My mother had a stroke at the end of last month. It was moderate, according to the MRI, but, fortunately, didn’t leave her too impaired. She’s using a walker, now, temporarily, and her eyesight is a little worse than before. Just after the stroke, she had some numbness in her right arm and hand, but that’s, mostly, gone leaving only some dexterity issues. We’ve got to work with her on it every day. Just little things like picking up beads, rolling a pencil over all of the fingers of that hand with the thumb, tying and untying knots in a rope, fishing poker chips out of a tennis ball, etc. We really dodged a bullet with that one. However, she’s now on blood pressure medication and an aspirin regimen.
She’s also been diagnosed with diabetes. So, she, and us, have had to adjust and cope with some really big changes in her diet. Not just watching her sodium intake, but her carbs, as well. Grocery shopping takes forever, now that we’ve all become label readers. Lemme just say a huge thank you to the inventors of Splenda. I don’t know how diabetics coped before it. Then there’s checking her blood sugar and taking insulin. The doctors tell us that, after her glucose levels are under control, they may be able to switch her from the pen to pills. That would be a relief, not just because I don’t enjoy sticking my mother everyday, but because they are a LOT cheaper than the pen. We’ve managed to find a place where we can get her other meds cheaply, thank you Harris-Teeter, but not the insulin. That stuff is EXPENSIVE.
Added to all of that, we’ve had to deal with applying for her Social Security and Medicare benefits, for temporary Medicaid until Medicare kicks in, plus having to deal with the VA. You think SS and Medicare/Medicaid are slow? They are like lightning compared to Veteran’s Affairs. Fortunately, my sister took care of most of that stuff.
I’ve still managed to snag some time to scrap a little, between helping my sister take care of Mom, but not much, so, I don’t know when I’ll be able to post another kit. I will continue to scrap, though, and to post freebies, when I can. I have a few going right now, and ideas, some vague, for others. Just be patient. Thanks.
