Our week's adventures

This week has definitely presented us with a unique set of challenges and blessings to say the least. I worked over last weekend, and work has been especially crazy lately. Sadly, sometimes work is my "break away from it all." (Because my own life can be so crazy sometimes). When work gets crazy like this, and we end up with high-acuity, difficult patients...it can be especially taxing on me (because then it is constant go-go-go without much relief for this poor girl). Last weekend was especially trying at work. I came home Sunday morning, helped Jonathan get the boys ready for church. (We didn't think Grandma should go to church this week because she has been coming down with a cold, so she stayed home with me while I slept.) We went to my mom's that evening for supper and had an enjoyable visit. While I was there, I started feeling a headache coming on. We got home, finished Kyle's Egypt project and before I knew it...what was once a headache developed into a migraine. I did my usual remedies, but without much success.

I spent most of the day Monday in bed with this same migraine...intensifying instead of dissipating. Luckily, our census was low enough at work that even though I was scheduled to work on Monday...I was able to get the entire night off. That same night, my girlfriend called and shared with me some of her "marital troubles" and the possibility that she might need a place to stay. I mentioned this to Jonathan. Instantly Jonathan said "Tell them they are welcome to come and stay with us...we don't have much, but we've got couches they can use." We extended the invitation to her and her two children to come and stay with us if the need arose.

On Tuesday, we became a household of ten! The kids were elated. They have grown up with my girlfriend's children and loved the idea of them staying. Grandma didn't seem to mind the added commotion, but at the same time she was acting increasingly more and more confused. I was keeping a close eye on her, since she has come down with a cold and wasn't seeming like her self. I was trying to establish if her confusion resulted from the added commotion to the household, her cold, or if something else might be going on.

I worked Wednesday night.

When I arrived home Thursday morning, Grandma was becoming more and more confused. She also had absolutely no strength in her legs at all. She would struggle to get to the bathroom even with a walker, and then had difficulty re-dressing herself afterwards. I found her on the floor a couple of times, because she had fallen and didn't have the strength to get herself back up. (At this time, I was also trying to get the kids off to school). I kept trying to convince her to stay put and I would take care of her as soon as the kids were gone. Next thing I would know, she would be calling out to me because she couldn't move or had fallen again. ~Sigh! I would then try to help her back up and back into bed, but she was so weak that it would turn in to me practically picking her up and carrying her. It was really starting to hurt my back and shoulders, so I was pushing her to work with me to get her back to bed.

We finally manage to get her to bed and feed her breakfast. I walk back in her room and she is laying down where I left her initially sitting up on her bed. When I asked "why she was laying down when she was trying to eat breakfast?" She replied, "I don't have the strength to sit up on my own. I'm just too weak." I then helped her into a chair where she could sit up and eat breakfast, took her morning medications, and vitamins. I then helped her back in to bed. I put her warm packs on her legs, gave her some Tylenol for the pain and tried to lay down for a couple of hours to give the medications time to kick in and see how she does then and to try to at least get a couple of hours sleep under my belt.

I left my door open, so I could hear her if she needed me. I get up at 12:15 to get her lunch and check on her, and discover her on her bedroom floor. She explained to me that she had to go to the bathroom, couldn't make it back to the bed...so she grabbed her pillow and blanket down and laid on the floor and waited for me until I got up. I immediately called her doctor's office and explained what was happening. They recommended I take her over to the ER.

We then spent the day sitting in Toledo Hospital ER playing the waiting game and having tests done. They admitted her with a urinary tract infection (which doesn't surprise me). Our hopes are that now that she is in the hospital, we can help expedite some of the procedures and surgeries we have been waiting on for so long. These last couple of months she has lost more and more of her ability to care for herself because of this chronic pain and weakness in her legs. She is desperate to have the doctors "do something", so that she doesn't continue to suffer like this. Please keep Grandma and all of us (for that matter) in your prayers.

With all of the adventures of the day...I ended up having to call in sick to work Thursday night. There was no way that I was going to be a safe practioner with only 2 hours of sleep. Which in the long run was a blessing in disguise, because I was running on empty and had nothing left in me...I knew if I tried to force myself to go in to work after our day, I would surely end up sick myself.

Jonathan has been absolutely amazing through this entire process. Having Grandma come and stay with us and then allowing my girlfriend and her children to come and stay with us has put a lot more stress on him, too. He has to take over the care for Grandma when I'm not here on top of taking care of the boys and all of their activities and needs. My girlfriend works second shift...so when she has had to work this week and I've been called away with work or taking care of Grandma, Jon has stepped in and valiantly and cheerfully taken on all of the responsibilities of Grandma, our kids, and my girlfriend's kids. I know it has been exhausting for him as well, but he has tried to help however he can. I came home last night to homework done, kids fed, and the house picked up. He was concerned for me and made sure I was fed and cared for when I got home around 8 pm...absolutely exhausted! He then got the kids off to bed and then we were able to spend a little time together. Now that's romance!