A Hiatus

I've been on vacation. Yes...AGAIN! I spent 4 days/3 nights with my very pregnant daughter, Tracy, and 2 1/2 year old Granddaughter, Emma, in St. Paul, MN. Then I went on a ladies retreat Friday/Saturday. Right when I got back into town today, I got a call from the nursing home. Mom had been coughing up yellow stuff, and the nurse wanted to know if I wanted her to be treated in-house or have her taken to the hospital for a chest xray. I returned the call to find that the cough started this morning. She didn't have a fever and was hungry/eating. So the decision fell on me....her advocate. After getting all of the information, I decided that we'd wait to see how she does. She wouldn't let the nurse listen to her lungs, so I knew it would be a traumatic experience for her to be taken to the hospital. I went to see her at 5:30 this afternoon. She was napping at the table and when she woke up, she said that she was cold. She did wake up to eat some onion rings and mandarin oranges, then wanted to go to bed. She didn't know that I hadn't been there for almost a week. She didn't cough.....until right when I left. Did I make the right decision.... the nurse said that she thought that was the best thing to do...to wait and see.

I walked into the nursing home with the lady who bought the farm where I grew up. She used to work at the office, and I've seen her around. I knew her husband has Alzheimers and had been at the other Our House Assisted Living for a bit a couple of years ago, but then she decided to continue to care for him at home. Her husband now lives in the same wing as my mom. He moved in last Wednesday. It's a very, very tough situation.