Mid-morning to early afternoon 8/13
It’s been a long couple of days. Yesterday was mom’s quarterly care plan meeting. I went early so I could visit with my parents. Mom is in her wheelchair all the time, and she is a mechanical lift. What is a mechanical lift? They use a machine called a Hoyer to move her between her wheelchair and bed. One of the nurses at the facility wanted her re-evaluated by physical therapy to see if she could stand and pivot. Mom is being difficult about doing physical therapy. She told me yesterday she is done with it, all they want is money. I told her not to worry about the cost; I have it covered, and she said she didn’t care; she wasn’t doing it anymore. I hoped telling her the payment was covered would make her more willing to go, but she still refused.
During her care plan meeting, we discussed physical therapy. Mom is still too terrified to stand up because she’s worried about falling. This makes sense because she has been having that issue for a while now. She still has some days available through her insurance, so they’ll continue working with her to see if they can get her to stand. The physical therapist feels she can benefit from physical therapy; it’s about helping her overcome her fear of falling.
Evening of 8/13/2026
Our 9 1/2-month-old husky had an emergency, and we had to take him to Purdue Emergency Vet Clinic. On the way over there, the nursing facility called me; they told me my dad was complaining of chest pains, and they wanted to send him to the ER. I started to explain to them how, in the past, when my dad knows he has his yearly heart doctor appointment, he starts acting like he’s having chest pains and there is some kind of health issue. The nurse told me he seemed flushed and his face was red, so they called an ambulance. I told them I couldn’t meet him at the ER because I was on my way to take my dog to Purdue. I contacted my brother-in-law, and he met the ambulance at the hospital and stayed with my dad while I was dealing with my dog’s emergency.
It turned out some of the pneumonia my dad had back in May is still in his lungs, and that is what was causing him pain. My brother-in-law told me that while Dad was in the ER, he was talking about going back to work and wondering if the doctor would let him or if they would put him off. Dad was allowed to go back to the nursing facility with some antibiotics.
8/14/26
My dad had his yearly heart doctor appointment today. The nursing facility took him over to the doctor, and I met them there. Dad thought he was going to the doctor to see if he could go back to work. He asked me, while I was pushing his wheelchair in, if I thought they would let him, and I said I’m not sure; it all just depends. When we were almost done with the doctor’s appointment, he asked the doctor if he could go back to work. The doctor looked at me, and I shook my head yes, so he told him he could. Dad said, ” Good. ” He was tired of sitting around on his butt.
The van from the facility had a shredded tire and was being fixed, so we sat and waited inside the doctor’s office. While we waited, Dad asked if they were going to let him go back to work or put him on leave. I just told him we would have to wait and see. I think by then he forgot what the doctor had told him.
It was going to take over 3 hours to get the van fixed, so we decided I would bring Dad back to the facility. Someone from the doctor’s office helped me load him & the wheelchair. When we got back to town, my dad was asking how far out we were from GM (that’s where he worked for 28 years). He sometimes thinks the nursing facility is GM. I told him we were really close. Once we got back and they got him inside, he was asking to speak to the boss. He thinks the social worker is the boss.
It was close to shift change, and the young man my mom said she was having an affair with was getting ready to start work. I joked with him and asked him if he was my new stepdad. 🙂 Before I left, I went over to see both my parents, and my dad told me he didn’t like that boy, referring to the young man my mom said she was having an affair with. I told him Dad, he’s gay. Dad told me, “That’s what you think.” I again told him he was gay, and my mom was like What? Who’s gay? I told her the young man’s name, and she asked me, “Is he really gay?” I said, ” Yep, he sure is.” She was like, “Oh, I didn’t know that.” It was kinda funny the way she said it.
Dad said they were ready to go home, and well, they were home, but they didn’t understand, so I told both my parents I was going to go shopping, then come back and pick them up. Normally, when I leave, one of the CNA’s will try to talk to them so they will forget about me leaving.
So, as you can tell, it’s been an interesting couple of days. I’m trying to decide whether I want to visit them tomorrow or Sunday, since I won’t be able to go Monday. I try to visit every other day because, at their age, I don’t know how much time I have left with them, and I want to spend as much time with them as I can.
I appreciate you all for reading my blog, and I pray you are all having a wonderful day/evening.