Friday, June 10, 2005
It’s been a long and hellish week. My cold has set in and I’m coughing a lot and my head hurts a lot. I feel sure it’s a bad cold plus probably a sinus infection. I came home today and slept all afternoon.
Alesia was mad at me most of today.
This morning at breakfast, I had to go over the pool rules with her again and she sulked and pouted. Lesleigh said that yesterday at the pool she was splashing her, getting in the lap lanes, and swimming under the diving board, then whined when Lesleigh said they had to go. I told Alesia that since she has now been told several times not to do those things, that the next time it happens she will have to leave the pool. She tends to pout and not listen, and only punishing her will make her remember, I know from experience.
When I got home this afternoon I felt so rotten. All I wanted to do was sleep. I watched Alesia playing with Coco in a way that makes Coco bite – sticking out her hand and pulling it back. Mother and I have both told her to stop that because it has made Coco bitey again, and she had mostly stopped that before Mom left Augusta. Alesia argued with me and I just blew up and yelled at her and sent her to her room. She has to learn not to argue with me.
I have to keep reinforcing with Alesia that I am the mother and she has to obey me. If I don’t make her follow my rules now she sure won’t do it when she’s older and starts dating.
Tonight Alesia is mad at me because I made her go to bed at 10:30 and I won’t let Coco sleep with her. Coco has to sleep downstairs. Coco doesn’t like being down there by herself and she is fussy, but she will settle down. She has been sleeping with Bruce all week but he has returned to Columbia to work this weekend.
Mom won’t be released from the hospital until probably Monday. She is still coughing a lot, not eating much, and in pain.
Late this afternoon, after I woke up, I finally took Alesia to the hospital today to see Granny. Now that she’s feeling better and eating a little, Mom looks a lot better. She is alert and can carry on a conversation. On Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, she was still sleeping a lot and sometimes not lucid. They have decreased the pain meds considerably now.
Alesia did fine at the hospital. She sat and watched TV mostly. She didn’t seem traumatized. I think it did her good to see Granny. I think that missing Granny has contributed to her being so fussy, plus her period.
I wasn’t happy that Bruce left tonight to return to Columbia, but he says he has to work tomorrow and Sunday. He promised to return Monday morning, to help move Mother to the rehab center. He is burned out, I can tell. He’s been getting milkshakes and things to tempt Mom to eat, helping her go to the potty, etc. Plus there’s the emotional toll.
Last night I went straight to the hospital from work, and made Bruce go home. He took Alesia to the mall. I know she enjoyed the outing. I left the hospital about 8:45, but my cousin Robin was there with Mom. Bruce and I didn’t eat dinner until about 9:30, but he had made Alesia a grilled cheese sandwich and she was OK. I think it’s good for him to feel part of a family again.
The doctor came in tonight when we were all in the room, and he said Mom has pneumonia. They didn’t discover it until she was on the operating table a week ago. So that’s why they’re been giving her all sorts of IV antibiotics and breathing treatments. And they have to get her up and moving so her congestion won’t get worse. It’s better, but not gone yet. They made her walk down the hall today.
Bruce rigged up a water bottle with a long tube in it so Mom can get sips of water any time she wants, which made me feel better about not staying with her all the time. I will spend time with her tomorrow morning and go back late in the afternoon for a while, also on Sunday, but I am not going to stay at the hospital constantly any more. I just can’t keep doing it – too exhausting, and I need to be with Alesia. I told Mom that was the plan and she agreed.
Mom has gotten lots of get-well cards and notes and calls, and that cheers her up. It’s going to be such a long haul, though. I just pray Mom will fight hard to regain mobility and do what the therapist tells her.
I am very stressed out, of course, and just praying I won’t get worse. I just cannot be sick right now. I am constantly eating vitamins and Grapeseed Extract [a great antioxidant]. I have times I feel fine, and times I cough a lot and I feel incredibly tired and my head aches. I just want this to all be over…
