My Mama is Home!

FINALLY!   After about a 6 hour ordeal yesterday, I was finally allowed to bring Mom home.  She was so exhausted by the time we made it home that we just took her straight to her room so she could go to bed.

She's feeling a bit better today and much more settled.  She was pretty disoriented waking up in yet another strange room in the span of a month and a half.  She does like that we changed her to this room - sunnier and warmer.  We had a home health care nurse come in who was really sweet and very informative.  So we're going to try to move forward from here and do what we can to make Mom comfy and get her what she needs.

Thank you for all the heartfelt prayers, support, and well wishes.  We all appreciate it very, very much.  (Especially ME when you put up with my ranting and make me feel better with your lovely comments.)

Mom Update & A Rant

Sorry for the lack of posts, but we have been pretty busy with stuff  trying to get ready for Mom to come home - or not. She has now been stuck in the hospital since DECEMBER 2nd - is it no wonder she is going bonkers stir crazy?  We've spent the last couple of days rearranging the house so that Mom will now be in what was our guest bedroom.  We've found out in the last few months that it is much warmer and sunnier in that room than the one that Mom initially chose on the opposite side of the house.  I'm hoping she'll like the change (I did ask her about it before I did it, but you never know.)

Now for the rant:  I really am not bashing the medical profession again - as a whole, but I sure do wish this bunch of clowns here would get their act together. First they told us we would be bringing her home - you know, about a month ago? Then they say, nope - we are going to put her in a skilled nursing facility for a few weeks - 7 miles even further away for a total of 42 miles from our house one way. Well hmmmm, let's change that. Now we are going to send her home and have home health care come out to the house. Sounds great to me! Nope, let's hold off & we'll let you know. 

Fast forward to this week:  Monday, Jan 11th - we have a bed lined up for her at the nursing facility. Tuesday - well, why don't we just send her home with you tomorrow instead. OK. Wednesday - well, the nurses gave her a certain medication so she can't go anywhere today. Thursday TODAY - I am sitting here in her room trying to figure out if I am really taking her home like the discharge nurse who called me today says OR if it is like the nurses here in the room told Mom this morning and THEY ARE SENDING HER TO THE SKILLED NURSING FACILITY but NOT TODAY????

Please forgive my screaming in caps, but WTH? Can you feel my frustration? No one here writes anything down or fills anyone else in on what is happening. Who knows what they do at shift change? It's sure not briefing the oncoming shift about the patients.  The nurse in charge of Mom two days ago told me she likes this assignment because she only has two patients to care for. Whippy skippy! You have twelve hours to care for TWO whole patients and YOU CAN'T WRITE ANTHING ON THE CHART FOR THE NEXT SHIFT or fill in your relief??

Sorry again, but I don't want to wake up Mom - who knows if she will be travelling home with me or going 7 miles to the east to the facility or staying here or how about being moved from one private room to a different private room at 11:30 AT NIGHT?  I am so not happy right now.  And to top it off, I am trying to type this on my phone because I don't have anything to keep me busy while we she's asleep and we're waiting to hear which ring of the CIRCUS here she'll be starring in next...

If you stayed with me for the entire rant, thank you so much for listening.  If you didn't, can't blame ya for leaving.  I probably would too.

Stimulus, Influence, Drive

My post about my 2010 Intentions ended with the synonyms of the word MOTIVATION - stimulus, influence, and drive. I have been thinking quite a bit about what motivates people lately. In observing the nurses and nursing assistants taking care of Mom in the hospital, I got to wondering what their reasons or motivations were to enter the nursing field.

Since she has 2 nurses and 3 nurses' aides each 24 hour period, there are quite a few different people and personalities in the mix. Being the nosy person that I am, I started talking to many of them and flat out asked them what made them choose this type of work. The answers were very interesting:

• Money


• Helping people


• Training to be a doctor, furthering education


• To be useful


• Social


• To find a husband!

Money and helping people were definitely the top answers. Most of these people are really wonderful and caring. They have a gift and offer much of themselves to the patients. They go the extra miles to make sure the patient is taken care of and has everything they could need. I would gladly take many of these lovely people into my family. But then....

Some have no business being within 50 yards of people in need of tending. They are surly acting and prone to rough handling of the patients. (I complained btw, about a nurse's aide AND a so-called doctor). And yes, one actually answered that she was looking for a husband.

I would say I'm shocked, but I worked in law enforcement for many years and dealt with a few emergency room personnel (and some in my department) that were there for that purpose. They were not in the career field to care for the ill and injured or uphold the law. So sorry if this offends anyone but it's my observations, my experience, and frankly - my blog. And I wasn't surprised that this was an answer to my question, I was just amazed that she said it out loud - to a family member of one of her patients!

I didn't write this post to bash on nurses and aides. I am very grateful to the mostly fine & fabulous people that have been caring for Mom these past weeks (and weeks). I was just in a pondering mood and thought I'd explore a little about motivation including my own.

Money is NOT a major motivator for me. It never has been. When we first got together, Mr. MoonCat had a hard time believing that I really meant it when I said that I didn't care if he was rich. My attitude is that as long as we have what we NEED and we can make all or most of our ends meet, we're fine. Money DOES NOT equal Happiness.

I dated a couple of guys who were all about the almighty dollar. One was already a millionaire and the other one will inherit many, many more dollars than that. They are/were both miserable human beings. They were unhappy with themselves, with the people they were surrounded by, and with their STUFF. No amount of money could BUY what they were looking for. They had both grown up spoiled and had no idea what it meant to fend for themselves. They didn't get the true value of working for what you have or for knowing who or what is truly important to you. Money or lots of things DOES NOT equal Happiness.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to win the lottery and I sure as heck wouldn' t turn it down. I could ease a lot of financial stress for many of my loved ones. I could pay off ours & my family's bills as well as set up the niece & nephews' college funds. But I still wouldn't be driving a $100,000 car and I would still choose to live in the house we're in - we're HAPPY here. I would still grow my own veggies and try to can them - whole other story to come. (The decluttering kick I have been on falls into this line of thinking in that STUFF is just STUFF. If we don't NEED it, why get it?)

I know a lot of people say they wouldn't change if they won the lotto, but I think it would be inevitable to a point. But I really can't imagine what I would BUY? Maybe a horse trailer of my own since I always use Dad's? That is something we are planning on getting in the near future anyway, so it's not some big "Whoo Hoo, I'm a MILLIONAIRE, Look at me & my money" thing. It's a real life object/tool that we have a NEED for and to be honest, will probably buy used anyway - millionaire or not!

I'm glad to say that the hubby now gets that I really don't want a lot of the trappings that some people feel they can't survive without. It sounds corny, but as long as we have each other, our family/friends (furry and otherwise), and our health -we're good!

I would have to say that some of the things that DO motivate me are the well-being of my loved ones, for me to be allowed to be creative, to be acknowledged (thank you lovely blog readers - you really do hear me!), to make a positive difference in someone else's life, and to do what I can to make our world a better place. -and that concludes my acceptance speech for my Mrs. SuperDuperAmerica award...... Just kidding, I don't mean it to sound like one of those sickly-sweet diatribes. But I think these really are some of the things that make me tick.

So what drives you?

Mom Update & New Etsy Note Cards

UPDATE : Mom is still in the hospital, but has started her chemo. The doctors are very happy with her progress and how she is responding to it. She seems to have less of the side effects than she did back in 2005, so far. She's a trooper, my mama. I am very proud of her.

It is looking like she will be able to come home this weekend, after almost three weeks. This is great news since they had moved her to a hospital that was about 20 miles further away earlier this week which made it about an 80 mile round trip visit. I try to keep her company almost every day so this extra drive has been taking its toll both physically and financially. So please continue your great thoughts and prayers and know that our family really appreciates it.

Also, thank you all for the great comments on Dad's birthday post. He was really getting a kick out of the response (after I got in trouble for calling him crotchety...)

I've found a few minutes again to list more of my note cards on my Etsy shop . I am slowly getting them added a couple at a time. Check them out and let me know what you think. I'd really love some feedback. You can click the link above or on each photo to take you to that page.

Almost Back on Track

Thank you all so much for the best wishes and prayers. Mom is really touched by all of the good thoughts being sent her way from the blogosphere! When she gets settled back here at home, she asked if she could write something to thank everyone for thinking of her. I told her she could do a guest post any time she wants!!!

She is feeling so much better. They have done a few procedures in the last few days that have really eased her breathing. It sounds like they're going to let her come home on Wednesday. Her nursing staff is the bomb! She has some extremely sweet & caring people taking very good care of her. I am thankful for and impressed by them. She will be starting her chemo next week if all goes according to plan (like that ever seems to happen around here..) But her spirits are way up and she's regaining some of her strength.

I, on the other hand, have succumbed to the crud. I'm hoping it's just a cold and not the dreaded flu, but I couldn't go see her today at the hospital as I was running a fever and have a sore throat. Thank goodness for cell phones as we chatted several times during the day. The Ant has been wonderful in keeping her company as well. She actually spent the night with her on Thursday. She has much more stamina than I do! I think they were really having a slumber party and just trying to keep the annoying man in the room next door up all night. They do tend to giggle a lot when they're together..

I am working on a post for tomorrow to show off some of the giveaway goodies I've been the super lucky recipient of as of late. Between Blogtoberfest and the Ghoul's Guild, I was pretty well spoiled rotten with prizes. Major fun... (I'm going to host another one myself very soon, so keep tuning in!)

And just so I won't be boring you yet again with a "no photo post", here's a shot of Chandler. He seems to be confused as to which end is supposed to be on the pillow....

Quick Update

Thank you so much for all of the best wishes and thoughts. Mom is actually in the hospital right now. We had to take her by ambulance on Monday and they've kept her there all week. She is undergoing lots of tests and various procedures to try to help her breathing. Once they get that taken care of, they will start the new chemo in a week or so.

Dogie's opinion on Mom being in the hospital

I'll be back with an update and a post when I can. Take care all!

Most Treasured Possession

Mom and I were at the hospital earlier this week waiting in the pre-op for one of her procedures. If you are familiar with these areas, you will know that there is absolutely no privacy whatsoever. On this day, I was actually glad of that. If the little "rooms" weren't separated by thin fabric sheets hung by chains from the ceiling, we never would have heard a very tender and beautiful moment between a father and daughter.

A family was in the cubicle next to us. The very young daughter was having her appendix removed. (You learn everything about everyone in pre-op.) While waiting for the nurse, the older sister came in and told the mother that the father was out in the parking lot crying.

He eventually came in to see his little girl. When she asked him why he was crying, he told her that he was worried and was wanting her to hurry up and get all better. She then wanted to know why he was worried. He replied that she was his most precious treasure in the world. Mom and I were both starting to wipe at tears but then hurriedly had to muffle our laughter when she squeaked and said, "Even more important than your horse?" He started laughing and assured her that she was even more precious than his horse. It was such a sweet exchange.

It made me recall a time when I was in trouble and my dad offered to sell his valuable (and most precious to him) horse (the mother to both Cinderfella above and my mare Cindy) in order to get me out of a jam. I wouldn't let him do it, but it just goes to show that good daddies will do anything for their little girls. I obviously wouldn't trade mine for the world!

Since we were there at the hospital for almost six hours for Mom's 30 minute procedure, we had lots of time to discuss and reflect on what we'd heard. We posed the question to each other as to what our most treasured "possession" would be. Excluding our loved ones, friends and critters.

When you are surrounded by "things/possessions/stuff", how do you narrow it down to just ONE item? What would be YOUR most treasured possession?

After contemplating it for quite a while, I decided that mine would probably be my engagement ring. Not just because the love of my life is the one that gave it to me, but for another reason as well. Michael designed my ring to be fit with the three diamonds that I inherited in my grandmother's ring. The diamonds belonged to her and my great-grandmother. I always dreamt of having the ring reset into something I could wear daily. Michael made this happen with the most important piece of jewelry in my life. This makes it even more sentimental for me because there are generations of happy, long-lived marriages attached to my ring.

All of this pondering (besides straining my brain) follows along with the fact that I am into some extremely heavy de-cluttering of our lives. Our move has really brought the point home that we have TOO MUCH STUFF. I am planning on doing some future posts on de-cluttering and probably will have some giveaways involving fabric & craft stashes that are taking over my new sewing/craft room......stay tuned