Good Morning!

Mary, so sad to hear this. Sounds like he is very seriously ill!

We had all offered suggestions to Trish last week about the situation with her mom & sister. I hope you have medical and/or durable power of attorney for Jim since it sounds like a bumpy road ahead. He is not in the right mind to make his own decisions, and if he is beyond you caring for him w/the 'help' of a visiting nurse he needs to go to a rehab or care facility.

My dad tried to talk everyone out of placing him & even called a cab to take him out of an assisted living placement he was taken to after his mini-stroke. His dementia just turned him into a defiant child. This contributed to my mom having a medical & emotional breakdown...the multiple medical emergencies, hospitalizations, rehabs, etc. dad went thru...probably similar to what Vickie has gone thru. The difference being that Butch did not seem to be a problem like that.

Please take care of yourself. This sounds like the beginning of a very stressful road for you.

Kathy, you are right about Butch.  He was himself up to the very end and he always tried to take the burden of his care from me.  One day I just told him to hush.  It was my honor and privilege to care for him.  But it's still completely exhausting and demoralizing to care for someone with a terminal illness.  Very tough stuff.

I'm so sorry, Mary.  You are in an untenable position with Jim.  I do think it is time for you to turn him over to some professional care givers.  That doesn't mean you don't care--in fact, it's just the opposite.  You DO care, although why on earth is beyond me.  Jim has always seemed to be a "taker" and you the "giver".  Just my opinion, but I do think you are a real sweetheart to care for him the way you do.  Sorry if I gave offense.  I didn't mean to!

I am praying for you, sista!

Mary,

I agree with some of the others; I think it's time for you to let the professionals take care of him. I have taken care of my husband when he had his eye transplant and when he went through his cancer treatment but he was always trying so hard to help me help him.  I think it's time for you to think of yourself...if you don't, no one else will.  

Very sorry to hear about Jim, Mary. You have done all you physically can for him. Sending a big cyberhug your way.

Hi Cindy and my OFF family:

I am not having a good day. I had problems sleeping last night and got up once at 4:30 a.m. for a while and played some solitaire to get my mind off the pain. Then I went back to sleep for awhile and got up again at 7:30 a.m. ... decided finally to get up and have some coffee. I was in the bathroom and I heard my purse vibrate; thought it was my phone, so I looked in my purse and sure enough, it was my oldest brother, Ed, calling. He said he tried to get Gary but the call went to voice mail ... well, Gary doesn't keep his phone at his bed. Anyway, Ed's MIL died last night. She had had some strokes in the past month, so it wasn't a big surprise. Ed had a hip replacement last week, so he needed Gary to come up to help him as his wife will now be busy handling her mom's final affairs ... he thinks the memorial service will be at a later date because family members have too far to come (SIL Margaret's sister lives in Florida; Margaret's mom's brother is in the Netherlands). So Gary got dressed quickly and packed and hit the road again. 

In the meantime, I called mom because I was up early and didn't have much to do. I told her Margaret's mom had died; no one else had called ... felt kind of bad she heard it from me, but oh well. Mom was kind of sad; she had grown to like Rena (well, Rena was a nice person; cute Dutch accent even after all these years). Strange that my mom would outlive her, because Rena was more mobile than my mom, but she wouldn't take her medication after she moved into the retirement village, or she'd drop it on the floor. I think she was 86 or 87 or 88; not sure ... she was younger than my mom, who's 91. 

Well, last night at work was a bear ... 9 pages and while I was working on one of the last pages, my computer lost the network connection and crash with four pages open. Yeah, loads of fun! And then I couldn't sleep ... was all wound up. And in a lot of pain all night, too. The ice pack this morning did help.

No big plans today. I'm off, but all I plan to do is run out for awhile to go to my bank (yes, it's open on Sunday) and cash this check  Gary gave me for half of September's rent, then get some kitty litter because Juliette's box is getting stinky. Then come home, watch baseball and pack and pitch. Need to make some headway today. 

Have a good day everyone. Don't remember everything, other than Judy had some good ribs. Lucky you! I'm so tired I couldn't even concentrate on the newspaper this morning. 

Have a good day!

Hello  Eileen....I am sorry you had a bad night at work and a lousy night/morning at home. Where are you hurting or is it everywhere? Glad to know the icing is helping. 

I am so sorry about Ed losing his MIL. That is sad. I am sorry too that you were the one to tell your mom. Oh well...at least she can count on you. It is a good thing that Gary could go up and help. How far a drive is that?

I know you work tonight so don't overdo with your pain and needing to work tonight. Gosh, tonight just has to be better!! 

Go relax some before work.

Love you...hugs....connie d

Connie, I'm off tonight. My days off were split for this week. The problem is going to be trying to find someone to take me to my epidural shot on Tuesday. Gary was supposed to do that ... ah well, now he's helping Ed.

My knees both hurt a lot, plus now I have a headache down the side of my face into my temple and into my left ear. Just got up from a nap; I was so tired ... still am. 

It's a 7-hour drive to Sycamore, Ill., to my brother Ed's home from here. Gary will be able to visit mom while he's up there (she's not far from there) and maybe get some more stuff out of the house because they're not closing on it until Sept. 24 or something. 

After I got back from shopping at Target (for coffee and kitty litter ... and a whole bunch more that I didn't plan to buy), I started laundry, got some lunch and turned on the baseball game. I will pack a box or two, although I wanted to buy some bubble wrap while I was out and forgot it. 

Hope your day is peaceful. Give me a call some time ... or I'll call you. I'm still very sleepy. Need to get  my clothes out of the dryer and put some more in.

Eileen,

Enjoy your day off.  I cleaned my cats' litter box today too.  I really clean it every day by scooping the clumps out but twice a week, I empty the thing out and scrub it up and start fresh with a clean liner and new litter.  I do add fresh litter every day when I scoop but you know, the thing needs total washing...Enjoy your day.

Good morning our sweet Cindy....sorry your mind is going a million miles a hour. Is there any kind of craft or anything you could do to calm your mind before sleep?? I have been coloring and it has helped some. I have the computer and TV off and quietly color. Not much help am I ...LOL!

You can bring up the same post twice and answer from there. I just personally prefer to address each one individually. More personal and I can see it all right there.

Gezzzzz.. I read that you were going Christmas shopping...not grocery shopping....good grief!! My brain is still scattered today!

Enjoy your day on your beautiful deck!!!

Much love and many hugs to you....connie d