Tales From Auntie's House: Transition
Jan. 31st, 2012 02:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
raloriaI've been meaning to write, really I have. Finally got a chance to rest and relax and it's gone to my head. Been lazy for a couple of days and really not doing anything substantial online at all.
So I'll try to keep this brief and just hit the main points to catch you up.
Friday, auntie was moved into an adult care home. It all fell together pretty quickly. We had to wait all Friday afternoon for the ambulance to come and move her there, but that's another story.
Wednesday night was Audrey's last one with us. And what a last night it was...Auntie was asleep most of the night, but I knew she needed to be changed and probably given some morphine. So we woke her up and got her changed and gave her some medicine. It was already after 4 a.m. when I went to bed. Found out in the morning that mom and Audrey had had quite a few hours with my aunt. She'd been trying to get out of the bed to go pee. They had to repeatedly tell her she could go right there in the bed, that there was a pad under her. She did go...a lot. Big mess to clean up and then they kept watching her to make sure she wouldn't fall out of the bed. They even put down some foam padding next to the bed. Poor Audrey really earned her paycheck that last night!
I don't remember much of Thursday except that we had a new gal stay overnight. She was nice...kinda quiet though compared to Audrey. It was weird. :P Luckily, auntie had a quiet night. I knew she probably needed changing and that I should be putting on her new pain patch, but she was sleeping and after the previous night's mess...I decided it was best to just let her sleep.
Friday morning mom & I had to change auntie again which was quite a bit of work. The nurse, Jolene, makes it look oh, so easy. It's not. K and her friend Deb came down and helped us out for a few hours while we waited about word that the hospital bed had been delivered to the house auntie would now be staying at. Then they could send the ambulance to move her. The move was a rough one for her. Even though we'd put on her new pain patch that morning, it really hadn't kicked in yet. Luckily this house is not that far away from us...about a 10 min. drive to the north. I believe I mentioned it's the house of a registered nurse? She runs 2 other houses for adult care, but my aunt gets to stay at HER own house. Very special!
Anyway, they had a rough time getting auntie into the house because of all the stairs in the front. They ended up transferring her into a chair and then carrying her in through the back. It took far too long and she was in pain. Poor dear! We got her settled in her room, small, but cozy. Me, K, and Deb stayed around for a few hours, holding auntie's hands and helping Cindy, the nurse and her helper, Deb get my aunt calmed down. They gave her an anxiety pill and that helped. Soon she was asleep.
This nurse's house has an amazing view of the valley and mountains. On a clear day you can see from Mt. Baker to Mt. Rainier. Amazing! There are wide windows all along the east side of the house. Even at night with all the lights in the valley, it's beautiful. Auntie's view from her room isn't as nice, but I doubt she'll notice.
After getting a good night's sleep on Friday night, mom & I went to the house to visit with auntie along with K and her husband. Auntie had had a good first night. They had gotten her changed and bathed and the pain patch had finally really kicked in. So by the time we saw her on Saturday she looked much better, but she didn't even wake up while we were there. After a little bit a hospice nurse came to help put in a catheter. We 4 stepped out of the room and enjoyed the big view and waited. They had some trouble putting the catheter in. Auntie is so swollen down there from the cancer masses that they weren't sure they got it in right (turns out they're still having trouble with it). We didn't stick around after they'd finished because she'd gone back to sleep again.
Sunday mom & I woke up late and neither of us had slept well. My back was hurting and there was stuff to do around the house here. So we stayed home. K & her husband stopped in to see auntie briefly but found that things were basically the same with her sleeping. Sleeping is good. At least she's not in a lot of pain anymore. They've got her comfortable and she's got 2 nurses on hand to look after her. They even have a motion detector set up to let them know when she's moving about too much. Mom & I relaxed (for the first time in 2 months) and did a few household chores.
Monday we stayed home again as the hospital bed here was set to be picked up. We just didn't know when. They finally came after 4 p.m. So then I could vacuum and clean up a little. We also set things up with our yard guy for him to take care of our poor, broken down tree and the broken tree limb in the backyard. He'll charge us, of course, but we trust him and he gave us a good price. He'll try to save what he can of the tree in hope that it will recover and bloom again. So many of the signature trees in the neighborhood have been broken down. Springtime won't look quite the same this year.
So that's the news from here for now. Auntie is in her new location and being looked after far better than what mom & I could here. That also means the pressure is off of us. It was kinda weird that first night. The house felt weird without her. In fact, it still feels a little weird to be living here without her in the house. But we still need to stay here as long as our house still doesn't have a working furnace. We can't even start cleaning out the place so work can be done on it until it warms up some. It's just too blasted cold in that house! I doubt we'll even be able to start working on it until late March or early April if the weather cooperates.
Again, I'm sorry I've taken so long in updating you. It's been kinda nice to be lazy for the first time in a long time. I can just hang out online, and what do I do with that time? Play games on Facebook, of course. LOL So addictive! Someone should've warned me. :P I'll get my butt back in gear here soon. There's things I need to do: eps to cap, fanart to make, pics to post, comments to reply to and such. ;)
Pretty sure mom & I are going to go visit auntie later today. K can't come down because of a doctor's appointment, so we'll check and see how her mom's doing. I'm sure it'll be much of the same...her sleeping. Like I said...at least she's more comfortable now. We have no idea how long she'll be around. Could be a week, 2 weeks...or a matter of days. *shrugs* At least my mom and I can relax now. Our caregiving time is over and passed on to those more trained than we are.
I'll keep you updated with how things go. Thanks my friends. *hugs*
So I'll try to keep this brief and just hit the main points to catch you up.
Friday, auntie was moved into an adult care home. It all fell together pretty quickly. We had to wait all Friday afternoon for the ambulance to come and move her there, but that's another story.
Wednesday night was Audrey's last one with us. And what a last night it was...Auntie was asleep most of the night, but I knew she needed to be changed and probably given some morphine. So we woke her up and got her changed and gave her some medicine. It was already after 4 a.m. when I went to bed. Found out in the morning that mom and Audrey had had quite a few hours with my aunt. She'd been trying to get out of the bed to go pee. They had to repeatedly tell her she could go right there in the bed, that there was a pad under her. She did go...a lot. Big mess to clean up and then they kept watching her to make sure she wouldn't fall out of the bed. They even put down some foam padding next to the bed. Poor Audrey really earned her paycheck that last night!
I don't remember much of Thursday except that we had a new gal stay overnight. She was nice...kinda quiet though compared to Audrey. It was weird. :P Luckily, auntie had a quiet night. I knew she probably needed changing and that I should be putting on her new pain patch, but she was sleeping and after the previous night's mess...I decided it was best to just let her sleep.
Friday morning mom & I had to change auntie again which was quite a bit of work. The nurse, Jolene, makes it look oh, so easy. It's not. K and her friend Deb came down and helped us out for a few hours while we waited about word that the hospital bed had been delivered to the house auntie would now be staying at. Then they could send the ambulance to move her. The move was a rough one for her. Even though we'd put on her new pain patch that morning, it really hadn't kicked in yet. Luckily this house is not that far away from us...about a 10 min. drive to the north. I believe I mentioned it's the house of a registered nurse? She runs 2 other houses for adult care, but my aunt gets to stay at HER own house. Very special!
Anyway, they had a rough time getting auntie into the house because of all the stairs in the front. They ended up transferring her into a chair and then carrying her in through the back. It took far too long and she was in pain. Poor dear! We got her settled in her room, small, but cozy. Me, K, and Deb stayed around for a few hours, holding auntie's hands and helping Cindy, the nurse and her helper, Deb get my aunt calmed down. They gave her an anxiety pill and that helped. Soon she was asleep.
This nurse's house has an amazing view of the valley and mountains. On a clear day you can see from Mt. Baker to Mt. Rainier. Amazing! There are wide windows all along the east side of the house. Even at night with all the lights in the valley, it's beautiful. Auntie's view from her room isn't as nice, but I doubt she'll notice.
After getting a good night's sleep on Friday night, mom & I went to the house to visit with auntie along with K and her husband. Auntie had had a good first night. They had gotten her changed and bathed and the pain patch had finally really kicked in. So by the time we saw her on Saturday she looked much better, but she didn't even wake up while we were there. After a little bit a hospice nurse came to help put in a catheter. We 4 stepped out of the room and enjoyed the big view and waited. They had some trouble putting the catheter in. Auntie is so swollen down there from the cancer masses that they weren't sure they got it in right (turns out they're still having trouble with it). We didn't stick around after they'd finished because she'd gone back to sleep again.
Sunday mom & I woke up late and neither of us had slept well. My back was hurting and there was stuff to do around the house here. So we stayed home. K & her husband stopped in to see auntie briefly but found that things were basically the same with her sleeping. Sleeping is good. At least she's not in a lot of pain anymore. They've got her comfortable and she's got 2 nurses on hand to look after her. They even have a motion detector set up to let them know when she's moving about too much. Mom & I relaxed (for the first time in 2 months) and did a few household chores.
Monday we stayed home again as the hospital bed here was set to be picked up. We just didn't know when. They finally came after 4 p.m. So then I could vacuum and clean up a little. We also set things up with our yard guy for him to take care of our poor, broken down tree and the broken tree limb in the backyard. He'll charge us, of course, but we trust him and he gave us a good price. He'll try to save what he can of the tree in hope that it will recover and bloom again. So many of the signature trees in the neighborhood have been broken down. Springtime won't look quite the same this year.
So that's the news from here for now. Auntie is in her new location and being looked after far better than what mom & I could here. That also means the pressure is off of us. It was kinda weird that first night. The house felt weird without her. In fact, it still feels a little weird to be living here without her in the house. But we still need to stay here as long as our house still doesn't have a working furnace. We can't even start cleaning out the place so work can be done on it until it warms up some. It's just too blasted cold in that house! I doubt we'll even be able to start working on it until late March or early April if the weather cooperates.
Again, I'm sorry I've taken so long in updating you. It's been kinda nice to be lazy for the first time in a long time. I can just hang out online, and what do I do with that time? Play games on Facebook, of course. LOL So addictive! Someone should've warned me. :P I'll get my butt back in gear here soon. There's things I need to do: eps to cap, fanart to make, pics to post, comments to reply to and such. ;)
Pretty sure mom & I are going to go visit auntie later today. K can't come down because of a doctor's appointment, so we'll check and see how her mom's doing. I'm sure it'll be much of the same...her sleeping. Like I said...at least she's more comfortable now. We have no idea how long she'll be around. Could be a week, 2 weeks...or a matter of days. *shrugs* At least my mom and I can relax now. Our caregiving time is over and passed on to those more trained than we are.
I'll keep you updated with how things go. Thanks my friends. *hugs*
