Crisis: End of the Princess

This could be the end. We think we (and I do mean we) are going home on Sunday. I hope this is my last night in the hospital, but I will miss that call button, the one I’m not on the other end of. If you missed what’s going on, you can find it here and here.

 I had Friday night and Saturday morning off. It was pretty terrific. (Oops, I forgot to close the blinds and reset the thermostat upward in preparation for homecoming.) I picked apples, strawberries, and rhubarb and canned 10 half-pints of flavor-filled applesauce, cleaned out the refrigerator, made beds, cancelled my trip to North Carolina, folded laundry. (I can’t tell the difference among floor rags, butt rags, and dish rags. They all look the same. I’m sure I will hear about my errors. Oh well.)

I broke so many rules this week when I was home alone, unsupervised: put plastic containers in the dishwasher, did three loads of laundry in one morning, hung the dishrag on the drain tray instead of the dish rack, let the cat come upstairs (though she wasn’t much interested except for Friday night; and when I told her to stop whining, she went back downstairs).

 Mama was super grumpy on Saturday. When I got her a warm blanket for her nap and tucked it in around her shoulders just so, I told her to enjoy it now, because Princess Stellajoe was not going home with us. At least not the whiny, grumpy one. Caregiving I can do, but she needs to do her part and I don’t care how old she is. She still knows how to be sweet.

 I’m feeling a little less terrified of taking her home. I scored a coup on a temporary (at least) caregiver, a woman Mama thinks hung the moon. Pretty excited about that. Mama was denied Hospice care (being 100 years old is still not terminal in the mind of Medicare, and both the hospitalists are outraged). Home health is slammed and may not come for a week, but we are on their list.

 It’s late, please excuse the rushed post. More on Wednesday I’m sure. After a day (maybe a day and a half) with my grandchildren, it might have a different flavor. My granny nanny job begins again this week, after a year off. My daughter-in-law sent this quote from two-year-old Elliot tonight. I can only guess at the context, but it warmed my heart, and also made Mama laugh: “You no have Gigi first, Mommy! I have Gigi first!”

 Thank you all for your presence through this very long week. Your support, prayers, and good wishes have meant the world. Special thanks to June, Audrey, Michal, Jan, and Michelle who sat with Mama so Rebecca and I could have simultaneous breaks. 😘

I also want to give kudos to the staff at Centralia Providence Hospital. They have been stellar. I said so to Mama yesterday, and she said, “They have been wonderful. I don’t feel I have to go to Olympia any more.” If you have been reading this blog, you know that is huge praise.

(This room is so hot, I can’t imagine sleeping; but I’d best try. And now she’s awake.)