February 25-March 14

This is normally a time of year where there is little to blog about (basketball season at McCaskey is over, baseball hasn't started and the Royals have been on an extended road trip) but things have not been normal around here recently. In mid-February my mother (who is 84) visited her doctor complaining of back pain, X-rays were negative but she was given medication and precautionary procedures to follow. After a week's time the pain was not getting any better, we contacted a physical therapy facility in our neighborhood about getting in for treatments. On March 5 she awakened in the morning complaining of CHEST PAINS, I got her to the ER as quickly as we could move. They ran a battery of tests and discovered that the pains were not heart-related, they were as a result of rib fractures. She said she had been caught by a fast-closing door at home a few days earlier (I must have been absent when that happened) and the ER staff told her to see her doctor immediately. We were there the next day, she was given strong medication for the pain and arrangements were made for twice-weekly home visits for therapy. On Monday the 11th she said her throat was bothering her to the point she couldn't swallow, we went to the ER and were referred to an ear. nose and throat specialist. All of this has contributed to her becoming increasingly weaker, since this began I've found myself helping her more and more with the simplest of tasks. I told her she needs to go someplace where she can be supervised by professionals around the clock as opposed to being at home cared for by me simply because I'm not there 24-7 (and I'm not qualified to give her the help she really needs) but she has refused to consider it (for what it's worth her doctor told her the same thing). We were at the throat doctor on the 13th, at the end of the examination she rose from the chair, took three steps forward and would have fallen to the floor had I not been standing right there. This finally convinced her that she needs outside help, when the therapist visited the next morning we got the wheels in motion. The idea is not to put her in a facility permanently but just to get her healed and strong enough to be functional when she's able to come home. We have a lead that sounds encouraging and she is scheduled for an evaluation by their staff nurse so we'll see what happens. Take care, thanks for reading.