High Maintenance Aspirations...: I don't know where to start...

It seems obvious... Start at the beginning... But so much has happened, and because so much of it has to do with the school and I don't know how much I can/should say about what went on there last year I am having a hard time knowing where to start...

I don't even know if I can give you the cliff notes version of the second semester of our time at the school last year... Let's just say, neither my husband or I are in any way associated with the school anymore. After three years there Paul had a harder time saying goodbye then I did, but it is for the best. I may feel I can or even want to say more to you all in the future, but for now I feel the need to not say too much. For now all I want to say is the last quarter of last year made the following Bible passage very real for me:

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." Ephesians 6: 10-13

So glossing over that part of the story let's hit on another aspect of my silence... In January while we were dealing with the beginning of the mess at the school it became obvious that my parent's were struggling to be home all day alone... We hired somebody to sit with them full-time and less then a week later my mom woke up not feeling well... Within less then 24 hours it became obvious she had more then a cold... She became lethargic and feverish and was so bad we couldn't get her out of her chair and on her feet. We ended up calling an ambulance and the hospital confirmed our fear... FLU! She was admitted immediately, about 48 hours later my step-father joined her in the hospital also with the flu! (It is very dangerous for people in their physical condition) I was not able to visit them because, yes, I had it too! My mother did not have the flu shot as she has an egg allergy but the rest of us did! Anyhow the next couple weeks we a blur but they both ended up in the hospital for over a week and then at a rehab (nursing) home to get their strength back...

While there (about a week after I recovered from what I swore was my four day battle with it but Paul says I was sick in bed at least a full week!) my mother had an episode that led them to believe she might be having a heart attack... They sent her to the ER where she had a series of seizures. We almost lost her several times, but after the longest four weeks of my life they discovered she has an undiagnosed neurological disorder (there are several names that partially fit her symptoms but none that sum it up, so the closest we can get is a form of MS).

During those four weeks my step father came home from rehab and he had gone down hill A LOT with his Alzheimer's and was not the same person he was before the flu. He now required 24/7 care and had his days and nights confused... We spent many. many sleepless nights while working full time and visiting my mom in the hospital. We had to pay somebody to sit with him when ever we were not home. and ended up taking shifts... Even as much as we tried we could not keep him safe... He would get up and wander at night and even though we put alarms on the exterior doors he would wander in the house, in socks, without his walker (which he almost always forget he needed) and would fall quite frequently. We ended finding out my mother had not put him on any waiting lists for nursing homes so we did that, but now we were in a full on crisis and he was at the bottom of every list! He was suffering from all the worst symptoms that come with that terrible disease and while my mother was finally stable and back at rehab, we were overwhelmed with his care. This brings us to the first week of April and we found a bed for him at a really nice memory care home and were in the process of getting him admitted when he once again was wandering in the night (like most every night) and fell (like he did about once a week) but this time he was in the bathroom. He fell against the door and since it (like most doors) opens in we could not get in so we had to all (once again) an ambulance. This time he broke his hip! It was touch and go for about a week but he pulled through and now because of his condition he shot to the top of the lists. The private nursing home we were trying to get him into would no longer take him because of the level of care he needed but we found one that would and got him admitted there.

While he was in the hospital I awoke one night in immense pain in my back... Pain like I have never had before so Paul took me to the emergency room. (My turn, I guess!) It turns out I was having a gall bladder attack and according to the ultrasound it was completely blocked. Twelve hours later I was talking to a surgeon and less the 24 hours later I was having it removed. Thankfully spring break happens in the third week of April here and my attack was the Sunday before it... I had about a week to recuperate and was able to return to school the following week.

Now with my step dad in a nursing home there were a bunch of improvements/changes we needed to do to the house before I could bring my mother home from rehab... I will go through those in detail in a later post, but for now lets just end on a happy note... We were able to finally bring her home two days before Allison's graduation at the end of May, and she was able to attend her youngest granddaughter's graduation!