Mother's Day Trip

24 hours isn't a lot of time to spend with your family; however, having not spent a Mother's Day with my mom since I was in my teens warranted just an occasion.

I have to say that taking a flight on stand-by is a little nerve wracking when you have limited time. Luckily, this trip I was able to get on both of my flights OK, although it looked like it might be a little dicey there on the trip home. In addition, flying on small planes that hold 50 people are somewhat uncomfortable at best - however, can't really complain when I'm able to save some $$ on my trips. The next trip should have me in Dallas the 3rd week of June.

Mom is doing OK for now. The doctor took a second blood test as they apparently weren't sure the first results came back correctly - but they came back the same. Her general health has overall improved; however, the cancer is still trudging on in her body. Mom's right shoulder gives her the most amount of pain; she lays on her side to relieve that pressure so not sure that she sleeps all that well. She is on Oxycodone and morphine pills; says the pain relievers don't work. However, within an hour of taking the Oxycodone, she felt good, little to no pain so it must be working. She's afraid of becoming addicted to the drug; my mantra of "don't chase the pain" doesn't seem to be working really well right now; however, I think she's starting to see the value of that.

We spent my time there pretty much talking which we've typically not had much of a chance to do in many years. I'm not one to talk a whole lot as I think what I have to say isn't all that interesting, so she told me some family stories from when she was in her late teens/early 20s. I have a lot of info I really want to gleen from her, so I'll be recording stories the next time I see her. We also went through a lot of pictures (which I think is a mere fraction of what she has) and some valuables that she has, including an old "IKE" pin that was given to her by my grandfather. It's still in great condition - she had me take that so I can keep it safe somewhere; think I better invest in a safe deposit box soon.

For Mother's Day, mom's friend Eli made some little gift packets for the ladies staying at the facility from Avon samples that she has acquired being a rep. She wanted to get them out of her house into the hands of those that can use them. Eli put them in these nice little colorful plastic wrappers and then into a basket lined with an old lace curtain (or maybe it was a tablecloth). She put a sign on it that said it was from my mom and her "Avon friend." The ladies really appreciated them and mom actually met more residents; she's been there for 5 weeks and hasn't really ventured out to meet anyone besides those that are at her assigned table in the dining room. I always find it very fascinating to learn about the lives of these folks; their tales of the depression and jobs in their early years are interesting to hear.

If you haven't had the chance to send mom a card or letter or call her, I encourage you to please do so. She sees a lot of her local friends, but said she hasn't heard from much family yet. You can send mail to the following address:

Rebecca Allard
c/o Dayspring Assisted Living
6400 Cheyenne Trail #220
Plano, TX 75023-3774

If you need her phone number, feel free to email me and I'll send it to you.

Another Trip

I'm headed down to Dallas to see mom for a quickie Mother's Day trip - leave Saturday afternoon, come back on Sunday evening (hopefully - if a seat is still available or I get to wait until Monday). Not much to report right now; doctor did some blood work last week, but couldn't get solid results, so took more blood on Friday - guess they'll know more this week about what is going on. Mom said they talked about putting her on some mild chemo or doing some small doses of radiation to hopefully help with the pain she feels in her shoulders. I'll report what I learn after this weekend.

It's been a busy week or so - finishing off papers and studying to take finals so I can close out two of my classes; then I'll have 4 certificates to obtain that will show how much closer I am to that degree. I have debated about taking at least one class during the summer semester, but I'm almost afraid to take on anything right now - I'm carrying such a great grade point average that I don't want to put it into jeopardy with all of the distractions. So, I'll probably wait until fall but even then will be kind of a crap shoot. I hate not being able to make a plan - as soon as I get everything put into place, a monkey wrench gets thrown into everything. Patience will just have to preside for now.

Goodbye to Grandma

My dear grandmother, Juanita Mescal Daugherty, passed away on Sunday, April 17th. I was at a Rockies game with some friends; when I saw my uncle Jim calling, I knew what had happened. I spent the rest of the game pretty melancholy; although you know something is going to happen to someone you love in the near future, it doesn't make it any easier when they actually pass.

I flew out on Tuesday where my cousin Brett picked me up. There had been some rough, rainy weather before I got there, so the highways were a little backed up. We took some back roads and a state highway to finally get back into Cincinnati. We headed straight to my aunt Connie's for a beans and cornbread dinner - I was so happy for that meal. Grandma always fixed that for me whenever I visited; guess I'd call it a "signature" meal within the Daugherty side of my family.

That night, we rode out a pretty severe storm system that had tornadoes, hurricane winds and heavy rain. Brett's house is about a block from a fire station where apparently the tornado warning sirens are located; that was definitely a noisy night.

The services for Grandma were nice, although I could do without the open casket - I know Grandma didn't care for that much, either. She didn't look like herself when looking straight at her; they always seem to distort the mouth when they glue it together. I saw so many family members that I hadn't seen in years; we definitely had a full house. We went to uncle Stuart's house afterwards and chatted with people for hours. Their church provided enough food to feed an army, I swear! Being with my family was certainly the most calming thing for me.

I spent time with my aunt Barb (uncle Jim's wife) on Thursday; she had just lost her mother about 3 weeks before, so it's all pretty hard on her. She's been staying at her mom's house since her aunt Helen is in town until July; so I fixed breakfast for everyone and we just hung out and laughed for a couple of hours. We went back that night with pizza's and my cousin Tammy and her family came to visit with us. It was great to spend some quality time with them - if it weren't for the humidity, I would live much closer to all of them. But this dry climate person just doesn't handle the atmosphere there very well.

Now that it's all over, guess I'll concentrate on finishing my classes and mom. I'll send out some updates on her shortly.

Grandma says the Darndest things

From my cousin Brett: "I got such a kick out of this. I visited Grandma on Saturday and listened to her complain about everything, especially the food (she's 95 and in a nursing home). I didn't go back Sunday with Mom and Faith. Grandma is having trouble with her foot, no circulation, so quite painful. The nurse came in Sunday and was checking her foot out, then commented what she needed to do. Grandma said, "you know what would make my foot feel better? A big pile of bacon." Go Grandma!

Dallas - Trip #1

Arrived Saturday at 1:30pm. It was a nice day. Mom and Eli picked me up from the airport; we went from there to an extended stay hotel to check in as apparently mom wanted have me close. When we got to the hotel, I put mom into a wheelchair; she just cannot walk very far, she is so weak. Once we got to the room, I put mom's things away and we left her to rest - where she promptly parked herself into a chair and turned on the TV.


After we got mom settled in, Eli and she showed me the first of two assisted living facility not far from mom's apartment; it was nice, astetically pleasing both inside and out. She showed me the main areas (there was one) and a room that would work for mom. Nice, but seemed a bit impersonal.

We then went to mom's apartment. I knew I was walking into a mess; Eli had gotten a lot done, but there was so much more to do. The bathroom is pretty much unusable; there are tons of boxes and plastic storage bins in all shapes, sizes and types you could think of, stacked everywhere. We moved a few things, took out some trash and a box of books to donate and left. I went out and got mom and I something to eat then went back to the hotel to hang out for awhile. After talking with mom about furniture, I left for a bit to investigate beds; she decided that she wants an adjustable bed so I went on a search for that, a wall power source for my iphone and a battery for hers. Pretty uneventful.

Today, mom was going to go to church but didn't feel up to it so I went with Eli. Its held in a middle school and mostly for people "ages 50 and better" (that's what the church info says, I swear). There were probably 50-60 people there; nice bunch of folks. Met the pastor who reminds me of my cousin Tammy's huChand Jeff with hair combed in a slicked back way and tall (but older and grayer, of course). Eli is holding a dinner at her house tomorrow night with us, the pastor and a few friends from church to pray for her health. That ought to be interesting.

So anyhooo, after church we grabbed lunch, took it back to mom and then got her up and out to check another facility; it was started by a church and is completely

Happy Opening Day!

What a great day for baseball - 1/2 day off from work, beautiful weather (70s), capped off with a loss :( But thats OK - a day at a baseball game, win or lose, is better than spending a Friday afternoon at work if you can make it happen. Especially when its opening day! I left work at 11:30, parked around 10 blocks away for cheaper parking and purposes of exercise (maybe it was 12, I haven't counted yet), picked up some Quiznos and was in the Stadium by 12:30. There were bands playing in the streets, bouncy thingys (not for adults apparently), lots of food and trinkets and people running around everywhere. My baseball buddy (and good friend) Kirsten showed up about an hour later with her son Kenny and brother Mark. Rockies started out great, but faltered about mid game, losing 7-6 in 11 innings. Still an exciting game, but when are they going to get rid of Huston Street? He loses opportunities for us too often; time to think about letting him loose. But all is well in the baseball world - we have tickets to see the Cubs on April 17, Jimenez Bobblehead day :)

Words

Cancer. I'm really sick of hearing the word. I have a couple of friends suffering through cancer; I have family members in varying stages of cancer; just watched an episode of "Rescue Me" where one of the characters finds out he has kidney cancer. It's all around us. At the Mammoth game Saturday night, it was "LaCROSS out" cancer night to raise money for the National Cancer Society. Players wore different color ribbons recognizing the types of cancer they have seen affect family members or maybe even experienced. Cancer is the buzz word of 2011 apparently. Let's fix this, find a cure for that. What's frustrating is that varying cures have been discovered, but the FDA won't allow it as it would put drug companies out of business (you might think I'm blowing smoke out of my ass, but do some research; you'll find out, too). Damn government. If we bankrupted the drug companies, drug prices would HAVE to go down and then people could afford to take care of themselves. But they support the government as well, so all those taxes would go away and the government would go even MORE broke. I think they should make the drug companies to pay for health insurance. Hey - what a concept!! (Getting off of my political soap box, now.)

The stress I feel over this right now isn't a head pounding, tearing my hair out type of stress. It's more like a calm before the storm. I think that storm will take a few months to hit; but when it does I'm absolutely afraid of how I'm going to react or feel emotionally or even physically. I'm tearing up just thinking about it right now. This has already been a year of unexpected deaths; the ones that you expect aren't any easier. I feel fear for my mom - what is she thinking? Is she scared knowing that she's not going to live nearly as long as she thought she would? How do you find peace with that? These thoughts go through my mind constantly; I just can't turn it off. That's probably one of the reasons I am so excited for Friday - Opening Day. A time to not think about everything for a little bit; let loose, cheer for my team, hope for a win. Baseball is going to be my escape this year. I'm even planning on going to games in Dallas if the timing works over the next few months - even if I have to go by myself. I'll let you know how that goes.