Well, in the continuing saga of Mom's health, she was so miserable in the rehab clinic, that we decided to bring her home. She will now receive home therapy by a home health agency. And yes, that definitely means Marti and I have canceled our trip. In fact, we have changed our future plans as well. Let me explain.
Every day I visited mom in the rehab clinic, she would constantly tell me she was miserable, that she wanted to come home, that she couldn't survive another minute, that nobody loved her, that nobody paid any attention to her. She wouldn't do her therapy, she hardly crocheted. She mainly laid in the bed feeling sorry for herself.
I decided to not go into the rehab center one day (as an experiment) to see what she would do. I talked to her on the phone and she seemed ok. Then later that night (midnight) I got a call from the nurse saying she was extremely agitated. I talked to her on the phone and it was evident that she was very distraught insisting that I take her home. No amount of talking changed her mind. I finally went in to see her and got her calmed down and back to sleep. However, it was because of this that Marti and I realized that it would be impossible for us to leave town for two weeks, let alone one day.
Our next thought was to take her up to stay with Nick and Pam (as was the original plan) but we knew that would be extremely taxing on them as she cannot remember to walk with her walker. Someone would need to sleep close to her and when the bed alarm sounds, immediately wake up and help her into the bathroom.
So we scrapped that idea. However, we still had the dilemma of how to take care of our business interests in Idaho. Gradually, the idea settled in that Marti and I simply needed to move back to Idaho. It seems the best solution which actually appeals to us.
Marti, at this point in her doctoral pursuits, is working on the writing portion of her dissertation and is not required to take any further classes. She must do a considerable amount of research which she can do at the county library system in Idaho (inter-library loan, etc) and on the internet. She needs to present her prospectus before we leave and she is scheduled to do this on August 21st.
So we could leave soon after this date. Hopefully, mom will be in much better condition by then to be able to travel across country. The particulars on how we’ll do that is still up in the air but it will depend on mom.
I appreciate the words of support, advice, counsel you’ve all given both through emails and on the phone. It has been much appreciated. As I write this, mom is sitting in her chair working on her crocheting and very content. There was very little discomfort during the drive home and as long as she doesn’t move, she feels very little pain. Her stamina is very low but that should improve with time. The most important aspect of this is her state of mind. Everyone, except her, understood that she needed to stay in the rehab center. And yet, here she is. Both Marti and I know that her upkeep has now moved up quite a bit. We’ll see how it goes tonight. Is there such a thing as a crib for an adult? How about duct tape?
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