My father was having excruciating pain and discovered that a cyst he had was infected. He needed to get it removed as soon as possible so he went into the hospital on Tuesday night for a Wednesday surgery. Since my mother had a stroke six years ago and now suffers from Alzheimer's she's not able to care for herself. She walks with a cane but often gets too wobbly for even that. She needs someone to cook for her and clean up after her. Often times she needs reminded to use the bathroom, needs help getting dressed and showered. It's unbelievably sad to see the woman who brought me into the world go through such a horrible disease. It's hard to understand what she's saying and a lot of the time she gets stuck on thoughts and repeats words like a broken record. So, while my dad was in the hospital I had to take care of her. She stayed at our house and we traveled back and forth to the next county where the hospital was and where they live.
After work on Tuesday my dad called to tell me I needed to take him to the hospital so they could start the antibiotic. With my mother in tow we drove to the hospital and stayed while he got settled in and hooked up. Then I took my mom back to her house so we could pack her things before heading to my house. She slept in my daughter's room and my daughter stayed with our son. Thankfully he has a bunk bed. On Wednesday was surgery and the operation didn't start until 6pm. I felt bad my father had to wait that long and we weren't there. No one was. When my mom woke up on Wednesday she was in bad shape and remained that way all day. She kept spacing out and I couldn't get her to do anything. There was no way I was able to get her down my stairs and to the hospital. So, we stayed home. I felt terrible for my father. He said he didn't mind but I'm sure he did. On Thursday my mom was well enough to take the trip but on the way she threw up in the car because dumb me forgot her Dramamine. I stopped at her house to change and clean the car the best I could. On Friday my dad go the okay to go home. It's great that he's home but he still has some healing to do.
I had a glimpse of what my father goes through as a caregiver for my mother. He's amazing and I don't know what would happen without him. He's trying all he can to keep my mother with him but I fear it won't be long before she will have to go into a nursing home. I used to work in the dining room of a nursing home and from that experience I never wanted my parents to have to end up in one.
Being the only other family member here in Pennsylvania means I'm the only one that can help my parents when they are in need. It's not easy but I do what I can. I took three days off of work to take care of my mother and am thankful that my bosses understood the reason. It's only a cafeteria job working three hours a day but the money has really helped us.
While all of this was going on we also had to say goodbye to our sweet rabbit Daisy. Tomorrow marks the two year anniversary since we adopted her from the SPCA. She must have only been three years old, maybe four. An indoor rabbit should live a lot longer. I don't know what went wrong but I have been kicking myself for it. My daughter is especially upset over the loss. She was a good bunny and we miss her terribly. I didn't realize how amazing rabbits can be until we got her.
Last week was just sad. Terribly sad.
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