Monday, December 23, 2019

Weekend trip back home

We took a quick trip back home this past weekend. Dad was in the hospital and besides that we wanted to help mom get some things ready for the family Christmas gathering this coming week.

We left around noon Friday and stopped at the hospital in Princeton on our way. Mom was still there. We hung around for awhile, then after dad had his supper, we took mom out for supper to Culvers and then on to Buda.

Jane had to do most of the work, since I am still on a 10-pound weight restriction. I was able to get the new dvd player hooked up for mom (and one upstairs as well) and wrapped some Christmas presents. Jane did the vacuuming and after we bought food for the week, she got some of the prep work done with some of that.

Dad was in what they apparently call a "swing bed" or something. It means he was allowed to stay at the hospital to do physical therapy for awhile. He was pretty tired Friday, but he did at least know Jane at one point. Saturday he pretty much slept the entire day and did not look good at all. Sunday before we left he looked a little better and was able to sit in a chair again for awhile.

He is still feeling the effects of pneumonia, anemia, and dementia... plus being 87-years old. I think the plan is to try to get him into a nursing home for therapy today or tomorrow, and hopefully he can stay there once therapy is over (assuming it ever will be). Mom was going to check on a couple places today.

Mom was doing pretty good - though it's always hard to tell for sure because she can put on a pretty good front. I think it was good that she didn't have to make the decision to put him in a home. Having him go to the hospital first helped with that. So it was more of a necessity than a decision. I actually think she is really relieved to not have to bear the entire burden of caring for him finally. It's been a long time coming. At least it seems like it.

It was a fairly uneventful weekend overall. The biggest bummer being that we missed our friend Mike's annual Christmas party. We always have a good time at that.

Anyway, we left there Sunday mid-morning, stopped at the hospital with mom, and then ventured back to the Fort. It was a pretty good trip home. It was in the mid-50's temperature-wise, and a nice sunny day. Kinda weird for this time of year.

So, all things considered, I guess it's going about as good as can be expected. We feel fortunate that our nephew is my dad's doctor, and he is really good about everything. It's also a big relief that mom is no longer solely responsible for dad. She can also get some much needed rest.

And... that's about all there is to say about all that...

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