It's been quite a while since I last wrote here. For a while, it was because we were in a very satisfying holding period. Then the bottom fell out of that holding pattern and I really didn't feel like writing or talking about it. In many cases, my mood mirrors my mom's. I suppose that's pretty normal. On Thursday, somebody from Kindred called me and told me that Mom had … [Read more...]
New Fiction Book – Zombies!
I don't know the plotline, but I was inspired yesterday at Mom's nursing home to write a new non-fiction book. It will involve old people, zombies, and Pepsi. Oh, and a fight over a TV remote. Annnddd...the lady in the bed next to my mom repeatedly chanting, in a whisper: "Stick it in! Stick it in! Stick it in!" I'm convinced she wants to kill me. … [Read more...]
“Desat”
Desat is a word I need to get used to hearing, apparently. My mom's oxygen level got to around 88 percent last night. The staff tried giving her oxygen. She, of course, wouldn't take it. A conference between the hospital nursing staff and hospice this morning agreed that she isn't in imminent danger. But they've ordered oxygen anyway, just to be safe. Not sure what this … [Read more...]
Hospice
Today sucked. I put my mom in hospice care. I had only heard of hospice in passing before my mom and I started on this journey. It's her journey - I just feel like I'm riding along with her, mostly unwilling but fully aware of what's going on before me. Hospice connotes very negative things, chief among them is imminent death. Because that's what it is - when a doctor has … [Read more...]
Smells
I think smells offer the strongest link back to distant memories. I was reminded of my grandparents from decades ago this past week while I was walking through the halls of the nursing home my mom is at. My father's parents lived in Clayton, CA, most of my life up to the point where they both entered rest homes back in the late '70s. I don't remember much about the places … [Read more...]