Well, I know everyone is having a hard time. I know I am. The rollercoaster ride I've been on for the last 7 years has had me at the highest and lowest of lows. At one point I thought I made it the next I thought I would end up homeless.
I tend not to put everything out there for public consumption. It's something my granny told me a long time ago. Sometimes you have to give a little or people will think you're just fine and nothing is wrong. I've always been that guy that helps others and declines help cause I can handle it.
The times we are going into now. NO ONE should think they can handle it alone, especially me. I have been through so much. The passing of my grandmother at the hospice and the hospitalization of my mother at the same time. I reached out to people who declined to help me. So I just kept it moving. I stopped asking because I felt it was a waste of time, no one was coming to my rescue. I went through 3 years of trying to see about my granny after she passed. Got her to a funeral home but couldn't do anything else while my mother was on a breathing tube in the ER.
I worked to do everything for my mother. I took over handling the house, and the budget and started making necessary cuts. The next 3-4 months were hard. I dealt with her in the ER at Mercy, then the step down at Francian in Hammond, and lastly at the rehab.
Mercy was great in giving me the support I needed. It was her hospital and they were familiar with me also. When it was time for her to go to the step-down facility I got a list. Most were way up north or way out west. I chose the one at Francian, In hindsight, I shouldn't have.
That facility wasn't the best and when dealing with the staff you had a sense of impending doom. They had nice smiling faces at first but as I dealt with them and they realized I was the only person that was related to her coming. I think they started to see dollar signs with my mother being there. My first thing was when they had me do financial paperwork. I went through it but I felt like they asked far too many questions and some of those papers I probably didn't need to sign. I found out later after she passed that was true. Luckily I had her tax people correct that.
Next, I had this trippy relationship with the nurses. Again being nice at first then little incidents started to happen. One day I come in and they have her in mits. I asked why and they said she scratched someone. I couldn't believe it but I knew I wasn't in a position to argue about it. They looked like they were ready for me to get disruptive. I called out to my mother's friends on Facebook. Thank god for Tanya she was a heaven-sent. She allowed me to better manage the situation because there was someone there who understood the high medical speak they were trying to use around me to keep in confused.
Then one day I came in, and my mom's feed tube had a pin leak in it. Her physical therapists were in the room so they went to get the nurse. When she came in her first words out of her mouth were "What did she do now?". I turned around and said, "Excuse me?". At that point she tried to get nasty with me, my instincts kicked in, and realized she might be trying to get into an argument with me. So I just was like whatever and turned to look out the window. After that, even her case manager started to get testy with me.
My mind was to report the nurse but not while my mother was still there.
One Saturday I got there and it was another nurse that usually doesn't work that area filling in. We had a conversation. I can't really tell you what happened exactly because I don't know if this nurse still works for them. but I got some information about them putting a laundry list of incidents on her record, biting, scratching and spitting on people. I know my mother the former RN isn't doing that. When I get there she was calm it was with help with the drugs she was on. So I noted that and acted accordingly. I knew I couldn't go off and I couldn't be out of line in that hospital or they would have kicked me out and tried to say I wasn't fit to be there or be in charge and they could have done anything.
So the time was getting close for her to go to her next step, rehab, at Burbank Rehabilitation Center. My heaven-sent helped me pick out a place. I was happy mother was getting out of Francian. I spoke to the director of BRC before the move. But there was a delay because the director insisted she be off all those drugs before the move. So another week later she was off to rehab.
I went to go visit her and when I entered the room I got hit with a massive amount of heat, she was in a room with someone else, and next to her bed, there was a hole in the wall. I walked out and asked the nurses where was the director's office. She told me she wasn't in today. But I got her email and sent her and message telling her how displeased I was with her accommodations.
So I got a response from her apologizing for the situation. I went to visit her the next day and I started walking towards the room she was in. The nurse stopped me and asked where was I going and told me my mother was in the first room. I came in and it was cool, clean and she was the only person in the room. She was attentive and happy to see me. We hugged and talked. She told me this is the first time she really knew where she was since she went to the hospital in the beginning. I was still mad about the step-down and I knew I needed to go back there and put my complaints in. For now, I'm gonna enjoy time with my mother.
End of Part 1.
