Yeah, so I know it's been two weeks since my mom has been home but I haven't had time to write and you'll see why.
It was pretty chaotic I guess. I picked up my dad and my mom was ready to go when we got there, but she was in a lot of pain. We made sure that the nurse gave her a pain pill before we left. Which was a bit later than we thought. I was told I had to sign some papers and I was waiting around for those.
I went down to social services to talk about the services that my mom would be getting when she went home, and I also talked to this medical supply guy about getting my mom a wheelchair and a hospital bed. She still could not walk that well and I thought the bed would help her get up because it would have side rails. So we agreed that we would have the wheelchair delivered that day abut not the bed, because we didn't have room for it yet. He said he could actually get the wheelchair to the facility within 45 minutes. I went to my mom's room and asked if she wanted to wait that long and she SO didn't look like she wanted to, so I went back and told the guy that we didn't want to wait. He said he could have "his men" deliver the chair to the facility and I could just come back and pick it up.
My mom's physical therapist came out and wheeled my mom out to the car and we were on our way. It was kind of scary because my mom was coming home and, well, what if I couldn't take care of her? We would have the care takers from the company coming to help, but what if she started getting sick again? What if I didn't help enough? What if I wasn't able to come over on "my days" because of headaches or other ailments?
So we got home and my mom sat down on the bed. I think we got home between 1:30 and 2pm. I was very surprised again, like I was when she came home from the first facility. She could do more than I realized. She could sit up longer than I thought. But she was pretty exhausted so she lied down most of the time. I waited for the call to come pick up the wheelchair. In the meantime we started cleaning up a bit because I didn't get over as much as I'd wanted to. I was cleaning off her desk and going through some stuff that she didn't need anymore (we're both pack rats). Nothing too terribly exciting. My dad kept coming in and out of the room and asking my mom if she was in pain. Um…duh?
Then I got a call from the equipment delivery company guy. He said that the guy delivered the chair to the facility and since we weren't there, he left and took it with him. Ugh. Idiots. So then I got a call saying it wouldn't be delivered until between 3-5pm. I wanted to be there when he delivered it, but I also needed to go shopping for my parents and pick up my mom's meds. I stuck around doing housework and laundry, and trying to figure out a way to get the Master Bedroom ready for the hospital bed. The Queen-sized bed was still in there but was not in good shape (my mom was staying in my old bedroom).
It was getting later and later and I really wanted to get to the drugstore. Then I get a call from the delivery company telling me that now the wheelchair will come between 3 and 6. FUCK!!! I just really wanted to home. It had been a long day and I was getting tired. I left a lot of details out for brevity's sake and because I don't remember every single thing. Just doing lots of laundry and light housework and talking with my mom. By 5pm I was fed up and went to get some groceries and the meds. When I got back, my mom said that the wheelchair guy arrived 5 minutes after I left! Of course!
When I went to get the meds, none of them were filled. Okay, so we left the facility at about 1:30pm and the meds were called in around the time we left. I go to the drug store around 5pm. I was asked, "Did your mom just get out of the hospital?" I said, "Pretty much, yeah." She says, "Well, we weren't sure when to fill them (out the like, 10 pieces of prescription paper)." I'm thinking, "Well, immediately after she got out the hospital would have been a good idea." So she says, "Is there any that she would need immediately?" I said "yeah, the pain pill at least, because she needs it by 6pm (it was around 5pm)" She told me it would be about 15 minutes. So I went and did my shopping and then came back and still had to wait at least 10 minutes. My poor mom was still in a lot of pain. She was taking her pain med every 6 hours…6am, 12pm, 6pm, 12am. So her last pill was at 12pm, shortly before we left the facility. I asked the girl working at the pharmacist when I could get the rest of the meds…about an hour or so? She said no, longer than that. Ugh. So instead of going home, I had to go back to my parents' and wait about an hour and a half. On an empty stomach. I just didn't feel like eating all day.
I went back to their house, did more laundry, complained, I don't remember what else. My mom took her pill and rested. I think I gave her something to eat. I went back about an hour and a half later. I think that was about 7:30pm or so. I got my mom an alarm clock to wake her to take her pills. She already had one, so I set one for midnight and one for 6am. Get this…she had 5 prescriptions, and 5 OTC pills to take. Fortunately, 4 of the OTC ones are as needed. So all done, right? No…now I had to figure out when she was supposed to take each pill and fill up her pill box and teach her when and how to take each pill. So I think I probably left…maybe close to 9pm, finally eating around 9pm or so. What a day. I was so tired. I think the whole week was close to being this way. Geez. This first entry doesn't even compare.
Ya know what? For my sanity and your eyes or time or whatever if you read this, I'm going to stop here and post this and write more a bit later. I just don't feel like I can write everything all at once like I typically do with my migraines that I've had all week and all (yes, I really do write it all at once, not bits at a time and then post the whole thing). I think it'll be easier to read and MAYBE more people will read it. But I WILL try to write about the whole week today because I've been wanting to get this written for SO LONG. I'll just do it in gradually, so keep your eyes out, and thanks for reading if you did.
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