swiffered the ceiling and walls in my bedroom. It looks like it has a fresh coat of paint!
Today I'm having lunch with two old friends...one of whom I see fairly often because she moved back to town right after I did and one I haven't seen in 42-43 years! We were majorettes together a hundred years ago! This should be fun.
As of Tuesday I no longer have a job. That's good news and not so good news...I don't feel like going into it too much, just that I was told to "take early retirement". Will be paid for 6 weeks with insurance. The first few days have been sorta odd, but it'll be fine.
The nursing home has called for a Hospice evaluation of Mother. When I find out the outcome I'll let you know.
Sunday, March 07, 2010
Oh, a hint of spring!
The past few days have been glorious! The nights have been in the 20s, but the days have been sunny, clear and beautiful! I've turned the heaters off and opened the back door several days in a row come around noonish! Lovely!
Yesterday Leah Jane and Max (her dog) and Norma and Maggie (her dog) came over for a visit. We sat outside on the patio for around 3 hours and noshed and drank wine. We had such a nice time visiting and laughing...the wonderful weather made it so special! All of the animals got along quite well, but Maggie wanted to chase cats. Jazzy was having fits every time Maggie went after one of "her" cats and would shoulder bump Maggie and growl at her. They finally worked it out and the cats were none the worse for wear!
No change in Mother. Bert's doing remarkably well, can drive again starting tomorrow!
Yesterday Leah Jane and Max (her dog) and Norma and Maggie (her dog) came over for a visit. We sat outside on the patio for around 3 hours and noshed and drank wine. We had such a nice time visiting and laughing...the wonderful weather made it so special! All of the animals got along quite well, but Maggie wanted to chase cats. Jazzy was having fits every time Maggie went after one of "her" cats and would shoulder bump Maggie and growl at her. They finally worked it out and the cats were none the worse for wear!
No change in Mother. Bert's doing remarkably well, can drive again starting tomorrow!
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
A Bert report
Bert, my 92 year old step-father had a (aortic?) stent put in today. I didn't know about it until it was all over. My step-sister called a little while ago from the hospital and told me about it. It seems Bert was having extreme pressure in his chest and shortness of breath and went to the hospital today about it. His doctor was on call and opted for the stent. I talked to my step-sister, my step-brother-in-law and to Bert tonight. He's doing extremely well and will be going home tomorrow. I asked him who would be staying with him and he said either he'd stay at his daughter's house or she would stay with him for the night, but that after that he'd be on his own. I asked what I could do and was told that tomorrow was when he was going to see Mother at the nursing home, so I'll be doing that for him...doesn't seem like a lot of help to me.
The only thing in life we can be sure of is change!
The only thing in life we can be sure of is change!
A little bit of nothing
There's really nothing to blog about right now, but I just didn't want you to think I'd fallen off the face of the earth!
The 2 major earthquakes recently have truely been horrible! I was listening to NPR this morning and Diane Reems had two experts on her show. They were talking about the world-wide effects these major quakes will have. The one that stuck in my little one brain cell was that this latest quake (8.8 on the Ricter scale) was large enough to affect the earth's rotation! The amount of affect and resulting consequences have not been calculated or published yet, but will be! And, we thought global warming was a problem!
I was in Tallahassee Saturday and breakfasted with my sister. That was nice! Then I went to Walmart to do my monthly pet food shopping. While I was there I decided to get 2 new litter boxes as the 2 I had were quite old and one had a bad crack in the bottom and I had it sitting in a cardboard box! Well, I'm here to tell you that cats don't make changes too well! After throwing the old boxes away and cleaning the area well I put the two new litter boxes down in the same spots and filled them with new litter. The cats (dogs, too) had watched what I was doing with great interest and I had no inkling that there would be a problem. Well, you'd have thought I'd cut their tails off or something! Those 4 cats walked through the house yowling and carping and being generally pitiful! Finally after about half an hour of this I tossed 3 of them outside and left Mercy in. Finally she very grudgingly used one of the boxes and declared it good. Later the other 3 came in and made friends with the boxes, too. Whew! That was an ordeal!
Yesterday was absolutely beautiful! Sunshine and a light breeze with the temp in the high 60s. I left the back door open all day and, of course had no heat on. Well, today it's raining and overcast and dark and chilly. Do you think Spring is really just around the corner? Our town's beginning to look a little like Spring. The Japanese magnolias (the white and pink and purple ones) are all blooming. Redbuds are blooming and bulbs are blooming everywhere. Just enough to really hint at Spring! And then it'll be Summer...ouch!
I didn't watch the Olympics. There was enough on the news and on the computer to keep me as informed as I wanted to be. The good ol' USA did good! Now that they are over my regular tv programing can go back to normal, thank goodness! The Biggest Loser is tonight. Since we missed two week of it because of the games do you think the contestants will have lost even more weight or maybe gained from sitting around watching the Olympics?
As I said, not much news. Will post again when I have a bit more to say.
The 2 major earthquakes recently have truely been horrible! I was listening to NPR this morning and Diane Reems had two experts on her show. They were talking about the world-wide effects these major quakes will have. The one that stuck in my little one brain cell was that this latest quake (8.8 on the Ricter scale) was large enough to affect the earth's rotation! The amount of affect and resulting consequences have not been calculated or published yet, but will be! And, we thought global warming was a problem!
I was in Tallahassee Saturday and breakfasted with my sister. That was nice! Then I went to Walmart to do my monthly pet food shopping. While I was there I decided to get 2 new litter boxes as the 2 I had were quite old and one had a bad crack in the bottom and I had it sitting in a cardboard box! Well, I'm here to tell you that cats don't make changes too well! After throwing the old boxes away and cleaning the area well I put the two new litter boxes down in the same spots and filled them with new litter. The cats (dogs, too) had watched what I was doing with great interest and I had no inkling that there would be a problem. Well, you'd have thought I'd cut their tails off or something! Those 4 cats walked through the house yowling and carping and being generally pitiful! Finally after about half an hour of this I tossed 3 of them outside and left Mercy in. Finally she very grudgingly used one of the boxes and declared it good. Later the other 3 came in and made friends with the boxes, too. Whew! That was an ordeal!
Yesterday was absolutely beautiful! Sunshine and a light breeze with the temp in the high 60s. I left the back door open all day and, of course had no heat on. Well, today it's raining and overcast and dark and chilly. Do you think Spring is really just around the corner? Our town's beginning to look a little like Spring. The Japanese magnolias (the white and pink and purple ones) are all blooming. Redbuds are blooming and bulbs are blooming everywhere. Just enough to really hint at Spring! And then it'll be Summer...ouch!
I didn't watch the Olympics. There was enough on the news and on the computer to keep me as informed as I wanted to be. The good ol' USA did good! Now that they are over my regular tv programing can go back to normal, thank goodness! The Biggest Loser is tonight. Since we missed two week of it because of the games do you think the contestants will have lost even more weight or maybe gained from sitting around watching the Olympics?
As I said, not much news. Will post again when I have a bit more to say.
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