It’s been a weird fall. There were days that have been very hard, such as the first day I saw my mom on a respirator in ICU. Or, the day we had to fly emergently to New York because she was in ICU. The day she was admitted to a nursing home, and then, the…
Over the last month, I’ve written several times about a health crisis our family had with my mom. It is now four weeks after sepsis landed her in an ICU bed for a week. This was followed by a step-down inpatient unit for a few days, until a rehab bed was secured in a transitional…
Today has been such a long day. It started out fine. Yesterday, I agreed to get up and walk with my husband when he took our dog for her morning constitutional today to the local nature trail in our town. I walked the same trail yesterday with a good friend in the morning. It was…
Last night was the first time I slept in my own bed in 18 days. No, I was not on a trip. I was caring for my parents in another state. Our care involved three, one-way plane rides, three 888 mile trips on the I-90, and staying at my parents and my sister in law’s…
Finding time to write in the last two weeks has been difficult. And, when time is found, the words just do not seem to come. This is unusual for me and it is not writer’s block. It is because I have been helping to handle a family crisis. My mom has been in the hospital…
Mid-January, I traveled to New York with my husband to see my parents. They are in their mid-80’s, still living in their own home. The day we arrived, New York had just opened vaccinations for group 1b – those 75 and older. Much of my time there was spent trying to secure vaccine appointments for…
It’s two weeks after I last wrote about the poor vaccination roll out in New York State. I live in Wisconsin but was in New York visiting my parents when they opened vaccine registration to group 1B. My parents are still awaiting an appointment. I’ve checked EVERY day for the last 19 days and have…
Last night, after watching two football teams I like play poorly and listen to the sports announcers trash both, I decided there are things I need to ignore for a while. In addition, this decision arose after a week of trying to schedule my parents COVID-19 vaccine. I am the type of person who gives…
I am with my elderly parents. They are old enough to be next in line to get the COVID vaccine. But, the receipt of important information is not coming easily. The turn to technological dissemination of essential health information has left our seniors behind. Portals, apps, and cell phones have replaced the way many of…
I’d like to challenge you to sit and really think about my post today. We are ten months into a global pandemic. How has it changed your life? How has your life stayed the same? What do you miss? What do you now know you can do without? To get you started, I’ll share some…