What a year, huh? Covid 19 has impacted every area of everyone’s life. And, for the most part, not in a good way! Just when we think things can’t get any worse, well, you know, something else happens.
My mother is ninety-one and I hoped with all my heart that
she’d be able to avoid going to the hospital during the Coronavirus.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Almost eight weeks ago she fell and broke
her right hip (she’d broken her left hip twice eight years ago) and was taken
to the hospital. By the Grace of God, she came through the surgery and, after a
week in the hospital, she was transported to a skilled nursing/rehab facility
where she spent five weeks. She hated it there and, although I wasn’t allowed
inside the building because of the virus, everything I saw and heard (and have
since learned) reinforced her opinion.
Anyway, long, long story short – I was given less than
twenty-four hours’ notice that they were sending Mom home. Needless to say, I
was very glad she was coming home but I wasn’t prepared for her homecoming. I
needed special supplies I didn’t have so it was a mad dash to get them. My
niece and my aunt helped me with some of that and I’m grateful to them.
Mom’s confined to a wheelchair twelve hours a day until the
surgeon authorized more than 25% weight bearing on her right leg. She has an
appointment this coming week for an x-ray and I’m praying she’ll be at 50% or
more. Because I don’t have the strength to lift
her, my brother was coming over every morning and evening to get her in and out
of bed. This past week, thanks to the wonderful people at Council on Aging and
Helping Hands, we have an aid for an hour every morning five days a week to do
that and more. My brother still comes in the evenings and in the morning on the
weekends.
We also have a nurse, a physical therapist and an
occupational therapist, each coming twice a week. Coordinating all the
schedules has been a daunting task but I’m truly grateful for each and every
one of them.
I’m not going to sugar-coat what’s been happening and I know
that Mom’s road to recovery has a long way to go. As my mother’s primary
caregiver, there have been days when I felt as if I’d reached my limit -
physically, mentally and emotionally - but I’ve learned so much through all of
this. I think the most important thing I’ve learned is that, no matter what
happens to us in life, there is ALWAYS something to be grateful for. I’ve
discovered that, when I focus on the good things, more of the things that
happen are good.
