Daily Archives: May 17, 2012
A Little Bit Of Independence Regained
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I don’t have very much to tell in this writing, but I just had to share some happiness. I want to spread it to everyone. My son took me and Al to the bigger city, and Al talked about license plates all the way and John Deere tractors. We got there quickly it seemed. It is an hour each way but with all the chatter, we got there in no time. The sales representative let Al ride this one all around the store a few times. He is a little afraid of it and went at a snail’s pace, but with time and getting used to it, I know he will pick up the speed some. All he kept saying is he liked the color, candy apple red. He didn’t understand the freedom this will allow him and although we talked a lot about it on the way home, he doesn’t get it yet, but he will. Candy Apple Red! That was what mattered. I am so happy for him and for me. No buying lifts for the car, no going to auto shop for readjustments. This one is nice for me because the seat comes off, the battery compartment lifts out, you fold down the handle bars, and pop it in the trunk. It has two moveable arms, to help hold him in place. He does sit somewhat sideways on it from his TIA and Parkinson’s, so I am happy with the sturdy arms around him. When we got it home, my son tried it out and we got a chance to see a little more power out of it. After bringing Al inside the house, and my son went home, I took it for a small cruise down to the mail box. It was like riding a grown up bike without having to work the legs. Freedom? Yes, I could feel it. I only hope that he will feel it soon also. Now he can go to the car show, and I won’t have to push him. He is napping now, and I am relaxing with my coffee. The ad is placed for the new caregiver, and all is well for today, so far.
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Any Prayers Out There, Send Some Our Way
Deutsch: Duschkabine mit erkennbaren Armaturen und Abfluss (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Well, I feel frustrated this morning, and I hate starting my days off feeling this way. It sets me up for the rest of the day. I got a call while I was still in bed, so it was early. It was from the caregiver. I should say that when I hired this new caregiver, she had a niece who was going to give Al his showers on Wednesdays, because the primary caregiver worked that day. She had come along and I had a chance to meet her. She is a certified nursing assistant, and I felt very comfortable with this, because I knew then that she had the special training Al required. This is the person that didn’t show up last night. I left messages with the primary all evening, because there was not a special phone number for the one day a week person. So, I get the call this morning, and she tells me she has no idea why her niece did not show up, and I said that I would consider her dismissed then. To me, someone who doesn’t call or show up is not worthy of my trust a second time.When I told the primary person that her niece was not going to be allowed to come back, she told me that she was going to leave also. What a slap in the face this was to me. I just don’t understand why these people respond to my ads, they want to work, they want the money, but they don’t want to be here. How do you get paid if you don’t go to work? I was not brought up this way. My parents had always stressed to me, that if I wanted money, I had to earn it. So then she continues to explain, that she and the niece had preplanned their days between them. If one needed time away, the other would fill in. I may sound like a mean old woman, but in our house, we prefer stability and routine. It is the only way my brother operates without stress, so finding out that I would never know who was going to be here, was not a good thing for me, because in turn, I would have to deal with Al’s outburst. I have enough stress already without adding more to it. I was about to tell the caregiver that I would just replace them both then, that I wasn’t going to do that, when she started telling me that next week there was a day she couldn’t come, because she wanted her Friday off, the day she was to come, so now this was two out of three days I had no one to come. I started screaming inside, not at her, but inside myself. I DON’T NEED THIS CRAP!. I told her I couldn’t deal with this, and that I would just find someone who actually wanted to be here. She said that was my decision to make and she would finish out tomorrow, so she could end up getting her pay for her one day. I should state, so you hopefully won’t think bad of me, that these two only started this week. The first day one showed up, the next shower, no one showed up, and then the next week two days there was going to be no one. This is not a good way to start off on the right foot in my opinion. She said she understood, and that she will be here tomorrow for his shower, and I thanked her, but in my heart, I am prepared already to give Al his shower tomorrow also, since it is a Friday. I just placed another ad in the paper that starts tomorrow. There has to be someone out there that has a heart, and compassion, and doesn’t always look to gratify their needs above a Parkinson’s patient. I can, of course, give Al his showers, but he would prefer his sister not be looking at his nakedness, so I try to stay away from that department. Once again, I ask for your prayers to find the right fit to this home. I have forty-five minutes and then I will be leaving for the Scooter store in the next city. I talked to my son last night, and he explained that there was another scooter that the seat pops off and the entire scooter can fit in my car’s trunk. He told me his opinion was that the store is trying to sell me the top rated, most expensive scooter. Not only will Al have to dish out between seven and eight hundred dollars from what medicare would pay, I would also have to pay another three hundred dollars for a lift for the back of the car, plus monies to have it installed, and have to take the car in to an auto shop to have the suspensions adjusted for the weight of the heavy scooter, and we all know that any work you have done on a vehicle, is not free. With all the monies that would be spent out to make this one scooter work, it is going to be a financial burden on the two of us We are going to actually look at all the scooters they offer for sale and pick one out that works for us and not for their pocket. Wish us good luck! We need a good caregiver and a reasonable scooter.
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