same stuff, different day

As many of you may know my mother has been in rehab for about two months for a broken leg. We brought her home last Friday and home health has been making regular visits which doesn't set well with my father his OCDness. Like many folks I'm not real sure what the lesson here is except to do no harm. I had an extra day off because a co-worker wanted the shift and days off are few and far between. The dryer has been broken and was due to be repaired around noon so I slept 'til 10. Less than an hour later daddy called and said home health had called into their doc and he said to "send her to ER" for an evaluation. I tried desperately to keep from going through that routine again but it turned into a big drama fest so I called EMS transport who politely asked me next time to use 911. *sigh* I had just enough time to put on a bra and slap on some clothes and shoes and followed that bus all the way to the sawmill in my trusty old Camry with one hubcap. They were crazy busy up in there but it all seemed to flow because there was no big life saving effort in progress....just very sick people and many of them elderly. Definitely not Ebola.

The trouble with healthcare is that it focuses on diagnostics that make money from Medicare and big insurance. There is a huge political lobby dedicated to which drugs are given based on which contract or reimbursement for certain procedures are on special. Very little attention is paid to the family unit as a whole because nobody really understands the conflicting stories you get from multiple specialists on consult. There are many, I'm just saying. I met one today who treated as a peer and one who was looking after her parent's best interest and he immediately put me at ease. Without a bedside advocate to stop the madness, a lot of non essential testing is done. It's common practice everywhere in the US. Meanwhile those dying of cancer are denied medical marijuana by gun totin' redneck church people. Big Ernie will get y'all for that.

Hannah Graham's murder is a story that haunts me as a parent. This guy is a serial predator who took advantage of her disoriented state. ALWAYS travel in a pack, even if it's just a pair. And especially when party hopping. My daughter ran with a posse who always had each others' backs as did we as their parents. I was the "bad mom" who let them have bonfires and drink beer before they were legal and I don't regret it to this day because I knew where they were. In my yard having a good time in front of the ancient barn and under the light of the moon. Winter ones are best. I remember one time in particular when they went to a shady part of town in my Mama's old Camry and got pulled over by seven city cops coming back over the tracks. Fortunately the evidence got tossed and there was only the underage tobacco thing and some little hemostat deal that resulted in probation for the whole bunch.

Another time they were partying at Shay's while she was out of town and this cop who had a thing for her busted up in there and that time Anna Banana's parents took care of it. As Nita would say "lerd." The chief got a letter from me on that one. I'm not a lawyer but I know basic rights like warrants and such. These guys had the door not even locked and he just pushed it open and called for backup. Off duty, he was.That little ordeal resulted in Weed and Seed community service with Mr. Schaeffer, mandatory drug education and visits with a very nice juvenile probation officer who was rather amused as their attempts to dilute. And then there was the night the K-9 hotshot in the flashy van pulled Gumby over in my driveway to find that he had a bottle and was about to bury his beloved pretty girl Faith. I was already a hot mess and almost went to jail that time myself. I walked outside to see what's up in my driveway and dude threatened me to get back in the house like he was gonna' shoot me or something. Since I was pretty torn up about Faith dying in my lap I suppose I just snapped. Asshat. There are knockout roses right over her pretty self in the pine grove and a couple of her offspring still sleeping with us.

^j^