Home!

We arrived home at about 8:00 this evening. The first project turned out to be the only project. I can't believe the number of hours I spent on it. He had lots of medications on that table, and dealing with them led to dealing with all the medications he had hidden in a cabinet. I think I ended up throwing out a garbage bag full of medications. The oldest ones had expired in 2004. I never could get him to work with me on it. He just couldn't face it. It's probably a good thing, as he would never have allowed me to throw away as much as I threw away.

I discovered that somehow during his last hospitalization two of his heart medications were discontinued. I left them on top of the homecare notebook with a note asking the nurse to follow up to see if he should start them back up. Daughter found his missing insulin pen in the refrigerator. I gave it a new home and threw away all the insulin vials that had been open for an undetermined amount of time. I gave him a lecture on only using one vial at a time and the importance of throwing vials away after one month of use.

I completed 5 loads of laundry for him today. I gave Brother and Sister assignments of things that still need attention. I took him over to visit Mom, who was struggling to change her clothes after wetting herself. She was out of Depends, so I went out and bought her more. Mom was covered with chocolate-- she has been pigging out on all the chocolate we gave her for Christmas. Dad took his cell phone over, so we called her brother who lives a very long ways away. She hasn't seen him in 3 1/2 years. He talked to her, and she responded appropriately. It was emotional for both of them.

This whole trip was emotional for me. Mom and Dad are both failing, and both are needing more care. It's getting harder to interact with Mom. Dad is weak, and I worry about how long he'll be safe in the apartment. Hearing my uncle thank me for allowing him to talk to his sister, telling me in a voice filled with emotion that it had made his year, brought all my feelings to the surface.

Daughter did fairly well. The whole trip was very hard on her. This morning she was being a bit difficult. I informed her that I was as anxious to get home as she was, and if she worked with me, we'd be able to leave sooner. Eventually she apologized and got to work. Her blood sugars have been all over the place the last couple of days, and I know that didn't help matters.

Now we're home. Tomorrow morning we will go get Cat and Kitten from the kennel. I have a great deal to accomplish before Sunday, so once we get back I'll have to buckle down and get busy. I'm looking forward to getting back into the routine. The next few days will be especially difficult for Daughter. She starts back at the workshop on Monday, and the wait for Monday will seem very long for her. Once she settles back into her routine, I suspect her blood sugars will become more stable. We're both ready to return to that comfortable routine.