Long absence, bouncing back....

Wow, can hardly believe it has been so very long since I have posted.  Life ballooned up for us at the end of January when my mother in Washington had a fall.  She wasn't hurt but spent a night at the hospital and it was apparent that she could no longer live alone.  We stayed with her for several weeks trying to arrange adequate home care for her.  Also had relatives pitch in for several weeks, too.  When it became obvious that quality care we could depend on where she lives would not be possible, we brought her home with us and set about moving her to assisted living.

At the same time, our dear Chucky dog was very ill and after numerous ultrasounds and quality diagnostics by three vets, he was diagnosed with cancer.  He had surgery and they removed six inches of his small intestine, along with a tumor.  He needed 24 hour care, too, so we did not get mom moved right away.  After two weeks, Chucky started chemo.  It has gone well and today was his last of four treatments, now we wait...  He will have more ultrasounds to look for anything that might have grown or changed since his last one.  We are optimistic for a good outcome. 

 

 

Mom did not fare as well as Chucky did.  She made it three nights at the assisted living facility and two of those nights were at the ER for many hours.  She suffered some pretty severe trauma from leaving her home of over 50 years and she was found to have a severe UTI, plus possibly a TIA.  She spent eleven days in the hospital being detoxed off all meds and new ones started.  Then moved to a rehab facility for almost two months.  Needless to say, we were with her most every single day.  When I needed to be home with Chucky after chemo, Tramp 1 went and had lunch with mom from work.  It has been tough, very tough for everyone.  Being 90 years old is not easy!

 

 

Last week we moved mom to an adult family home.  She doesn't like it and neither do we.  But for now, we know she is safe and cared for.  We will start searching for the right place for her again - this one was picked out by a sibling and it is not a good fit.  Mom is bored and lonely living with very inactive women, younger than her but she calls them all old ladies.  She thought the food was bad at the rehab facility but says this is worse, that she would not feed it to a dog!  Yep, a very vocal and unhappy lady we are dealing with.

 

 

So that is what has been going on around here - or should I say going on AROUND us, since we haven't really had time to be here!  The weeds are winning and the garden is very sad.  The boat we bought last spring has been in the water just one time.  But we have mom and Chucky and that is all that matters!