06-18-26 Gathering
The timeline is a blur. As of this writing I have been up 39 hours with one 45 min nap. the missed bits of last night were having a sip of Oban with mom to have her make face and declare ‘I don’t like Scotch’, seeing terrifying blood pressure readings, and chatting into the night about many things while Rae caught some sleep. I did go for about an hour around 3;30 am to take a shower and change clothes.
I was very happy when Bill arrived after 6 am with Breakfast Bagels, coffee and donuts from Tim Hortons. Rae and I were starving. Unfortunately I couldn’t get it all done as I am an emotional stress stomach person. Before school Roger showed up with Sawyer for a visit as GG had been asking for him. All he knows is she needed a hug.
Mom was anxious in the night so I was glad to have asked Greg to share location. every time she thought of it she would ask where he was and I could show her. It turned out to be a bit of fun following him across the province. He needed a big nap after he got here.
Uncle Bryan and Auntie Lynne arrived just before him. Mom had a lot of visitors, including everyone from yesterday, plus Judy Cave and her daughter, Paula, her dear friend, Morleen, and cousin Donna.
Lunch was disgusting. Rosie tasted it and said it was broccoli. Her sheet specifically says no puréed vegetables.
The hardest part of the day for me was after Greig got there and I had to go let the nurse know that it was OK to take her off all of the IVs and move to comfort care only. I felt like I had just pulled the plug on my mom.
They have been keeping her regularly on hydromorphone, which is helping to prevent any pain and later in the afternoon I asked them to give her an anti-anxiety med. It turns out it comes in needle form, which gave her anxiety. I was able to calmly explain to her that they would put it in her leg and she wouldn’t feel it and that if she didn’t want it again, she didn’t have to have it, but I needed her to relax and get some sleep as she also had not slept at all. She seemed to have a fear that if she closed her eyes, she wouldn’t open them again. They will be closed for 10 minutes and then they would dart open and she would look for me. She agreed to take the shot and it took a very long time to kick in before I noticed her hands unclenching and letting go of the call bell which she does not need with us there. everyone was watching the Canada versus Qatar FIFA game and she was actually trying to understand it and became a little bit discombobulated with her talking, but also was calm and seemed to be very much enjoy enjoying herself. I asked her what it felt like inside her head and she said relaxed. So yeah, my mom was stoned.
We were incredibly blessed by the Crozier’s picking up and treating us to food trays of meat, cheese and fruit first thing in the morning to feed the masses as we have a nice lounge space attached to her room. Also, I’m not entirely sure who paid for it, but I suspect Rae and Roger, had Gene pick up pizza and sides for dinner. It was so nice for none of us to have to leave.
We had an incredible nurse Danae for the day and she was a super blessing when she came on shift to find everyone confused about what level of care was supposed to happen and she just listened to me and talk to mom and was a godsend.
At the shift change at seven and new nurse came on who had a name I can’t pronounce so she gave us a nickname Atalla to use. She had specifically come to the room because mom needed to use the bed pan and after she was done, she didn’t open the door between the lounge and the room, but I caught her out in the hall to ask about medication’s. When I went back in the room, Mom was very upset and Rae-Anne was trying to comfort her. I felt that she had been disrespected by the woman, and I promised her that going forward Rae or I would always be in the room. It took a while to calm her down as it had undone all the positiveness of the drug.
I’m agreed with Rae that I should come home and get some sleep that that she would be OK in Rae’s hands. They both knew I was going to get sick if I didn’t get some sleep soon. So if I went with promises that they would call no matter what time if needed.
A special part of the day was sitting just with Greg talking about things from the past and about packing up mom’s apartment, which I’m hoping he can help me do before he goes as I will be sending some stuff with him home for his kids and anything that he wants
Was he ever surprised to find out? I was born in Prince Rupert and apparently Uncle Bryan didn’t know that either. Ha ha we are so close and yet there are these odd details that we don’t know about each other. Of course that’s part of my story not being a part of that side of the family. But I gotta tell you I sure love them. I spent a lot of time sending messages to Mom’s friends and responding to them and to other family members again. I got a great call from Cousin Kim. I forgot how much I love her and want to spend time with her. We made a vow to do so.
triumphgal 