Just Got Back from Spokane
10/27/2002
Writing an e-mail will kill many birds with one stone though I'll still need to make a few phone calls tonight. Wendi is at the hospital, Tina in Winthrop and maybe Gregg. Talking about "plans FOR Mom" is relatively easy but I find "talking ABOUT Mom" a lot tougher. Writing also puts it at a distance; more clinical.
Anyway, I left Spokane at 2:30, like Wendi taking an Alaska Airlines flight. (She came into Spokane last night.) This will allow her to drive to Winthrop behind the ambulance when Mom goes home. Where it stood as of then was.....
Dr. Nickels (oncology) says Mom can stay at the hospital as long as needed till we get the living arrangements up and running. We like Dr. Nickels.
Danielle Something-Italian-Sounding (Social Worker- Setting up hospice care). Things might be set up by Monday. Or, they might not. What she's in charge of setting up is medical instruments such a hospital bed, wheelchair and the like. Nothing immediately required as she already has oxygen there. I think it'll happen tomorrow.
The Great Nurses at Sacred Heart- Jeanne needs to 1. Eat More 2. Move about more. I'm hoping Wendi can persuade Mom to chow down more food. Someone’s always lecturing Mom; it might work eventually. We (a nurse and I) tried to get Mom to take a walk but she was just too out of it to manage more than standing up straight and taking two tiny steps to the left. I'm just telling her over and over, "One step means one more paragraph". The two things she's REALLY interested in are reuniting with Benny the Dog Couch and getting lots of writing done. She needs her strength and her mind to do the writing. J is working on making the computer set up more user friendly.
Speaking of Mom, due to our (well, Barbara's) complaining and griping, Mom's morphine dosage has been lowered. Last night, right after Wendi and I left her room (about midnight), she was given a 12 hour dose of morphine with the idea of fewer injections from the 1 to 2 hour doses she had been getting. Barb was quite alarmed at what a zombie Mom was this morning so the dosage has been lowered. Mom seemed much more with it by the time I'd left at about 1:30 today. Mom was very distraught at the prospect of Barbara going (and possibly me, too) but Aunt Barbara was going to leave shortly after I did. A very, very tough choice. Mom's also charged about going home and is ready to go at a moment's notice.
Tina (Godsend) She's looking into home health care givers in the Valley.
Not having talked to her or anyone else in the past 5 hours, I don't know her progress. She was going to try to get ahold of Jeff to discuss a possible Mother/Daughter team who might serve our needs. She also keeps telling Wendi she can be in Spokane in 3 and 1 /2 hours.
Me. A bit frazzled. Trying to be less thinking/more action!
Wendi (Wife) Is staying with Mom. The only family member there now with her. She'll be "on duty" at least until Tuesday and has offered to stay longer if needed. On a side note, she was really thinking she might be pregnant and so was quite happy. Doesn't look like it though despite the few positive pregnancy tests (more were negative). Severe cramps have been a problem and because a friend of ours nearly died last month from an ectopic or tubal pregnancy, I didn't want to go but Wendi felt for sure it was just the onset of "that time of the month" and told me to hit the road. Besides which, she WAS at a hospital. Not something I want to think about.
JS (mom's cousin). The S Family doesn't hold that high esteem among the Bs but I’ve got no complaints against J. He's been there twice and promises to visit her in Winthrop. A standup guy in my book.
That's all the cast of characters I have any news on. In terms of the Plan For Mom, hospice will take care of the medical needs but we'll will need to provide the 24/7 care. Just playing around with the numbers last night, if we had a Home Care Giver work a 12 hour shift Monday through Friday, Jeff and Gregg could alternate evenings and Steve and I could alternate weekends. That would leave Sunday afternoon till morning for one of the zillions of Valley folks who have offered to volunteer. (We don't want to use this resource up too quickly.)
This would give G/J some breaks while getting me and Steve in on the action and using the tons of volunteers to plug the holes. It's still going to be damned expensive though. $2,400 a month at $10 an hour. In theory, Medicaid will start picking up the tab once she's in the system but that'll be a month away at least. Wendi says the Medicaid does pick up the tab retroactively in some cases. That'd be super but we probably shouldn't hold our breath.
(Continuing to write unencumbered by consolations with anyone...) Wendi and I could cover 1 /3 of that without great hardship, even half for a few months. Realistically, Gregg's share could be made up of the biggest slice of the watch. Steve and I can't.
Anyway, those are my musings for now. Hopefully, someone's come up with a better plan. I think I'll start calling people.
Brian