*needs a vacation*

Hmmm. So where was I before all hell broke loose? Oh yeah..looking for a sugardaddy with a decent ride to the beach who isn't a serial killer or married, or both. Tuesday night was my first night to just kind of go to sleep and not worry about mama dying on us. Me and Sam tucked in early and went smooth to the moon in about 30 minutes. Normally when we pass out, the rest of the dogs give it up and find a warm spot. They all woke up about 2AM barking to high heaven at some figure in the front door. Turns out it was the neighbor lady wife of our bi-polar buddy down the road wanting to use my phone to call her own mama. Her daddy got a two month warning on the big C that day and she was scared to death. Asked me to take her about ten miles to her parents house and I declined but offered her a ride to her house. This poor girl was shivering from walking that quarter mile in her PJs. We loaded up in the poor old Camry and headed that way only to find hub near my driveway looking for her. He hopped in the car and I dropped them both off but not before hearing him talking on his OWN phone. Supposedly her minutes ran out while her mom was sharing the news. I asked her how he could be connected when she had no minutes and smartass replied "Verizon plan." Kiss my butt you evil one. There's a special place in hell for people like you.

Mama's much better, thankyouverymuch. She doesn't really remember how she got from there to where she is, but she knows us and is resting well. Those dehydration hallucinations are some scary shit, ya'll. I saw the best and the worst of how the healthcare system works for elders up close and personal. By the time her doctor sent her back to ER twenty four hours post discharge she was still hallucinating and preaching to the choir. Following admission she ranted for a day, slept for two days and got her brain tested. Nothing remarkable there, was the word I got. Electrolytes normal? Check. Fortunately she got discharged right about the time that I got off and BG scooped everybody up for the transfer, in the trusty old Camry of course, collision film still flapping in the cold wind. We are right back where we started, only in much better shape which is a blessing.

I have seen a softening of my daddy's resolve to have his own way during this time and that is a very healing experience for me personally. Mama has deferred to his temper and stubborn ways for so long that it's second nature for her to bring up his miserable childhood as a sharecropper's son in defense. "People can learn to love, you know." That was my reply. Honestly I don't think daddy knew what to do with me because I'm a girl and didn't start taking on his farmer ways until I was forty something. He knows he can count on us though, and so does mama.

All during the time that I've been with my parents on their various journeys on Medicare and BCBS the people that I notice are the ones who make an extra effort to be nice and tell me what's up. There's nothing that will make caregivers stand up straight more than a family member up in the house. Just saying. Unfortunately that is the present and future of healthcare. Baby Boomers are aging and there's a whole shitload of us to care for. My solemn prayer is for someone to treat me the way I have treated others during my career. Please don't give me a bitch nympho alcoholic nurse.

Hat tip to all of my associates at the sawmill. You done good ^j^