Yeah, not good
My mother’s sister has no kids of her own. She is my godmother and I spent a lot of my summers at her cottage by the ocean when I was growing up.
So, my wife and I visit her every so often.
My cousin JoAnne, visits her even more and has done a lot for my aunt and helping her over the years. (She’s my mother’s brother’s oldest daughter.)
She sends me emails about our aunt and her status.
I got this one last night and am not happy about it.
I know, it is a home for people with memory problems and dementia. And, that does sometimes mean folks are unexpectedly violent. And, I know this place is better than the last place she was at where they really didn’t care much about her.
But, it’s still bad.
And, I respect her decision, when she was in a better state to make it, about not maintaining the pacemaker. I hadn’t known she had set herself a timer on her heart.
It doesn’t surprise me. It was done around the time her husband got bad and soon before he died.
Everyone’s got a clock that’s ticking down.
And, she’s 88 so I knew there weren’t that many numbers left on her’s.
But, I didn’t know she had capped them.
I don’t blame her.
And, I know she hates her memory going and not being able to do things.
But, it’s still very sad to me.
The email:
I received two calls today from Oasis.
The first was that Ginny had been slapped by a male resident who has become aggressive. She was given a warm compress and Tylenol. They will keep the male resident away from her and others. I can’t remember when they said it occurred Sunday or today but it sounded like they were on top of it.
The second was that the dietitian had seen Ginny today and noted declining weight. They are going to add Thrive ice cream to Ginny’s diet twice per day along with the 3 protein shakes that she is given. They have noticed that Ginny doesn’t always drink her shakes.
I am planning to see Ginny tomorrow afternoon. I’ll let you know how she is.
Also, the report from her pacemaker interrogation indicates that there is 8 months battery remaining. Based on her proxy paperwork and conversations between her PCP and cardiologist, Ginny declined maintenance on her pacemaker in 2020. For that reason, I am not planning to schedule surgery for a new battery. Also, she has been eating less and less, which has required the addition of protein shakes and now a protein ice cream. When I saw her last week, she definitely looked more frail.
JoAnne