The grand mammoo has had a tough six months. After our family vacation at the big round river, her cognitive state began to shift. After some anaesthesia required by an endoscopy and a cataract operation, it declined further and it became clear that she couldn't be left alone.
We siblings came to this realization in various stages, as different people do. We took turns hosting her at our houses or coming over to hers to stay. While she was with me I made her check out retirement communities with me, and go to physical therapy. We moved the needle really far that week. The sibs have been moving it further since then.
After the week with me we decided to see whether she could be at home for a week by herself. She hadn't been on her own since the first of the year. She lasted precisely a day and a half before she went rogue. Got her calendar messed up, cancelled all of the pt appointments. Wasn't really tracking well. So my bro came down to be with her.
We've been trying to prevent her from falling, because she fell twice in December and because she has a steep set of stairs to the bedroom. Basically, her house is a death trap for an 87-year-old woman with poor balance and muscle tone. We'd talked about pt for a year. Most recently I reminded her that pt would give her strength, a better sense of balance, and help her be independent for longer. Failing to go to pt might mean that she'd end up moving to a retirement community that she doesn't like as well as the one we've picked out for her.
You can imagine what happened next. While sitting in the kitchen with my brother, sister-in-law and nephew, she bent down to pick up a piece of paper. Fell out of the chair, landed on her hip and broke it. The femur, actually. So ironic. We were trying to protect her.
So here I sit at the hospital, bidding on antelope sculptures live online with Mom, while my sisters check out physical rehab facilities that she can hopefully move into on Monday or tomorrow. This shit happens quickly. Our bro, who has to have his spleen removed, went back home. I ducked out to have my chronic cough looked at yesterday (gastric reflux) and we're not sure exactly what happens next.
Luckily, my sibs and I are operating as a good team. Lots of emails. Middlesis has finally gotten a phone from which she can text, which helps. And I paid an ungodly sum for two life-size antelope sculptures in order to dampen the pain.
Back to work.
