Bringing Meme Home
10/28/2007 08:21 p.m.

Today is my last day of employement at the long term care/rehab facility where I have been employed for the last year.

I am nervous, but excited at the same time. I get to be a stay-at-home care provider and, consequently, a stay-at-home mom. YAY!!!! But, Meme's "condition" has been stable and improved for the last week or so, and suddenly I find myself feeling trepidacious about the whole idea. I hope, hope, hope I'm doing the right thing. I've given up my employement (although I DID discover during my stint as a cook that #1 - I don't enjoy working all alone and #2 - I don't enjoy cooking for 40+ people and #3 - I DEFINITELY had a more difficult time preparing meat for these folks to eat than I thought I would (I became a vegetarian in January of this year).But we will be mostly reliant upon her money to make it and I hope we're not dipping into the money put away for this too soon.

Meme is VERY excited about coming home, though stubborn about wanting to get around on her own. She is quite capable lately, but with her bones being so very brittle, all it would take is one more fall, I'm afraid, to send her body into terrible shock. As it is, she seems to be experiencing another UTI (her 7th this year) and her immune system is already so fragile...

Well, I'm nearly ready for her, just a few finishing touches. I've gathered all the equipment I think I'll need in the coming weeks/months - a hospital bed, a bedside commode, a wheelchair, a transfer-type shower bench, depends, etc. Although, at this point, she is fully capable of using her old bed (which she states she would prefer for the time being) and she is no longer incontinent. Such a strange condition. And she is just about back to her "old" self save for a couple of strange reminders. For instance, she continues to insist that she "can't get rid of" the "gum" in her mouth, and she constantly "chews" it and seems fully unable to stop the chewing. When I ask her if she has gum in her mouth, she is able to answer that she does not, that her mouth is empty. I remind her not to chew, and she replies, "well, I know it but I can't get rid of the gum. I keep trying to swallow it, but it doesn't go down. I keep trying to fish it out, but I can't find it." So strange. And her short term memory is still pretty much gone. I keep telling her that she's coming home in "x" days, and she says, "Ohhhhh????" But then she'll bring up that she's excited about coming home. She told me today that she can "almost remember using the (incontinent) pads, but not quite." Anyway, strange stuff. So, I know I'm doing the right thing...so that she isn't alone ever.

Ok, back to work for me. 7 more hours on this shift, and then hasta la vista for this place. Then, I'll be totally broadcasting from home.


I am currently Blessed
I am listening to the ticking clock