Moved In, I'm Out
Got my stepdad all moved in to Assisted Living yesterday, a Monday. Movers dropped all of the big furniture off on Saturday, and he slept on a little twin mattress on the floor in his living room for two nights, just two weeks after having abdominal surgery. And he was up until 4am at the hospital with mom, too, Sunday night. He's exhausted.
I brought in a few more loads for them...dad's clothes, bedding, medications. Eric went back and forth to their house twice to get things I didn't think about them needing--cables for the television, a telephone, bathroom rugs. He went to Target for shower curtains, too. Every outing in the community a chance to pick up the virus.
I put hand sanitizer on and washed my hands every time I could think of it, but still: I've had to go to Target to get them things they need, and so has Eric. The grocery store. Dad has been at doctor's offices and medical supply stores and the hospital. We could already have it and not know it.
We've worked so hard to get both Mom and Dad into Assisted Living to address immediate medical emergencies that are beyond our abilities to handle. She's still in the hospital now. And the thought that all this work and effort might end up with us checking them in there only to get the virus or give it to others.... Well. That is also too much to handle.
This kind of thing--downsizing your parents, getting them the care they need, navigating medical and assisted care facilities--is hard in the best of times. Lay a pandemic on the top of it, and you're really faced with the limitations of what you can control.
A friend tells me she does what she can and turns the rest over to God to handle. That's the only way here, too. We just have to hope we get lucky.
I brought in a few more loads for them...dad's clothes, bedding, medications. Eric went back and forth to their house twice to get things I didn't think about them needing--cables for the television, a telephone, bathroom rugs. He went to Target for shower curtains, too. Every outing in the community a chance to pick up the virus.
I put hand sanitizer on and washed my hands every time I could think of it, but still: I've had to go to Target to get them things they need, and so has Eric. The grocery store. Dad has been at doctor's offices and medical supply stores and the hospital. We could already have it and not know it.
We've worked so hard to get both Mom and Dad into Assisted Living to address immediate medical emergencies that are beyond our abilities to handle. She's still in the hospital now. And the thought that all this work and effort might end up with us checking them in there only to get the virus or give it to others.... Well. That is also too much to handle.
This kind of thing--downsizing your parents, getting them the care they need, navigating medical and assisted care facilities--is hard in the best of times. Lay a pandemic on the top of it, and you're really faced with the limitations of what you can control.
A friend tells me she does what she can and turns the rest over to God to handle. That's the only way here, too. We just have to hope we get lucky.
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