With Mom getting weaker and weaker, and her Husband exhibiting signs of dementia/early alzheimer’s and therefore not being able to drive, or take care of her,and them living almost 3 hours away from the 3 of us - we had to make a decision.
After much debate on whether to hire someone to be there to care for them, take her to appts, and grocery shop, etc…..Older Sister has stepped up and decided that she will temporarily relocate over to Mom’s to care for her in the time she has left. She is an LPN, has been out of work since last October, so has the freedom needed to do this. Her 2 daughters still at home are teens and pretty self sufficient and Husband can take care of them and the house. Brother and I will jump in on weekends to give her a break and allow her to go home and reconnect with her family. With both Brother and I employed full time, we need to save the bulk of our paid time off for when the inevitable happens - as we will need a lot of time off then.
This is a huge burden off of us, as we know Mom will get the best care, and do not have to worry about hiring a stranger live there. I think it will be good for Sister’s mental health as well, as by being there and caring for Mom - she feels like she is doing everything she can.

Today was a long and tiring day, and I am still waiting for everything to sink in.
When I showed up at my Mom’s, I had almost 3 hours in the car to mentally prepare myself - but still a little shocked at how bad she looked to me. I don’t even know how to put it into words, other than she becomes weaker every day, and she looks like the cancer is winning the battle. She was not having a good day, she had some pain when she got up, had vomited before I got there, and, excuse me for being a little graphic, had a bout of diaharea (spelling?) last night. She seems to need to stop and take a breath between words, and when we went out to the car - it was a huge project. She uses a walker, but still stops every 5 steps to rest, as if she is willing herself to keep going.
At the Oncologists office, when the LPN needed to take her blood pressure, I took her 2 sweaters off and pulled her sleeve up for her….and caught myself mumbling under my breath “Jesus Christ” when I saw her arm, the LPN looked at me, and I had to turn away…it’s been a while since I have seen my Mom’s bare arm, as she is always cold and has 2 sweaters on…I was shocked at how skinny it was….alll the way up to her shoulder was just a bone with skin on it…it brought tears to my eyes - so I turned away so Mom could not see me as I did not want to upset her.
We went into the little room with the Doctor, where we learned that there will be no more chemo treatments, and Hospice is now taking over. She is just too weak to handle anymore, and with her stomach filling up every 2-3 weeks now, the Dr told me that is a sign that the cancer is taking over and none of this is working. After Mom & Husband left the room, I motioned for the Dr to stay, and asked him “how much time do you think we have?”
As little as 2 weeks, no more than 2 months.
He feels that she has really gotten a lot weaker since Christmas, and it’s not getting better.
I’m not sure if my Mother completely understands that by bringing in Hospice, it means the end is near, and maybe that is a good thing. Mentally, she does not have to capacity to process things like you and I, and so in her mind she feels that she is eventually going to get better.

It is currently Oh-Dark-Thirty, which is about an hour before the butt-crack of dawn. I am leaving in a few minutes (as soon as the coffee is done brewing) to drive over to the other coast and take Mom to her oncologist appt. She is getting all of the results of last weeks cat scan’s and MRI, so I felt that one if us should be there to get whatever news we are getting, and help translate everything into layman’s terms for her. Honestly, I have no idea what to expect….but, I can tell you that I did not sleep well. I’m doing a 1 day trip, so I’ll have news for you later today.
There are a few other important developments on the “Mom front”, but I will wait until they are finalized before I share anything here.
You know, when I voted absentee ballot last week, I did not realize that I really was not going to be here today…..good thing I did that, or I may not have gotten a chance to vote! All you other Floridians, get out there and vote!

I have to take my car in tomorrow for some scheduled mandatory maintenance, actually, I am only having the dealership do ONE of the items, and a trusted mechanic to do the rest, saving me about $300! Those dealers rape you on the labor..and they don’t even clean your car when they are done! Ticks me off…..you should at least get a free car wash out of the deal. My car spoiler is covered with bug guts, and could use a good washing….but, it’s been drizzly and overcast wll weekend so I haven’t gotten around to it.

We went to a local dog park today to meet up with some other Basenji’s and their owners from the Yahoo Group I belong to. As you can see, the dogs had a lot of fun together, and it’s always nice to talk to other Basenji owners who understand the breed!
That’s Snoopy in the middle of the “Circle of Basenji’s”….! It was wierd, I’m so used to him being the only Basenji at the park, that it’s easy to keep an eye on him….not today! He kept getting lost in that pack of brown, as they all ran around together. He was the tallest Basenji there.

There he is with the only female that attended, Savannah - she’s sooo cute!
!

For the Guys, FREE Schick Quattro Titanimum razor here.

For the kids, FREE Yopliat kids yogurt here.

And who doesn’t want FREE coffee? Get yourself a cup here.

***Stepping up on Soapbox***
I am still enjoying How to Look Good Naked with Carson Kressley…I love how he takes women who wear plus size clothing, and shows them they they truly are beautiful, and represent the majority of the women in America! Too much time is spent focusing on dieting, too much press is given to skinny celebrities (who I think look unhealthy anyway) - we are raising a nation of young girls with an unnatural vision of who they really are! Teach the girls, and young women in your life to love themselves, and their bodies for who they are on the inside - we do not need all that focus on everything else!
***Stepping down off of Soapbox***

My Sister alerted me to this, before I had watched my DVR’ed episode! In her defense, she didn’t know I watched - but I have been watching The Apprentice since season 1! The Celebrity Apprentice is their version of an All Star game, they brought in various stars to play, and all the money goes to charity. One thing you can say about The Donald, he gives back to the community - in a very big way. He has a hot daughter too, with a brain! She’s a very smart woman, obviously has learned from the master in regards to good business. Anyhoo, I digress. The men won the competition this week, which was selling broadway tickets to 4 shows..they barely squeaked by, there was only a $2000 difference in the sales figures! (Personally, I don’t think the women are ever going to win!) The team leader for the winning team gets ALL of the monies raised in the competition donated to his/her charity. Team leader this week was Vince Pastore, of Soprano’s fame, and, I am happy to report that he chose a cause near and dear to my heart! His Daughter-in-Law lost her StepFather after a 3 month battle with Pancreatic Cancer, so they made a $50,000 donation to the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer, in the Stepfathers name! I feel like MY team won!! YAY - more money towards a cure!! I can’t wait to see next weeks episode, as they show the winner giving the check over to someone at the charity, I have no doubt it will be a tear jerker for me!
Oh, and I am SO sure that Mr Trump reads my blog, that I would like to send a HUGE Thank You to him, his entire organization, and the celebrities for donating to this cause, and all of the various causes they have donated to this season. They are doing a very good thing, and that is so refreshing to see. (I actually dreamt last night that I thanked him in person!..HA!)