Day 33: Home

My mom is home.

She walked into her own house, with just a little help from dad, for the first time since Friday. It was SO good to see her there.

The day started by me calling in to Michelle this morning at 6:30am to see how mom had been overnight. I was so pleased to hear that mom had actually slept most the night. That was really fantastic news!

The boys and I made our trek up to the hospital, arriving around 10:30am. Dad informed me that mom's home supplies (hospital bed, etc) were to arrive at their house between 1:00 - 3:00pm. So, shortly after Noon, the boys and I headed up to mom and dad's with a stop at Safeway to pick up some sherbet for mom. We arrived at their house right at 1:00pm. I moved furniture to make room for the hospital bed. I vacuumed. I cleaned out the fridge. I ran the and cleaned out the dishwasher. I called dad at 2pm to let him know that I hadn't seen anyone yet. He asked me if I could pull out his Long Term Care Insurance policy and see if I could start making some phone calls.

I spent the next hour on the phone with the insurance company. It sounds terrible, but it was actually a really great thing. The insurance company was incredibly helpful and I found out that dad's insurance covers $216/day in home health care with NO waiting period. This was incredible news because dad paid for 48 hours of home health care starting at 8pm tonight. He will get a good portion of that money reimbursed AND, we now know that if mom needs additional help (we're thinking mostly at night if she isn't lucid), then dad can have a night nurse (or even a friend or neighbor) every night if needed. This was a huge relief for dad and Michael and I. The insurance company got everything set up and started. And I'm convinced I will need to look into Long Term Care Insurance for myself (but get a GOOD policy like dads!).

Finally, shortly after 3pm, the supplies showed up. The delivery guy set everything up, showed me how to work it all and I called dad and the hospital to let them know everything was there and about 15 minutes later mom was finally discharged from the hospital!

About a half hour later, as I said, mom walked in with just a little support from dad. It was the greatest feeling to see her come in, sit down in her own chair and have a little ice cream and talk to us all a bit. She ultimately went into her own bed and took a nap. Honestly, if she never wants to use the hospital bed, I'm good with that! But I suspect she will get quite a bit of use out of it over time.

I made sure dad was comfortable with being alone with mom for a couple of hours and then the boys and I headed home around 6pm. We got home around 7:30pm. It's the first night I've come home and felt okay with it. Leaving her at the hospital was terrible. I hated it so much. But tonight she is in her own home. And dad has help if he needs it. And I feel like it's the first night I might actually get some decent sleep in many days.

My hope is that mom never has to go back to the hospital again...although she might need to have her stomach drained again, but if that happens it should just be a quick procedure and then back home.

Hospice makes their first visit tomorrow. If it's late enough, I'm going to drive up for it. Otherwise, I'll just plan to make the next one. I called in someone to work for me tonight because I just wasn't going to make it back in time. Missing work doesn't help my financial picture (since there's no sick pay in Childbirth Education...;-)), but I just have to believe that all is going to work out. I anticipate that I may miss a few more classes along this path but that just is what it is. Mom comes first. Everything else just has to fall into place. If nothing else, I'm really learning to just let things be as they will be. I'm learning to let go a little more. And there's nothing wrong with those life lessons.

So for today, I'm trying not to think about why there is a hospital bed in my mom and dad's living room. Or why I looked through their wills tonight. Or why I spent an hour with the Long Term Care Insurance company. Or why hospice is visiting my mom tomorrow.

Today, I am just simply intending to be happy that my mom is home. 5 nights ago, right now, I was sitting in an ER with her. Tonight she is home. That is good. And I will revel in the small good things along this path of big bad things.

Once again, thank you to all of you have contacted myself, Michael and mom and dad. Your cards, e-mails, texts, calls, prayers and good thoughts have meant, and continue to mean, so very much to all of us. I'm hoping mom will be up for visitors in the next couple of days so that those of you who have expressed a desire to come by can do so! Please keep those thoughts and prayers coming. They helped get mom home. They will help us as we continue down the rest of this path too!