Its September

I wanted a whole lot of things to be different in September.  I figured August was heading in the right direction,  and I believe the "expect the best" motto, so why shouldn't things continue well?  But as usual, life likes to throw curves at me, just to see if I'm prepared for the worst.  And maybe I am, because I refuse to sink, even if this is not an enjoyable boat ride.

Mother sailed through her mastectomy, with very minor and much to be expected surgical side effects.  She had one of my older sisters staying with her, which turns out was a very good thing.  All along I feared that mom was no longer safe by herself and I believe I was right.  Turns out she had fallen at least a couple of times before July - she just didn't tell all of us, least of all her doc.  At two weeks post surgery she was feeling cantankerous and yelled at my sister that it was time for her to go.  Which my sister did, not recognizing a change of behavior in my mother.  And exactly three days later, mom had a stroke while standing, fell, and hit her head hard.

So, stroke plus head trauma. Add in broken ribs.

She spent a couple weeks  in the hospital, bouncing back and forth from ICU and Neuro.  Then she got transferred to a rehab hospital, which was no rehab at all.

Were the 3 of us (two sisters and myself)  using that time to find her a nursing home?  Searching her house for Powers of Attorney or other legal paperwork?  Cancelling her internet, cell phone, and newspaper, arranging for mail delivery and bill pay, caring for her house? Working together for her care and future living arrangements?  All no.  It was just crisis mismanagement and distrust from the start.  This is what happens when you play your adult children against each other, allowing miscommunication to fester as you continue to insist that everything is fine and you're doing well on your own.  Until you aren't.

Its only September 3rd as I type this, and maybe by the end of the month some big things will have been resolved, God willing, and we can spend this time loving her, not warring with each other.