Of course there aren't any pix of the emergency room or ICU (although the family with the daughter who "took too much Tylenol" was photo-worth! It was like those Only At Wal-Mart photos your friends and acquaintances send you) I know it's wrong to look and judge, but what path takes you to those public clothing, conversation, body art, dental and parenting choices???
Anyway, mom made it out of ICU stable physically and unstable mentally - her memory took a big hit, up to the 4th floor. I can't imagine what it takes to work in the medical industry - unless you are a doctor and then I'm sure money and the whole god-complex thing play a part (and YES, I understand that some just want to save lives and make a difference and make the world a better place), but nursing and aides is a whole-nother thing. BUT - if you choose it, you should do it to the best of your ability. I am the family member dreaded by hospital staff the world over...I am like a bulldozer, a pit bull and a written down list of all conversations/promises/plans...and I will find the time to monitor, even when I don't have the time to monitor!
Mom was at North Hills Hospital and we had some great nurses - Dana, Lauren, Judy, Mahesh (although he took some training!). Great aides as well - it's been so long, sadly, I don't remember all the names...except one...Keyron (pronounce Key - Run)... what a rare and magnificent human being and he made sure mom was well taken care of - even when he wasn't assigned to her room/hall.
Odds of running into this young man again are slim, but he made such an impact on me and my family and he went above and beyond the call of duty...I am sure I abused his kindness in my need to make sure mom was okay AND keep my job AND take care of the kids AND make sure Peyton started volleyball and Keaton made it to baseball and football (practice at 6:45 am!!!) AND get branches comfortable with starting their budgets AND stay positive for mom AND act like nothing was wrong at work...because let's face it - right now they could care less! Anyway, I thank God for Keyron and the perfect storm that made him mom's aide on that 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 7th and last day!
The giant Mom Note became kind of urban legend on the 4th floor. Mom was so confused and so scared and when mom is scared it comes out as nasty. Mahesh was bit scared of Peg and the physical therapist manifested herself as a kidnapper to mom...so many stories, so much drama, so heart-wrenching...but it's over...but I loved this picture of the evolving note...getting paper at the hospital is like pulling teeth, so I just had to make due! This one is on one of the place mats they serve the bland, unseasoned, beige lunch plate on!
Mom's first day in rehab...back to Bishop Davies...please let there be major reform and resources in skilled nursing care before I need to go there! I learned so much about O2/blood oxygenation levels during this 6 week stint - I really could get a job there! Let's see, I had the Executive Director hiding from me, the doctor annoyed, got one particulary lazy,arrogant nurse fired, got the Dept of Aging and Disability all up in Bishop Davies business, went through 2 social workers in 5 weeks, had a nervous breakdown when I thought they lost mom, put an extra 100 miles a week on my car with all the back and forth trips, heard mom cuss like a sailor at shower time, finally got her to wear her new clothes from last Christmas, became an expert at denture maintenance, and discovered just how dependant my mom is on me. Tried to protect the kids from as much of it as I could, tried not to abuse Patrick's time if I didn't have to and found strength to dig my heels in to make those people do their job even when I was so tired I really wanted to just pray and give up...cried and cried and cried and took enough Ibuprophen and half-Tylenol pms to keep at least one CVS in business. AND only missed 1 day of work, 0 volleyball practices, 0 baseball games or practices, 0 football games (and still made it out to mom's after every one of them), didn't screw up any reports, miss any deadlines or kill anyone...I AM my mother's daughter!
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