Was up this morning for almost an hour before I had to kick my butt into high-gear to prepare for visits from the Home Health nurse and the Physical Therapy Assistant, both on the same day. When I got Mom out of bed to get her ready for their visit, I discovered that Mom's sheets, pajamas, underwear, and the huge mattress pad — so big that it, alone, takes up a single load in the washing machine — were all soaking wet, stained yellow, and have to be bleached and laundered yet again. I will be so glad when this issue of incontinence is resolved. 
Mom did as many of the "sitting" exercises as she could handle while the therapist was here, but tired waaaay too easily again because she has not been exercising in the absence of the therapist as she should be doing, and because she refuses to eat properly. Not too long after the therapist left, the nurse arrived. Mom's blood pressure reading was normal since she has been back on the Toprol for a couple of days, and her pulse rate and oxygen intake level were normal.
She wanted to go back to bed right after the nurse left, so Dad assisted her. She decided she wanted to sit up for a bit on the edge of the bed rather than lie down, thank goodness! I showered, put my freshly shampooed-and-dried hair in curlers, donned makeup, and was ready to get dressed. Suddenly, Mom appeared, wandering down the hallway wearing nothing but a pair of panties that were badly soiled in the back. Very badly soiled. In fact, spots on the carpet behind her were soiled, too. Dad jumped into gear immediately to get her cleaned up while I cleaned up the carpet and changed all the bedding in the Master Bedroom for the second time that day. It was one of the worst cleanup jobs I think I've ever encountered. Armed with corn starch (to soak up some of the moisture), paper towels, spray disinfectant, bleach, a stiff scrub brush, and about an hour-and-a-half of elbow grease, the mess on the carpet was cleaned up and I began doing the resulting laundry. Once the worst of the bedding had been through the washer a couple of times and still wasn't clean, I left it to soak in hot, soapy, bleach water in the washer.
By this time, I really needed a break to keep my sanity. After making sure that everything had finally settled down, I got dressed and ducked out to get my nails done. On the way home, I talked to my brother on the phone and filled up the gas tank of my little car. Fortunately the house was quiet and appeared to have survived my absence without further incident, and I fixed myself a small supper and ate while continuing to work on the laundry.
This whole situation is so strange and twisted that it feels more like a dream than real life. I long to wake up in the arms of my husband, with his soothing my cries and telling me that I was just having a bad dream and that none of it was real...
Pink carnation, sans the white sport coat.
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