Another Day At The Home........... Edit Blog Entry

04-04-2012 at 10:03 AM 

It was a last minute decision to visit my grandmother this morning. I had an hour to kill before an 11:00 appointment and couldn’t think of anything better to do than to see how my grandmother was doing. Last night she was sitting in her walker and must have been dozing off when she fell onto the floor. The nurses called to let us know she was fine but aches and pains don’t really set in until the next day. At 93 years old it was my bet that she would hurt somewhere on top of hearing stories of the elderly having a small injury that leads to bigger problems and untimely deaths. I needed to see her for myself.

She was sitting in her chair in the dining area having just finished her breakfast. There was a lot of action going on around her including the cleaning staff who were vacuuming and bringing clean dishes in for their next meal, physical therapists working with their patients, and a woman riding around in her wheelchair begging for someone to help her find a bathroom. “Do you know where the bathroom is?”, she said to me with a concerned look on her face. I pointed her in the direction of the public bathroom on her wing but one of the other nurses heard her and said an aid was going to help her out. A male aid was going to assist her in the bathroom. Did I mention they were sending a guy in to help her use the toilet? She continued to beg anyone who would listen and the same nurse that told her an aid would help her asked her if she wanted to play the balloon game. “No! I have to go to the bathroom!” There were staff everywhere but it seemed that every staff member had their hands full. (I wouldn’t want a male staff member helping my grandmother off the toilet seat) As nice and professional as the male staff member seemed I did not approve of the system they put in place for this helpless woman who couldn’t find her own bathroom.

I approached her from behind putting my hand on the top of her back. She turned her head and let out the most welcoming, “oh Cherie” as if she had received something she has always wanted. I was happy that she knew who I was especially after she asked who my mother was. Of course I got out my camera and showed her as many pictures as I could of family members and thankfully she remembered every one of them. I lied my keys down on the table where we sat.

While talking to my grandmother and repeating the answers to the repeated questions she asked I noticed with my peripheral vision that my keys were moving on the table. I turned my head to find the cabbage patch lady sitting next to me playing with my keys. I call her the cabbage patch lady because she looks like a cabbage patch baby. She is all wrinkly in her face and wears a knitted hat on her head. I have my keys hanging from various types of key chains including a pink thumb drive approximately two inches long in the shape of a bone. As soon as she saw it she brought the keys closer to her eyes to examine it. My grandmother said, “she’s going to take your keys. She’s putting them in her purse.” The cabbage patch lady did not have a purse with her and she was not going to keep them. I assured my grandmother no harm would come from her looking at my keys. But, when I was ready to leave I noticed the cabbage patch lady had fallen asleep with my keys in her hand. Bless her heart. I didn’t want to wake her but I had to so I nudged her on her arm. She awoke. I asked for my keys and she gave them to me not knowing they were mine but were left on the table she dines at. It was a pleasant exchange of hands.

My grandmother seemed to be clear of any new aches and pains her fall may have caused. I have noticed lately though that her eyelids want to close more often as she sits in her chair. Even in the midst of conversation I will catch her eyes slowly closing as if she is dozing off to sleep but as slowly as they close they pop back open. She comments on how everyone seems to be sleeping around her as they also sit in their chairs. I said, “I guess when your old you slow down and get tired more often.” She agreed.

I often have the same thought as I leave from a visit with my grandmother that one day, for those who should live so long, my generation will one day be solely dependant on others to live their lives day to day. Those in my age group are at the peek of our lives. We still have a say in how we live and still have time to make changes for the better whether it’s to further our education, get a better job, or take a trip around the world. It reminds me to take advantage of every minute of every day and to make it count.