The Good and the Bad of a Less than Good Week
My daughter took me to see Dick tonight. I hadn’t seen him in a week and missed him badly. Today I had gone through some of his clothes still in my closet and cried. I missed my old friend so much and I missed my current love as well. I was so thankful for that few minutes to hug him, hold him and get him to bed.
I have spent the last four days in the hospital (here we go again). I finally just couldn’t take that anymore and said I needed to get home. So the issues are still not cleared up but after four hospitalizations last go around I managed to get better so I figure I will again. Plus I learned just how much I want to be with Dick just as he is.
Unfortunately this unplanned diversion means that this week’s meeting with the nursing home and ombudsman had to be postponed another week. I have called the home daily to get a report on Dick’s condition and his spirits. I got glowing reports that said he was doing well and had been very cooperative and positive. They were not expecting me to visit tonight after my call earlier today so when I got there, Dick was sitting AGAIN in a puddle of pee. And nope, he hadn’t been showered. GRRRRRRRRRRRR!
However, I did have one positive thing happen when I was hospitalized. I spent a long time talking to a CNA who not only has worked at the home Dick is in but also many of the others in the area. Her insights were extremely helpful and she gave me some ideas on what other homes in the area are like from an aide’s perspective. She has been doing this for a long time and her care for me was quite good. So, I feel that her opinion on the subject was pretty reliable.
Bottom line is that unless I want to travel daily for 45 minutes or an hour to visit Dick there is no other home to move him to. Unfortunately most of the nursing facilities in close proximity are no longer accepting long-term patients. They have all been shifting to rehabilitation care. So either I make things work where Dick is or I must bring him home.
Yeah, bring him home. How can I even think about that when I am requiring someone to care for me right now? It feels like a no win situation. If I were just two years older I guess we could both move into the little apartments next to the senior center which provide limited assisted living. But that is not an option yet. Wish they would average our ages!!
Still, I cannot feel too down tonight because I do still have my Dick with me. And even with the dementia and aphasia he beckoned his aide into the room tonight and with beaming face said, “This is my wife. This is my wife.” Always wished I could purr!
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