...wha? *wakes up, looks around* where is everyone???
i feel like rip van winkle! except, that i've only been in bed for a couple of days. and i don't have a beard.

i've been in bed, with a horrible headache and bout of tmj, sleeping whenever it permits.

what's new with all of you???

That's the prob! Everyone is not posting I cannot do it all on my own, being busy with work, and then work studies to top it off nicely. People need to start topics here, or it won't go forward.

I am doing just peachy, just BUSY as heck. It is almost 7pm and I am only just starting on dinner. Insane really.

Ah well.. hopefully in about three weeks life will quiet down again, because I get mighty tired of running around alright

I thought by now I bored people with my posts so I decided to keep a lower profile
Anyway, I'm here... doing pretty good... waiting for winter vacation.

adrian, you're not boring!

Thank you

I was kind of down because I just realised that I like my friends more when they talk with other persons than when they talk with me (the discussions are inherently more interesting when they talk with somebody else)

I'm busy observing this mad drama going on all around me.

Do you want to share? we love drama

Yes please! I haven't had a good share of that in a while now And also.. sometimes it helps talking/complaining about it

drama. hrmmm.

i don't have drama yet, but it's on the horizon like a nasty storm; i see it coming.

my mum is falling left and right around her house and i think a nursing home isn't far away.

my oldest kid is almost homeless. she has to be out of the apartment (that she can't afford to keep since she broke up w/ her boyfriend) in four days and has no alternatives planned.
she could move home and that's a whole different sort of drama in and of itself because she's sort of a drama queen.

my second oldest is peeved with me because she drove over twenty-five miles to visit and i wasn't home (i guess i'm not supposed to have a life). she hasn't spoken to me in almost a week.

my head still aches and my seventh wedding anniversary is tomorrow and i'm whooped.

trick or treaters are about to descend demanding chocolate, chocolate that i haven't bought yet because i'm craving sweet and don't want it within arms' reach.

i wish i could postpone everything for about a week or two and deal with things when i feel better!

and i just broke my personal rule about whining outside of my journal!!!

You could check into guided home stay. Don't know if that is available over there though..

Not smart of her. Hopefully she will wisen up about these kinds of things. Been there done that (in the kid's shoes). Just make sure she registers for rental homes as soon as she crosses your doorstep, AND make sure she pays you cost at least! Food isn't free and all that. Don't take the drama queen, she chose to break up with this guy and not cover her ass, she better adapt and be glad you are taking her in!

Obviously hasn't been through as much in her life yet. Let her sulk Childish thing. Over here the first thing we learn AND remember is: call me first. You have the right to a life, and you have the right to use that right. 25 miles is nothing; I just drove that distance -again today- to get my lost pedometer back that I left at a client.

Bathtub with hubby. Include smelly things and candles, a cuddle and a warm towel. Everyone else, leave them at the door. You are not at home. *nods firmly*

Reread last sentence + nod.

Ahhhh!! Yay!

eadwine, you're funny (in a good way).

things are better.

my oldest found an apartment and signed the lease.

i went to get kitty food today, which i forgot when i shopped yesterday, and i made it in and out of the store and came home candy-less. not good for trick or treaters, but good for my lack of willpower (until you see the next item). and good that i can avoid hungry, pissed-off cats in the a.m.

i've got brownies baking in the oven and charlie brown is on television tonight.
i'll have some and make my husband eat the rest, like i did last time.

my mum, i don't know. what does guided home stay involved? i'm sure we must have something similar like that. the problem is that my mum is stubborn and i hope that she'll eventually cooperate because if she doesn't it'll probably involve probate court. i hope that will be the last resort.

thanks for your support! you're good at living up to your name.

Good.. I am glad I got a laugh out of you there, that was exactly my intention

ALRIGHT!!!

Hmm.. well it basically means having someone guide her in the home, having someone around during a large part of the day. Whether or not that is possible of course depends on what is available and also the financial picture. Healthcare is quite a bit different over there than here, so you'd have to ask around.. maybe Merrigreene may know something. I just nudged her Y!m for you

Thank you

I have been having computer problems and so have been slow posting.

Hmmm.....I am dating a very boring man who is taking up a lot of my time. I think he wants someone to take care of him rather than to be a partner to him. He is my age but I am finding out that he has many health problems.

Second....I have been designing all new nurses forms at work to help improve the quality of documentation. Right now it is pathetic. Also doing some visits. I am on call this weekend, so that takes up some time too.

Lessee...the cat that I am babysitting is now in heat and is peeing on everything...so I am cleaning a lot. Contacted her Dad to come get the little darling, and secured her in the bathroom. She is so pitiful.

That's about it for me right now.

Oh Ravenranter! I am going throught the same thing with my mom. After 3 trips to the hospital, she has finally agreed to go to assisted living. That's what Eadie is talking about. Here in the states, assisted living is quite popular. The facilities are like private apartments for the residents. There is medical staff on hand to give medications and take blood pressure and stuff like that. The facility will have a large dining room and meals are prepared and served to the residents. They can have their scooters or electric wheelchairs, and even have their pets as long as they are house broken and the resident can take them outside. Alot of the ALF's even have dog parks where the pets can go and potty and socialize with other pets there (therefore the residents do too, and don't just hide in their apartments). The apartment itself is set up like an efficiency apartment. They will have a living room/dining area combo, a bathroom (with modifications for safety--grab bars in the shower and next to the toilet, and an emergency call light in case of a problem.) and will have a kitchenette in case they want to have a light meal in their apartment instead of going to the dining room. Always there is staff checking on them. If she has need of Home Health services she can recieve that there (like if she had a wound that needed a dressing change. The ALF staff usually doesn't do that so her doctor can refer her to home health for that kind of thing). The ALF also has lots of social activities planned for the residents to participate in if they want....exercise, parties, musicians, crafts, trips to Walmart or the store, church services, just all kinds of things.
You can start looking in the Yellow pages for Assisted Living Facilities or under Senoir Care or Nursing Homes (many have a nursing home section too). Also, you can look for Home Health Services. They all have a social worker that can assist in getting your mom into one and take the leg work off of you. HHS is by doctors order and all you have to do is ask her doctor for a referral. The HHS will contact you and come to her home for an evaluation. They might start some Physical therapy, nursing visits, and make a referral to the social worker. All of this is paid for my medicare and you will not recieve a bill. There is no out of pocket.
The ALF wil be her expense however, just like a nursing home would be.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me. I am a home health nurse, so I deal with this situation every day! Oh, I know stubborn too. I have told my patients that 1) their doctor ordered them to go 2) it is for their own safety 3) it does not mean that they are getting old...just that they need a little more help for now, and they can always move out if they want to (which is true. But usually by the time they have spent a month there, they like it because they are more independent, and they have made friends---like kids going off to sleepover camp!). If it comes down to it, you can contact your local Adult Protective Service to get them to help. Many times they can get things done with your mom when you can't (after all, you are the child, and mom knows best )

Good luck, and I hope this helped.

thanks for all of the info. i'm familiar with some of this, having just gone through watching my mum-in-law have a stroke, enter a nursing home, etc. before she passed away from complications.

in our area ASL costs are outrageous. the facilities are nice from what i've heard and seen.
traditional nursing homes in our area vary widely as far as quality of care goes. my husband got a lot of runaround with regards to his mum's care; his mum had been in placement for about two months and the medical director still hadn't laid eyes on her.
it was tough all the way around. and it was supposed to be a decent facility!

i may have more luck getting something going HHS since this won't require my mum to leave her own home.

i went through an incident about three months back when my mum was admitted to the ER with flu symptoms via the ambulance. she's diabetic, has a cardiac history and had next to no fluids in the twenty four hours prior to being admitted. they ran a few -*test*-('")s and kept her on i.v. for about two to three hours and sent her home. when they released her, they knew that she was unable to stand long enough to have an x-ray and couldn't really walk.
i couldn't believe that they didn't want to keep her for overnight observation, at the least.
it took my husband and i literally hours to get her in the car, down the hallway of her apartment building. she needed continual breaks, was vomiting, urinating down her legs. in the end, we had to lay her on a sheet to drag her to her doorway.
it was horrible. picture that...my mum on a freaking sheet in a hallway, my mum-in-law hospitalized and me, having recovered from a stroke about maybe eight weeks in total. at 11 p.m., in the pouring rain.
it was [/B]insane[B]. just in insane, really.