A Mother's Work...
I've been talking to my other sisters and my mom and we're all scared, angry and hopeful.
My sister's treatments were supposed to start this week but the insurance company hasn't approved it yet. I am beyond pissed and I blew off some of that steam last night on my phone call to my mom. When I realized she was getting upset I apologized repeatedly. After we ended the call I wanted to kick myself in the head. About a half hour later I called her back, crying and apologizing some more. She convinced me she was fine. She regrets that her health prevents her from taking any action because she'd like to call that insurance company and tell them a few things. I told her I know that she'd have been in their office and getting in their faces. We ended that call with smiles.
Tonight's call we got on the subject of when my grandmother, mom's mom, had her stroke. It was in the late 60s and she was in her mid fifties and visiting friends in California. When her friends found her they thought she was sick with the flu so they put her in bed. About a week later, she couldn't get out of bed. Her left side was paralyzed. That's when they realized she'd had a stroke. My uncle flew out and brought her home. Well, to a nursing home. It was weeks before a doctor suggested a new treatment: physical therapy. It was too late by then. Her left arm and leg were too stiff. She was left-handed but she relearned how to write and she did cross stitch and she got herself up and walked. I was little when it happened so when my mom was telling me what happened I was comparing it to what I've always thought had happened. It's pretty funny how my little kid brain tried to make sense out of it. As an adult I've always thought my memory seemed goofy but I supposed it could have been accurate. I'm glad my mom brought it up tonight because I'd been meaning to talk to her about it.
On my last trip out to visit mom, we brought home couple of boxes of photos that I told her I'd scan and then bring back to her in December. Today I finally seriously dug into getting it done. Yes, I'm a procrastinator. Tonight I let mom know how I'm planning to organize it for her but she'll have to go through them and identify people. She's excited. She said it sounds like it's going to be something fun that will keep her busy for a while. Yes it will. I've had to let go of my wanting to make things perfect on this. I'm settling for a close crop because there just isn't time to fine tune each one. So they'll have photo edges and most of them are going to be a little bit crooked. I'm pretty sure nobody will mind. And if they do, tough. I'm doing this for mom, who won't mind because she's mom and she loves her kids and still picks them up and dusts them off when the mean old life knocks them down.
Hangin' in there.
My sister's treatments were supposed to start this week but the insurance company hasn't approved it yet. I am beyond pissed and I blew off some of that steam last night on my phone call to my mom. When I realized she was getting upset I apologized repeatedly. After we ended the call I wanted to kick myself in the head. About a half hour later I called her back, crying and apologizing some more. She convinced me she was fine. She regrets that her health prevents her from taking any action because she'd like to call that insurance company and tell them a few things. I told her I know that she'd have been in their office and getting in their faces. We ended that call with smiles.
Tonight's call we got on the subject of when my grandmother, mom's mom, had her stroke. It was in the late 60s and she was in her mid fifties and visiting friends in California. When her friends found her they thought she was sick with the flu so they put her in bed. About a week later, she couldn't get out of bed. Her left side was paralyzed. That's when they realized she'd had a stroke. My uncle flew out and brought her home. Well, to a nursing home. It was weeks before a doctor suggested a new treatment: physical therapy. It was too late by then. Her left arm and leg were too stiff. She was left-handed but she relearned how to write and she did cross stitch and she got herself up and walked. I was little when it happened so when my mom was telling me what happened I was comparing it to what I've always thought had happened. It's pretty funny how my little kid brain tried to make sense out of it. As an adult I've always thought my memory seemed goofy but I supposed it could have been accurate. I'm glad my mom brought it up tonight because I'd been meaning to talk to her about it.
On my last trip out to visit mom, we brought home couple of boxes of photos that I told her I'd scan and then bring back to her in December. Today I finally seriously dug into getting it done. Yes, I'm a procrastinator. Tonight I let mom know how I'm planning to organize it for her but she'll have to go through them and identify people. She's excited. She said it sounds like it's going to be something fun that will keep her busy for a while. Yes it will. I've had to let go of my wanting to make things perfect on this. I'm settling for a close crop because there just isn't time to fine tune each one. So they'll have photo edges and most of them are going to be a little bit crooked. I'm pretty sure nobody will mind. And if they do, tough. I'm doing this for mom, who won't mind because she's mom and she loves her kids and still picks them up and dusts them off when the mean old life knocks them down.
Hangin' in there.