Right when things are turning bright, something has to make it dark. Got a pretty healthy return from taxes. Was going to use it pay off the doctors and buy a new bed. Also to use it for our 10 year anniversary. Well the truck suddenly needed new brakes. That is expensive on its own. Then Jerry found many things that he needed to buy.
Well quite a few blogs ago I had been mentioning my husbands grandmother and her house. This house is 87-88 years old. I guess the city thought it was an eye sore and told her that they are willing to fix her house for her. They would tear it all down and build her a new one
. Well for years they have been talking about it but never did anything. His grandmother didn't want to fix anything that was breaking because they kept saying they were going to fix it. Well they kept losing her paperwork or changing people who handle it. The historical society layed demands on the house saying it needed to keep its foundation. So they had to redo the blueprints. In the mean time his grandmother had been packing things up putting them in the garage. We even kicked our roommate out 6 years ago so they could move in during the remodeling. In November of 07 they finally picked a date and told her she needed to be out in 2 weeks. Of course she already had a bit of it packed up, so they did not have much to do. They had promised her a temporary living unit while the house was being built. She ended up coming to stay with us instead. It took the state a week for them to find a place to live. They ended up putting her in a motel that has only one bedroom and one bath. The bedroom did not even have 4 full walls. The wall that joined the living room, right above the TV, was opened up kinda like a window with no glass. It was her and her 2 granddaughters and daughter in this little bitty place. Well it ended up being a short stay there. I guess it was a temporary, temporary place to live. They gave her 3 options. She could move in with a family member ( we were willing to take her but would not take her dogs)
. She could move into another place they had set up for her that is in a half way house (her daughter is a drug user and alcoholic). Or she could find her own place on the funds they provide. She opted for the 3rd one. Luckily she acquired a house that was like 6 houses away. Now it is April and the house is almost complete. Supposedly it will be finished April 11th. I have not seen it personally. My husband has though. He sent me three pictures of it. I could not tell much from them other than the place is empty and clean. Oh and they have NO plants. It still needs carpets from what I could tell. April 8th, my husband and I arrived home from work at the same time, somewhere around 7:20pm. We walked into the house and I went to deactivate the house alarm, when my husbands cell phone rang. Telling him I needed a smoke, I could hear either his grandmother or his sister on the phone. Jerry said, "what?", fairly loud. I looked at him and he was trying to call back who called. It was his grandmother and she had fallen at work. Her phone was dying and they kept losing each other. Jerry was finally able to tell her he was on his way. Of course he calls his mother next. Personally I would have waited till we found out more information before calling her. She has a tendency to over react on everything and make up her own versions of stuff. We arrived around 7:50pm. She was in the back of the building sitting on a forklift. We asked her what happened. She was moving something and fell over a cord and fell on her side. She was obviously in allot of pain. As usual I take the control. His grandmother didn't want to go to the E.R. especially by and ambulance. But she could not stand and we could not pick her up. After arguing with her we finally decided to call the ambulance at 8pm. That is when I called my boss and let her know that I would probably not be coming to work the next day. She told me that there was no one available to work for me and I told her that it was fine if my studio had to go black. Family was more important. I only had one appointment anyways. The firemen arrived at 8:10pm, exactly one hour after she had fell. For 30 minutes she sat and argued with the paramedics. We finally forced her to ride with the ambulance. Jerry took the truck and I drove her car to the emergency room.
This hospital is really stupid. The Emergency room is on the second floor. You have to drive up this narrow winding road to a parking garage that has maybe 40 parking spots. Allot of them are blocked off for doctors in specific fields. We ended up having to drive back down the ramp and find a spot on ground level. The closest ones to the emergency room had only one open spot. I told Jerry to take it and I would look elsewhere. I looked straight across and saw a bunch of spots then saw a sign that stated it was valet parking only. I turned my head to see where I was going to go next and saw a sign that said free valet parking. I drove over to it and the valet said they were taking no more cars, but we could park in the valet lot. I immediately turned around and found a parking spot. Walking in the through the lobby we were stopped by security. We were not permitted in any areas of the hospital without an ID tag. He pointed to the security desk. Standing in line we handed our ID over to security they typed in our information and took our picture. We then proceeded to the E.R. The time on our badges said 9:10pm. It had now been 2 hours since she fell. It took us awhile to figure out where to go. Why are hospitals such mazes?
We walked into the waiting room and approached the information desk. We told them our grandmother had been brought in and they gave us a sticker to put on and told us where to go. We walked into the room and she was howling in pain. A nurse was asking her question and prepping her for pain killers. Jerry walked out of the room and called his mother. I sat there holding her hand and talked to her. The nurse explained to me that there could only be 2 people in a room at a time and no standing in the hall. Jerry walked in and said he needed to speak to me NOW. I walked out of the room and he explained to me that his mother had told his little sisters what had happened and they took off running out of the house. Jerry was going to leave and look for them. I stayed in the room. In order to make her more comfortable they had to get her jeans off of her. Pulling them off was not an option. I left the room just in time to see his Aunt and her husband walk up. Her husband is a doctor and used to do radiology in the same hospital. They started into the room and I told them to wait til she was covered up. His Aunt started off on her "well my husband is doctor and he can go wherever he wants". I just told her to give them a minute so she can obtain some decency. I was lucky that immediately afterwords the nurse walked out. I let bill and his wife go in ahead of me. Right as I was walking in Jerry called me and told me that his Aunt had snatched his ID badge off his chest as he was leaving to go find his sisters. She walked in there and started looking at nana hurt area like she was the doctor. Lifting the blanket and pressing gently on her thigh. Her husband walked back outside to find out information. When the nurse came in to obtain some information off grandma I told his Aunt that I needed his badge so I could take it to him so he could get back in. She told me she would give it back to him when she left. I stepped aside and started digging through my purse for my charger. Roughly 15 minutes passed and his Aunt dropped his badge on the floor. I picked it up and she ripped it out of my hands gripping my fingers and said she was leaving and she would give it back to him on her way out. She also told me to stop being an ass. I replied back with you do NOT talk to me like that. I so wanted to just slam her face with my fists. She would deserve it too after everything she has done to the family over the years. Grandma was then taken away for x-rays. His Aunt and her husband left with her. When grandma returned his Aunts husband came back but no Aunt thank god. He didn't stay to long either. Not long after, his mother showed up, saying that her sisters husband, said grandma had a fracture and will be admitted. I refused to listen till I heard it from the ER doctor. I stayed in the room attending to grandmas needs. Holding her hand, picking stuff of hers up and gathering information that grandma told her daughter and the nurses. Because only two are permitted in a room at a time we needed to rotate visitors. We left the room again so she could get a chest x-ray and they also did an EKG. The nurse who gathers information was asking his mother and grandmother questions. When she turned to find out who I was the first thing she said to me was... you took pictures of my kids. Now mind you this hospital is 20 miles from my work. I guess I am not safe anywhere I go. Anyways she asked grandma who she wanted as her decision maker. I figured she would say Jerry. I made sure his mother was gone by the time she said anything. She looked to me and said I would ask you to do it but it can only be blood relatives. She then chose her other daughter. Jerrys Aunt. Needless to say I was pissed. Neither of her daughters are right in the head. One is a diagnosed schizophrenic. I left the room the minute his middle sister walked in. Upon arriving in the emergency room I sent the little sister back and saw the oldest sister and the X-step father waiting.
Jerry and I went smoking. As we were outside he told me that his Aunt told him she was leaving because I got up in her face. She played out this whole pity show on him. Saying that I wouldn't let her see her mother and that I said allot of stuff to her. BULLSHIT!!!! Now I wanna smack her more than before. She didn't even give him his badge back. Now how was supposed to get in to see her. After two smokes we went back upstairs. By the time we returned everyone had gotten to visit grandma. His X-step father and littlest sister were leaving to head back home. His mother was in there so I went back inside. As I walked in the nurse was setting her up for transport to her room. I immediately texted my husband
to tell him what was going on, and also obtained information about what the floor, room and bed phone number was. I texted all that to him too. His mother and I followed her to the floor she was being set up in. They asked us to go into the waiting room and they would call for us. So we sat down. I texted my husband where we were and waited for him to arrive. It took him forever to get up there because security stopped him and made them all go obtain badges. Thankfully he had remembered to tell everyone to bring their IDs. It kinda helped that I texted him and told him to tell them to bring it. When they finally arrived they only waited maybe 5 or 10 minutes before a nurse came and asked for his mother. When she came back I was asked to come into the room. She asked me to take her purse and told me odds and ends of things. Of course I had her oldest granddaughter attached to me so not much was said. I stayed in there and told his sister to get her middle sister in here. Jerry was the last to enter. Now most of the night he had held it slightly together. He had not cried, but he did do the lip quiver. He had walked in behind me while she was talking to me. I did not know he was there. In mid sentence she fell asleep. I turned to leave and bumped right into him. He just stared at her. I told him to hug her and tell her good night. That is when I saw his eyes swell up. I was doing good. But if someone else cries I will lose it. As I was stepping out of the room to give him his privacy I heard his grandmother speak. I did not turn around I couldn't keep my tears from falling. I stood just outside the door listening. I made sure he did ask her what to do with the car, we knew she could not leave it there. We all got to say our goodbyes and we drove everyone that was there home.
I wanted to stay there like I did for my husband when he was in the hospital, but because she had a roommate that was not permitted. Visiting hours are 7am to 9pm. I have to wait till I get off work at 7pm to go see her. I would not make it til 730 or 745. So I have limited time with her. My husband can be there sooner as he works right around the corner. When we got home my husband did not want to eat as he was so upset. I forced him to eat. I know it would make him sick if he didn't. We both decided to go to work the next day... well me work, him Jury duty. In the morning my husband called him grandmothers room to check on her. His Aunt answered and would not let him talk to her cause she was taking some medication. He told her he could not call back as he had Jury duty in 30 minutes and he would not be able to talk to her again until after 5pm. She finally gave the phone to grandma. This set him off. But he did get to talk to her. Though she was really stoned. While at work I bought her some balloons and necessities. We are unsure how long she will be spending at the hospital.
April 9th she went into surgery. It was successful now she has to deal with therapy, or rehab as they call it. I took my on call day to be there with her but because Jerrys aunt was there I didn't go. I kept calling up there all day and every time his aunt would answer. If I new she was going to spend most of the day there I would have gone to work or did my laundry at least. By the time she left it was late in the evening and I needed to cook dinner. My husband went and saw her though. Ever since the first day she arrived in her room she would be talking to you and the minute she would stop to think she would fall asleep. We would just sit there and wait for her to snap out of it. Thankfully it would only be a couple minutes. She definitely got plenty of rest, which is something she needed badly. She also got food. Another good thing. He told me that she was looking good and did not seem to be in as much pain.
April 10th we both went to see her after work. Of course Jerry was late. She asked me to bring her purse and something from her briefcase when I was off on Friday. Of course I said ok. She also asked me to take his mother grocery shopping and that I needed to deposit a check. Jerry attempted to call his mother but she did not answer. Grandma tried to call her too. We sat with her until visiting hours we over. When we left we decided to drive by the house and see what she was up to. The house was dark. Jerry called his middle sister to ask her where her mother was. She did not answer either.
April 11th. I woke around 1130. I planned on leaving the house at noon. After calling my husband I found out that both of the girls were staying with their older sister and their mother had gone to the casino that night, with her x-husband, and put herself in the hole by withdrawing more money than she had. She was attempting to hit up everyone for money to fix the situation and everyone said no. Serves her right. When I arrived at the house around 1230, she was telling me not to tell her mother what she did and that she would fix it on her own. I didn't care one way or another. I was not going to stress out her mother more than needed. I took what I needed from the briefcase and drove to the hospital. I sat in the that hospital for 2 and half hours waiting for her to write a deposit slip for these two checks, and obtain information bout where I needed to go. She had asked me to pay her rent a center and storage unit. While in the hospital she was given carpet and counter top swatches. She chose the carpet a few days ago, passion fruit colored, YUCK. Everyone was waiting for her to chose the other one. I took a look at them and chose the one that looks just like our counter tops. Her daughter called right about then and grandma chewed her out on the phone. I do not know if she told her about the gambling or not. The lady in the bed next to hers said she would do that daily. Lunch arrived almost immediately afterward. I looked at what she had and guessed on the carbs. Grandma is now a diabetic too. The nurse came in an gave her some insulin saying her sugar was a little high. I asked how many units they administered and they said 2. DO WHAT? She was eating chicken with gravy and mushroom sauce, fruit cup, rice and a half pint of milk. All that alone should have been about 10 units and that is not calculating in the high sugar.. While standing there she kept falling asleep. I kept waking her up. She would tell me she was not sleeping and I would reply that she was snoring. This happened for 2 hours. Finally she finished everything and I grabbed what I needed and left. Right as I was about to leave that lady returned and asked if grandma had gotten to look at the piece of paper. She and I barely knew what they were about. They just had addresses so I chose the closest ones to her house. There were three. The lady explained that her medicare denied her care facility. Grandma mentioned her other insurance and they told her that medicare is her primary they say what goes and what don't. She then told me to bring her daughter back with me.
First I went to rent a center. Could not figure out where to park so I actually went to KFC and walked over. After that I went to the storage place. Got lost on my way there. When I walked in they informed me that the systems were down and I would have to come back at a later time. I left them my name and number, and asked them to please call me. Next I headed to the bank. Jerry called me when I was standing in line and he told me that we needed to talk and that it was about his grandmother. I deposited the checks and when I was leaving asked to the use the restroom. I was told it was not used for public use. I explained I just deposited 2 checks. He explained again that it was not for public use. I really needed to go. I walked back to the car and drove to Jerrys work. While waiting for him to come out I got a call from the storage place telling me they were back online. I explained I would be there around 5pm. Jerry told me about the canceling of medicare. I explained that I already knew and told him my story about it. He then called his aunt to tell her what I said. I left him around 4:45pm and returned to the storage place. Leaving there I called my husband and told him to tell his mother I was on my way and would arrive before 5:30pm. I grabbed her and took her up to see her mother then went grocery shopping. She grabbed two of everything that she bought. She would say my daughter steals mine or they don't like that flavor but I do. The bill ended up being 400.00. We paid 200 in cash, 65 in food stamps, and 160 on my debit card. Hubby was not to happy but I figured she had bought us stuff in the past why not return the favor. We hardly bought anything. Frys grocery is expensive. Loading up the car we drove back to the house. I helped carry the stuff in then left her to put it all away. I called my husband on the way home. It was originally planned that he would go see his grandmother then we would go fishing with a friend of his. At the last minute I changed my mind. I no longer wanted to go. I was to tired, and my feet were cramping. At home I saw my husband off and then sat down to eat some dinner. I went to bed at midnight, fell asleep at 2am. I guess they left the fishing hole at 3am and headed home.
April 12th my husband and I had a birthday party to attend. It had been planned for a few months. We were told that his grandmother was going to be released today and transported to the care facility. By the time I got off work she had not yet been moved. I got off work at 1pm. We had a small concern about this place that she was going to. They had mentioned something about not providing her with the medication she needed. That made Jerry fly a little off the handle. I walked into the house at 1:15pm, changed clothes and packed a bag with our swim clothes. He was sitting at his computer. At 2:45 we finally left. He made me pack a bag of warm clothes too because we were going fishing after the party. On our way we picked up his little sister to go with us. His other two sisters rode together in a separate vehicle. After stopping to get a gift we arrived at almost 4pm. His grandmother still had not been released from the hospital. His other two sisters showed up 15 minutes later. We stayed for many hours. The water was bitter cold so we ended up not getting in. All the teenagers got in after the sun went down. The little little ones were in earlier in the afternoon. We ate some food. Jerrys mother texted him and told him they were moving her now and that she wanted us there. Jerry called his grandmother and she told him he could come tomorrow. Then his aunt called him and asked him where he was. Then said he was supposed to be at the temporary living facility grandma wanted him. He got on the internet and looked up the place and called them. Eventually they got her on the phone and he asked her if she needed him. She said they would talk tomorrow. Around 9pm we finally left and headed to the lake to go fishing. So far they had not caught anything every time they had gone. This time was no different. We stayed til 1230 then left for home. It was 2am when I finally went to bed.
April 13th. Grandma is back to herself. She is in her temporary living facility. Kinda wish they had kept her on the drugs she was on in the hospital. Jerry was scheduled to head over there while I was at work. I thought he would show early in the morning. He did not leave til around 1pm. She made him mail some stuff and run some errands. He was gone all day. He ended up coming home after I did. I had to work all day so I never got to see her. Judging by the visiting hours it looks like I won't be seeing her till my day off. They are 8am til 5pm. I get off at 7pm. His aunt still thinks she is the queen.
April 14th. They are giving her the medication that is needed. But just not as high of a dose as they were at the hospital. Jerry went to see her for 15 minutes during his lunch. They are adamant that he will NOT be visiting when he gets off work. SO it has to be a before work, during lunch and on his day off. I guess he was a little PMS'y with them and told them that if she wants to go out and have a smoke she will go, whatever she wants she gets, he also reminded them that she is only a temporary resident.
We decided that night to go and see her when we got off work. If they kicked us out at least we tried. We walked in around 7:50pm. Not one person said a word to us. We signed in and went straight to her room. Of course she was asleep so Jerry woke her up. We stayed for 2 hours. We talked to her and she told us what she needed to be done. If I am not called in on Wednesday I will do laundry all day then on Friday my day off I will be running errands for her. She asked a nurse 3 times while we were there to come and assist her into her chair. On the third try they finally came in and we all went out to the patio and had a smoke or two. I jumped out of my skin when I saw a cat walking toward us. It started to jump in between my husband and I but I grabbed it and put it on grandmas lap. It was really friendly but does not like having its belly rubbed. As I found out
. Guess that is only my cats that enjoy that. Anyways we talked and when the nurse came out to give her some medication we decided it was time to go. We walked back inside and asked a nurse to place her back in her bed. We talked for roughly 20 minutes more then went home. Jerry took me to his work to show me where he sits right now. Then he took me upstairs to show me where he will be sitting. Walking to the other side of the building he showed me where he will be sitting in the next 2 weeks. I really didn't care but it mattered so much to him that I fallowed along. Leaving he stopped and got some food while I went and bought some smokes. I arrived home before he did. We ate rested for 30 minutes and went to bed. April 15th. Jerry had to work til 9 so we ended up not going to see her. He did go see her during the day and took his mother with him. They only got to visit for roughly 15 minutes.
April 16th. I was not called into work, so I did laundry, clean the turtle cages, picked up the living room, rotated the bed, washed the bed linens and put new ones on, took out the trash, did the dishes, and retrieved and sorted the mail. Jerry went and saw his grandmother after work while I finished the house. This allowed me to get it all done so I can run errands for grandma on Friday.
Ok doing this daily is getting to be a bit much. It is the same thing every day. After work we go see her. On my days off I am there all day running errands for her. On one of Jerrys days off he spends half they day with her. It is now April 27th. Eleven days later. She is still there but doing better. She is doing her therapy and I am still running her errands. I go get the mail, then go to her house. Grab her daughter then go to see nana. I leave from there pay some bills but always have to take his mother to the grocery store where she spends 100+ weekly. I spend that much a month. She always buys two of everything and the same things she bought the last time.
Had to take some writing time off. Is really hard to write this at work when you have trainees. But I am able to finish this today.
THE HOUSE IS DONE.... it took them almost a year but it is done and it looks good minus that it has no plants and no furniture. Though his family didn't bother to tell us until but a few hours to get out of their temp house. His sister texted him
telling him that he needed to get to the house now because they needed to be out of the rental house by 6pm it was like 3pm. I raced down to his work dropped off my car and grabbed his truck. At the house most of the stuff was gone. They had been moving it all night long. Well I should say his mother had been moving it all night long. His middle sister and oldest sister had stopped by in the morning and moved some stuff then went back home cause his sister was having a party and they needed to clean the house where his oldest sister lived. Bullshit by the way. All that was left was just a few items they needed. I grabbed it all at once drove back to nanas and took everything inside. We then needed to get the food out of the house. That ment purchasing a HUGE tote and 40lbs of ice. Before we could go get it we had to wait for the electrician to return with the part for air conditioner so we could turn it on. One he was done we raced back to the house unloaded the fridge and drove it back to his grandmothers house. I cooled off for a bit then drove to see his grandmother. I let her know that it was all taken care of and told her I would come by in a few days and run more errands.May 2nd, 2008. I came for one of my regular visits. When I walked in the house to get his mother she told me that her sister and her husband are driving to the rehab center to break her out. Her medical bed had already been delivered and installed. I went into the house to get the tv hooked up properly. She and I went to the rehab center and saw her aunt, and mother sitting outside saying good-bye to the other residents that she had developed friendships with. We went back to her room and packed everything up. His grandmother and aunt had already started for the vehicle while his cousin and grabbed everything else. We happened to grab this blue wedge. We walked right out the door in front of the staff with. Later found out that it was not ours to take but nobody has said anything about it. We got her home and everyone went camera crazy. His cousin, mother and I were all snapping her first steps into the house
and around the house. 
I had explained to his cousin what the wedge was for then I explained what I wanted the wedge for. 
Now she wants one. Anyways as I walked around the house taking pictures I found some things wrong. I showed his grandmother and I took pictures of the issues. They had to rush finish the house because the house they were renting was yanked out from under them. He was told they would be out by a certain day and because of the accident and the transitioning things got delayed. That was one of the reasons for the sudden move out. A pain from the window in one of the kids bedrooms was missing
, in another room a ceiling panel was missing out of the closet and you could see right outside 
. The linoleum was coming up in the kitchen. One night when it rained the kitchen window leaked to a point where it was peeing onto the counter 
. The next day after the rain I walked outside and noticed the paint was ruined on the house from the rain. But it was only ruined on the section they just added on. 
She had decided before coming home that there would be no smoking in the house and the dogs would not be permitted inside the house either. Well the smoking one crashed and burned a few days later. All through the night people showed up. We all ended up on the front porch eventually. 
Everyone got to see her war wound she was not shy about pulling the side of her pants down and
As of June 26th she is allowed to drive her own car and the house has everything from storage inside of it. Within a month she will be returning to work.
