Things aren't bad...

Most of our intellectual and spiritual energy these days is directed towards helping my MIL who just moved to a nursing home. She is 88 and has osteoporosis and COPD - a lousy combination. (She as already told the hospice social worker that she'd like to die before Xmas!)

The good news is that she likes the nursing home. It isn't perfect but the people are nice and the food is good. Those are two really important things! And we agree! The nurses and other staff seem really nice. I sure couldn't do their job but they seem to be fine helping all those folks who cannot help themselves. I really admire the job they do. The cooks, hidden away in the bowels of the facility, also seem to be doing a great job. Every meal I've seen has been appetizing looking, smelled good and the MIL likes them too. What's not to like?

Tomorrow we have a 'Care Plan Meeting' when we get to talk about how things are supposed to work. Things like: comfort; not overdosing on drugs; usage of the electric wheelchair; leaving the facility and tons of more stuff. The nursing home is a cross between a hospital, a jail and a home. It's a tough act to get right but we are trying. Here's hoping for the best.

All I have to say is that this isn't the retirement I was looking forward to!

BTW - Happy Pearl Harbor Day to anyone who remembers!

Another Sad Day!

We had another sad week here. Last Wednesday we found a bed in a nursing home for my mother-in-law. It is something she certainly didn't want and we didn't want for her but her increasingly serious illness made necessary. Finally, early this week, she decided that she would be better off in a nursing home. She began telling us that when she woke up it was more difficult for her to breath; she was frightened; and it became even more difficult to breath. We learned that all this is typical of the disease. (She has COPD - Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease - and isn't going to get better.) Then when she said she really wanted to be someplace where she could receive care around the clock, we had to act. We went looking for a bed in a facility that was relatively close to our home so we can spend more time with her. Much to our amazement, we found a place in the fourth place we visited! It is a nice place, clean and well rated. We like the people we have met there. She will be well cared for by them. But it is an institution and that's sad.

Hope you had a good week!