[ Home | All Archives ]

      Wednesday, February 13, 2008


tales from the parkside
02:15 PM - 02/13/2008

The topic: I’m back

----------------------------------------------

and tomorrow, I’m taking a day off.

This morning went pretty smoothly.  Yeah, right.  They never wrote it down last week when I told them mom had a dentist appointment this morning. She was in bed, covered up when I got there. Still in yesterday’s clothes.

I said “mom, get up, you have to change, you’re going to the dentist!”  While she was changing, I found a half of her breakfast wrapped up in two Kleenex tissues.  I don’t imagine she was saving it for later.  She was hiding it.  She’s still playing games when it comes to food.

Anyway, we made it to the dentist on time. We were getting along pretty well.  We weren’t at the dentist long and on the way back to the facility, I picked up a burger for her at Del Taco and I got a burrito.  And I got us large drinks.  We got back to the facility (she didn’t understand why I didn’t take her home) and got her back into her room and back into her bed.  She told me I could go, she’d eat her meal later.  Which meant she wasn’t going to eat it at all.

I told her to eat it now, not later, we didn’t get the food to be eaten later. She said she’d put it in the microwave later.  “Mom, you don’t have a microwave.”

So, she split the burger into two pieces and took a bite. Then she wiped her mouth.  She’s good at this.  She set the napkin down and took another bite.  The napkin had opened.  The bite she’d taken was in it.  She spit out the food.  I didn’t say anything, then she told me she was done.  I said “you’re not eating anymore?”  She said no, she was not.  I took the food, and put it in the trash. I mentioned the piece of burger in the napkin.  She denied it. I showed it to her. I asked her “how stupid do you think I am?”  I went and got one of the guys who brings in the food and told him that she wasn’t eating, could he get her the regular meal she was supposed to have had?  Since there was no note to not bring the meal, they did have one for her.  And I asked him if he would take care of it.  He said “sure”.  He found her meal and brought it in.  She looked at me in surprise.  I told her you didn’t want what I bought for you, you have to eat.  So, Tommy is going to make sure you eat.  I told her I wouldn’t be there tomorrow, I was taking the day off and I’d see her Friday.  And I left.

But I forgot her walker and I had to go back.  Tommy had her bed in an upright position, she had her towel/bib on her lap and he was feeding her, she wasn’t feeding herself.  She said “when can I go home?” and he said “when you eat”.

It’s very frustrating for me, because I want her to get better.  But unless the new dentures come with a miracle, I can’t see it happening.  I’m afraid she’s going to just starve to death. And this is hard for me.  I will not be one of those who has her force fed.  I won’t do it.  What kind of a miserable ass life would that be?  I don’t think she’ll eat wherever she is.  At an assisted care place, at a board and care, in the hospital, if eating is such a frikking chore for her, then maybe it would be best to let nature take it’s course.

Take her home, drop her off, make sure she’s got microwavable food, lots of water, then say goodbye.  Call her every morning, she can lie to me and tell me she’s good, she’s eating and I can pretend that I believe her.  Then one day, she just won’t answer the phone because she’ll have finally done what she’s been trying to do for the past year. She’ll have starved to death.

At least she’ll be in a place that’s been a comfort to her these past twenty years.

I’m just so frustrated right now.  Put her in a home, she’ll be miserable and she won’t eat.  Take her home, she’ll be happy and she won’t eat.  Both with the same results, one just a little quicker.

*sigh*

I hate this. Because I know I can’t make her want to live. No matter how hard I try, no matter what I do or what I say, I can’t make her want to live. And I don’t want to watch as she kills herself.

 


| | Permalink

tales from the parkside
07:25 AM - 02/13/2008

The topic: Dentist today!

----------------------------------------------

Today, mom will be fitted for her new dentures.

Yesterday, I went to both of her banks to get official Power of Attorney.  There was no problem at Washington Mutual, but the rat bastards at Union Bank of California, said I needed their form notarized, the official one I already had wouldn’t do.  I was looking into this to find out exactly how much money mom has in her accounts so I know which to write checks on (her rent, cable, telephone and the upcoming ones for a medical alert system and to pay someone to stay with her).  On her UBOC account, the retirement check is a direct deposit, one hundred dollars goes into her checking account, the rest into savings.  I’m pretty sure I’m going to be needing to draw money out of the savings to help pay some of the upcoming bills. 

Well, I did sign her up for online banking, the info should be in her mailbox this week and I can hopefully transfer funds that way.  She can still sign the checks.

She walked better yesterday, didn’t need to stop so many times to catch her breath.  I was told the day before she got angry with the workers there.  Because one of the RNs made her get out of bed and walk down the hallway.  I was glad to hear this, really.  Something that concerned me was the fact that she seemed a little phlegmy, so I asked her doctor, who just happened to be at the station desk, if he could look at her.

She was okay, he felt that maybe she had allergies, because her lungs were clear and her glands were fine.  He talked about her progress, how well she was doing.  This just pleased mom to no end.  She put both of her arms up in victory and had both thumbs up at the same time.  It was really cute. He said she was all over the place, not needing any help.

I did ask him about a stronger appetite stimulant for her and he shook his head.  He said they’re out there, but any of the side effects would be major bad for mom and we’re not taking any chances.  And we talked about the pain in her back, he said “no pain killers or muscle relaxers” and mentioned that the doctor who prescribed them for mom originally didn’t seem to take into consideration she was dealing with a senior and not an 18 year old. (I’m going to keep that comment in mind for possible future use. I’m good at letter writing.)

He said that she would probably do well in assisted care, she’s in too good of shape for board and care.  I told him what we wanted to do, to get someone to stay with her for four hours a day, probably three days a week (every day for two weeks to begin with) and also have one of the available medical alert systems.  I really think her mind will get better in her home environment. And she’s walking as good (if not better) at the facility as she was at home.  He said she should do okay as long as she didn’t go back to her old ways (not eating and drinking).

She was disappointed when I was leaving, she asked would I come back for her.  I just looked at her and told her “no, you don’t go home today” and I showed her on the calendar when she did get to go home.  I put a little kitty sticker on it and wrote “HOME!” on that day.  So, she has something to look forward to.

She is remembering more.  She remembers that she has a dentist visit.  She’s starting to care about how she looks. “Those shoes are filthy.”  “Do I have something to wear to the dentist?” Things along that line. I asked her about her reading and she said “I love to read, but it’s hard here, there are too many distractions.”  A complete thought that made absolute sense. And she’s doing more and more of this every day. 

Today, after her dentist visit, since it’s only a fitting and her mouth shouldn’t hurt, I asked if she’d like to grab a cheeseburger and fries on the way back to the facility.  She thought about it and said okay, since her mouth wouldn’t be hurting (and I hadn’t mentioned that at all, just another sign that her thought processing is starting to work properly in some areas).  She said “we can have a picnic”.  I’d have to find a flat outdoor place for this and I couldn’t think of one offhand, so we may just end up back at her room.

The past week, when I leave, she’s said “let me walk you to the door” a couple of times.  She gets out of bed and walks with me to the door of the room and says goodbye.  Yesterday, I had to wait for wheelchairs and the like to be moved, so I turned around and watched her walking away.  She was talking to the woman in the other bed.  She said something about me then I heard her say “I don’t know what I’d do without her”.  How sweet that was to hear.

She still loves getting the cards.  Her focus is getting much better.  If you want to send her one and I haven’t sent you her address yet (I know there are a few of you), go ahead and leave a comment and I’ll get the information out to you today when I get home.


| | Permalink

catstuff
07:18 AM - 02/13/2008

The topic: The outfronts

----------------------------------------------

No sign of the kitten or Gilly last night. Not that that means anything bad has happened.  I don’t believe we’re the only place feeding at this point.  Brian saw Gilligan yesterday morning (Brian was leaving the house early and was up long before I and he fed Gilly and KittyMeeze).

The cat I assume to be female and a mama hasn’t let me touch her since Sunday night.  She’s been by every night, but won’t get close to the food if I’m sitting there.  She must have been mighty hungry Sunday.

This morning, a little after seven, it was light out and the cats who were sitting on the patio and on the lawn were watching the same area of the fence.  Curious, I went to see what it was and Jackson was chasing something that was on the fence.  It was the pretty cat of the past few nights.  Since we’ve never gotten Jackie fixed (I have scars on my arms from him, I will not grab him ever again), I can only assume he smelled a girl in heat.

I wonder if she was trying to get into the yard. She does that, she’s toast.  *lol*  Well, not toast, but she’ll be in our own little verson of the roach motel.  The next time she leaves the premises, it will be in a carrier headed for the vet to get spayed.

Keep your fingers crossed the little guy shows up again.


| | Permalink

otherstuff
06:54 AM - 02/13/2008

The topic: I’m a wooter

----------------------------------------------

I woot. I don't recall mentioning woot before, but it's a site I check every morning when I first log on. http://www.woot.com and http://sellout.woot.com are two that I like. They've got a wine woot and a shirt woot, too.

This morning, http://sellout.woot.com has a no name (not that I've ever heard of, anyway) premium high gloss heavy inkjet photo paper, two twenty-five packs for $4.99. That's pretty darned cheap. The most you can order is three, so I'm getting three of the two packs, or a hundred and fifty sheets for $14.97 plus $5.00 shipping.

Just thought I'd share the joy.


| | Permalink
All Archives


lisaviolet is seventy something, married with no kids, takes care of lots of cats, likes taking photographs, loves Southern California weather and spends altogether too much time avoiding her responsibilities.

In her spare time, she makes pretty things to sell in her store.

February 2008
S M T W T F S
          1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29  



SVG Cutting Files at SVGCuts.com


website design by





©lisaviolet 1996-2024
Photographic images are the property of the photographer,and may not be copied, printed, or otherwise reproduced on any other site or used in any other publishing medium without the written permission of each individual photographer and kennel/cattery owner. Cathouse privacy policy.