And if you think YOU know how to have fun, well guess again folks.

I took mom to her doctor to get her stitches out Thursday and lo and behold, her wound was infected.

DAGNABBIT!               

The combination of thin skin, bad nutrition, low water intake has left her immune system in not a great place to fight the infection. Despite regular bandage changes by me, Scott and Quinn, friend Jillianne, we're fighting against stubborness on a global scale. Think pushing a boulder uphill in a blizzard.



Have her on Keflex now with a side of zinc oxide directly on the wound and twice a day dressing changes. Hopefully the antibiotics will turn the tide. 


We had an extended visit from Olive the cat from across the hall today. Scott and Quinn and I were all over there with Scott fixing breakfast and Quinn helping mom take a shower and wash her hair. Jill had come over and changed moms bandage this morning. Team Mom is doing what it can and more.

The doctor tried to impress on mom the importance of staying hydrated and nourished to help her body fight off the infection.   

Any help/encouragement/visits to her would be greatly appreciated!

 

Well to say that time just flies when you're having fun just doesn't really cover it.
 


Over the past two weeks we've had a battle with not enough water intake, coupled with not enough food (yoyo diet) followed by both ends of the gastrointestinal distress teeter totter.

 

I did manage to steal moms shoes and take them out to my guy in West Portal and he did me a solid quick one day repair. SCORE!

TipTop vacumn AND shoe repair.  HUH?  Yep, left side shoe stuff, right side vacumn cleaner bags, belts, etc.



Moms weight is stable but not increasing (at <700 cal a day, no wonder)

Saturday she had a big whoopsie on the transfer from wheelchair to ejector chair. Quinn was there helping her, I was downstairs doing the laundry. Next thing I get a text and Quinn tells me to haul ass upstairs. Mom (you know, ol' fall UP a tree mom) slid between chairs and little sharp cornered wood table and left a whole hunk of skin from her arm on it.  OUCHIE.



Quick triage and refold of the skin, antiseptic, bandage and then a quick 6 and 1/2 hour trip to the ER in the Fambulance Junior for TEN STITCHES!!!
 

That was a ton of fun shoehorning mom into the car. OMG moment!

And in 6 and 1/2 hours you have the opportunity to meet a fascinating array of crackheads, heroin addicts, dumbasses and assorted other "challenged" folks.

            


Like I always say.... CELEBRATE DIVERSITY!

So moms arm is doing pretty okay, no infection, saw her doctor today and we'll go back next week to get the stiches out.

On a closely related front, her neighbor down the hall Jan, had a fall last week and although okayish now, spent the better part of 2 days on the floor in her apartment.
 


Fortunately Douwa and Victor were able to break in (many many locks) and called nine eleven eleven and she was taken to Kaiser. Got cold, caught a cold, went to hospital, got warm, YAY!
A week later, some tamiflu, rest, and she's on the mend.

Her niece Jillianne is down from Oregon and cleaning decluttering and getting the place ship shape for Jans return. Yes an Alert Pendant is on the way.

So yeah, been an exciting couple of weeks. 

Paid a visit to mom today and took her some Frittata from Mollie Stones.  Believe it or don't ....she had never had Frittata!

We discussed her fear of falling "Out of the wheelchair"  Really!  Can't make this stuff up.

So we did some tests with her sitting in the wheelchair to show her how stable wheelchairs are designed.

Admittedly, many times I think she could fall UP a tree. That being said however, if wheelchairs were really dangerous, methinks they wouldn't be insisting on taking you out of the hospital IN one.

Just sayin!

So test one, I pulled her up to facing the new ejector chair (so she have a soft landing if she could find a way to fall OUT. I told her to hold on and I picked up the back of the chair a good 6 inches. She still couldn't fall out.

Test two, I leaned the wheelchair over about 45 degrees and she still didn't fall out.

She had mentioned that she "felt" like she would fall out transitioning from the hall carpet to the hardwood floor in her bedroom. (all of a half inch drop!)

So to disprove this theory I had her hold on to the wheelchair and I pushed her down the hallway at about 30 mph and then into her bedroom.  She screeched a bit, but no pain no gain!  Then I took it up to about 35 mph for the second run and included the jog past the dresser and, well, she still didn't fall out.
 


So we are pretty much in agreement that the chances of her falling OUT of the wheelchair are next to nil.

Hopefully with some patience, practice, better diet, and excercise we'll have her doing this soon.

Well at least that's the plan.