Last Rites of Passage

We may have chuckled at these ads on TV, but I'm here to tell you that falling is a real danger - especially the older you get. My mom fell a couple of times in the last month and is now in rehab trying to get stronger. Yesterday, my dad fell getting into the shower and broke his leg. He's in the hospital and they're trying to determine the best course of action. He is also looking at rehab... When Mom went to rehab, the boys and I insisted that Dad get a Life Alert monitor for this very reason. It was put to the test yesterday and it WORKED! It sensed the fall. Dad didn't respond to the monitor, so they called. He couldn't get to the phone, so they summoned the EMTs and called my brother Matt (first on the phone tree). He was still on the air, so he called me and I called the house and spoke to the EMTs. Dad didn't think he was hurt that badly (adrenaline), but heard me tell the EMT on the phone that he had to go get checked out, so cooperated. A fe...

Mom has dementia.  A couple of months ago, she started acting out a lot.  She has mild aphasia that's gotten worse, and she remembers a lot of stuff, but the behavior has gotten more and more erratic.  She became paranoid, worrying that Dad was trying to undermine her, that he was going through her stuff (believe me, he does not want to even go in the box room or her office), that he was trying to "poison" her by feeding her all the wrong things.  "He knows I can't eat/drink that!" became a very common refrain.   Anything she doesn't want to consume, she's suddenly allergic to. She's also been mismanaging her medications, so Dad tried to make sure she took stuff when she needed to and she tried to bite him.  He called me in tears, and I came, got her to take her medication and told Dad I thought it was time for her to go to a home.  The next day, he found a place.  I took her to look at it and on the ride home she said she though...

It's been a long time since I last blogged.  A lot has changed.  Kid moved out.  I got divorced.  COVID-19.  Kid moved to Milwaukee.  Kid moved back.  Ex moved to next state over. I have my own little house now, which is awesome.  It's half of a duplex with a garden large enough to entertain me, but small enough that it doesn't run my life.  I've got 4 cats, and Lois came with me when I moved out.  I'm looking at retirement in a little under 5 years and I'm pretty happy most of the time.   The hardest thing in my life right now is parents.  My mother is wheelchair bound and experiencing some dementia.  She is mercurial.  Sweetness and light one moment and so angry about anything and everything the next.  Kind of like a toddler when she doesn't get her way or is questioned about anything.  It's frustrating. She is also a diabetic and has an ulcer on her big toe.  Months of doctor visits and ...