Overwhelmed
Hi Friends,
This is the first time I am writing the blog from RIC instead of at home. Mom is napping, and I have some downtime while I'm waiting for her laundry to be done, so I figured I'd take advantage of the time to do this.
Today was a hard day for me in general...I am beginning once again to feel overwhelmed with everything I have yet to do, and with how little time I seem to have to do it. Mom's discharge date is 9 days away, and that's not long. And yet I still don't know where she will go when she leaves here...we're still waiting on her insurance to approve or deny skilled nursing facility coverage, and while I have toured one facility and have appointments to tour three more on Monday, I still feel like I should have a plan by now. There are so many things to coordinate, so many phone calls to make, so much paperwork and applications still to be done, and between now and the discharge date, I only have 1 business day off of work. Everything about this is so last minute, I hate it. And I know it's not my fault, but it makes my anxiety level rise by the minute. I also found out today that her surgery will be at a different hospital than the original place she was after the accident...it will still be the same surgeon, which is good, but because of her insurance, they want her to go to St. Joe's instead of IL Masonic. This threw me for a loop...now that I think about it more rationally, I feel better about it, but at first I was beside myself because my mind had been on one track, gearing up for the familiarity of the hospital, and it took some calming down from Jillian and Suzi to make the shift. It just seemed like one more thing to deal with.
In good news, I had a lovely conversation with mom's doctor here at RIC, and he is very pleased with her progress and the complete turn-around she has made since a few weeks ago. Her medical issues are resolved nicely, and she is making good progress in her therapies. A much nicer conversation than when he talked to me about not knowing what to do next with her and not knowing what was wrong. :) Mom did great today in both OT and speech, and I heard she did 40 stairs in PT! Wow! They worked her super hard today.
For some reason, mom wouldn't really eat dinner tonight...I got her to eat a yogurt and half a banana with extreme effort, but she didn't want anything else. I think (and hope) it was because she was extremely tired because she worked so hard in therapy today...she did not take an afternoon nap/rest before dinner, which I think she usually does, so she didn't have any energy to eat. That's why she is napping so late, and I plan to go get her up for a bit now. The weather is horrendous out there, so I am in no hurry to leave. It's VERY windy and pouring rain, which I hear is supposed to eventually turn to snow tonight, so you can see why I'm not too keen on going outside.
Must work tomorrow on the holiday, but I hope to be able to pop over to RIC at 12:30pm for the Thanksgiving meal...I know Lilly is planning on being here, and if I can only step away for 30 minutes that would be okay. It's going to be hard to get through the day...very strange not to have mom busy planning the dinner and cooking all day tomorrow. It won't feel like a holiday, I don't think. I can't imagine what Christmas will be like...I can't think about it now. Ugh. Please continue sending your love and support, I need it now more than ever. Peace to all.
This is the first time I am writing the blog from RIC instead of at home. Mom is napping, and I have some downtime while I'm waiting for her laundry to be done, so I figured I'd take advantage of the time to do this.
Today was a hard day for me in general...I am beginning once again to feel overwhelmed with everything I have yet to do, and with how little time I seem to have to do it. Mom's discharge date is 9 days away, and that's not long. And yet I still don't know where she will go when she leaves here...we're still waiting on her insurance to approve or deny skilled nursing facility coverage, and while I have toured one facility and have appointments to tour three more on Monday, I still feel like I should have a plan by now. There are so many things to coordinate, so many phone calls to make, so much paperwork and applications still to be done, and between now and the discharge date, I only have 1 business day off of work. Everything about this is so last minute, I hate it. And I know it's not my fault, but it makes my anxiety level rise by the minute. I also found out today that her surgery will be at a different hospital than the original place she was after the accident...it will still be the same surgeon, which is good, but because of her insurance, they want her to go to St. Joe's instead of IL Masonic. This threw me for a loop...now that I think about it more rationally, I feel better about it, but at first I was beside myself because my mind had been on one track, gearing up for the familiarity of the hospital, and it took some calming down from Jillian and Suzi to make the shift. It just seemed like one more thing to deal with.
In good news, I had a lovely conversation with mom's doctor here at RIC, and he is very pleased with her progress and the complete turn-around she has made since a few weeks ago. Her medical issues are resolved nicely, and she is making good progress in her therapies. A much nicer conversation than when he talked to me about not knowing what to do next with her and not knowing what was wrong. :) Mom did great today in both OT and speech, and I heard she did 40 stairs in PT! Wow! They worked her super hard today.
For some reason, mom wouldn't really eat dinner tonight...I got her to eat a yogurt and half a banana with extreme effort, but she didn't want anything else. I think (and hope) it was because she was extremely tired because she worked so hard in therapy today...she did not take an afternoon nap/rest before dinner, which I think she usually does, so she didn't have any energy to eat. That's why she is napping so late, and I plan to go get her up for a bit now. The weather is horrendous out there, so I am in no hurry to leave. It's VERY windy and pouring rain, which I hear is supposed to eventually turn to snow tonight, so you can see why I'm not too keen on going outside.
Must work tomorrow on the holiday, but I hope to be able to pop over to RIC at 12:30pm for the Thanksgiving meal...I know Lilly is planning on being here, and if I can only step away for 30 minutes that would be okay. It's going to be hard to get through the day...very strange not to have mom busy planning the dinner and cooking all day tomorrow. It won't feel like a holiday, I don't think. I can't imagine what Christmas will be like...I can't think about it now. Ugh. Please continue sending your love and support, I need it now more than ever. Peace to all.
Comments
Love and peace,
Tracy
Love,
Julie M