The reality is sometimes different than our dreams or wishes. I got my mother here after midnight on Saturday night. Sunday she was so tired she slept through the entire meeting of church and was saying she couldn't hear out of her right ear, her throat hurt and she was really tired.
Her hair has gotten quite long so I trimmed it up and her nails had chipped over time and she had filed them into what looked like claws, never cutting them with the chips on the side. There was one that was about an inch and 1/2 long. I cut and manicured her nails and also planned on giving her a pedicure.When I went to take off the toenail polish Sunday afternoon, I was horrified when I looked at her feet.
Her right toe was VERY infected and her right and left big toes had in-grown nails. I sterilized a needle and released some puss and blood and put on antibiotic ointment and some oils that I have used for ingrown nails for years hoping I could get on top of the infection.
Her toe was a bit better today and I am keeping a close watch on it soaking it and replacing bandages and ointments twice daily.
Her throat is bad and her hearing is still bad. I tried a few different things in hopes they would work but it is crazy how sick she was when she arrived. I am rinsing her ear several times a day with peroxide as my sister was instructed but she woke up a few hours ago screaming in pain.I hope this isn't a reoccurance of what happened a few years ago where an infection in her head causes sepsis and she almost died. Here is a link the the last time she got really sick.
Her hearing is so bad that she has to have the TV on full with my surround in order to hear it and no one can be in the room as it hurts our ears. I could hear the tv in my bedroom which is on a different floor on the opposite side of the house. In the 20 + years I have lived here, that has never happened.
Her leukemia has gone up and down some but she has been getting blood transfusions every 3-5 weeks depending on her numbers. She doesn't like when I make her do deep breathing and some other things to help her but she is really good to try for at least a little while and I can tell they are helping as after the first minute, she starts to breath more easily without the couching that happens in the first minute.
It is so hard to know. I doubt that even if she were in a nursing home, they would have caught all that is going on with her. She forgets what she has mentioned and hasn't and unless it is something that is bothering her right at that second, she doesn't seem to remember it.
A friend was telling me that her husbands mother started with some hearing loss, then dementia and within a month, she had passed away. Maybe my mother is just here so we can enjoy time together. I took her to the ER tonight and they put her on antibiotics, topical steroid and antibiotic ear drops and suggested we get in with the ENT specialist after the new year. I will do what needs to be done as I won't take any chances with her.
As my dad used to say while I was growing up, "It's tough to get old." Funny thing is that he doesn't say that anymore. I find myself saying it sometimes though! I am grateful for both my parents and hope they are with us for a long time but either way, I know I have done what I can. My girls both told me in the past few days how "patient" I am with my mom. I don't feel all that patient but am really trying to understand where she is at and do what I would want done. She truly is an amazing mother and I am so grateful I was blessed to come to her. If nothing else, she has some nicely manicured hands and cute trimmed hair and is enjoying playing a different game every night! Lets hope more ER visits aren't in our future.