I was in bed Wednesday night and the phone rang. It was 10:20 pm. It was one of my step brothers. He said that my step mom was just taken to the hospital and I needed to go there to watch my Dad. I guess she had fallen out of bed and was incoherent. There were so many 911 hang ups made (either her or Dad trying to call for help) that along with paramedics, the cops were there, too. I can`t drive in the dark and told step bro that I would be there by midnight when Hubby got home to drive me. I called DD and she went down to keep an eye on Dad till I got there.
After we got there, DD and I went to the hospital to see her. It was 1:00 am. by then. She looked awful and it actually scared me. The doc said she had pneumonia. They admitted her. So, now that meant that I had to stay with Dad, and I had to not go to work. I missed work Thursday and Friday, and we brought her home on Sunday. Hubby took 2 vacation days to stay with me, and I just lost the pay. It was very stressful. I had to figure out all of Dad`s meds and pray that I did them right. We finally brought her home late Sunday afternoon. She didn`t have pneumonia. She had a serious bladder infection, that was starting to go into her lungs. If it wasn`t caught when it was, it would have also surrounded her heart, and who knows what would have happened. She hadn`t been feeling well since Nov. and wouldn`t say anything to anybody.
I am still a wreck. This family needs to have a meeting and discuss what will be done when something like this happens again. They need constant care and are now alone together. They both have dementia and are diabetics. I love helping out but I can`t be the only one that has to miss work when something happens. I will never allow Dad to be left alone, I will miss work if I have to. But if I got a little help it would be nice. I went from Wed. night to Sat. without a shower or seeing my kitty. Their shower has has too much stuff in it to move out of the way to get in. My kitty wasn`t eating when Hubby went home to feed him because he didn`t understand where I was. Finally, DD watched Dad for 2 hours so I could go home shower and give my kitty some attention. I am Dad`s only child, but I have 4 step bros and 1 step sis.
This is just a quick report of the last 5 days. I am very tired. I went back to work today. I averaged about 4 hours of sleep a night because Dad is a nightowl, and we slept in chairs there. The first night we didn`t have any blankets and I froze. Hubby went home and brought some of ours back, but how good do you sleep in a chair, or on a short loveseat?
I love my parents and will do all I can to take care of them. But this has been very difficult. I know it will probably happen again. If you are at the age that you may be taking care of your parents, my advice is to have a family meeting and get a plan in place, don`t be like us, and panic when something happens.
That Girl | 