I spoke to B a couple of days ago and she told me that she would be moving into a nursing home the next day. She has been languishing in hospital for over 5 months now. While it was probably the safest place for her to be it was also extremely boring. She hated the food and there was no TV or any kind of recreational activities. She is not computer literate and she doesn't read much.
Her health was up, down and sideways, on more than one occasion the doctor told her son that this was it and did he want to see her one last time. Her son said No. He told me that if he had special permission to go into the hospital to see her that she would know what was up and freak out. He didn't want her to know that she was dying. That sounded kind of cruel to me but in retrospect he might have been right.
She is now well enough to go into a nursing home and she sounds much better on the phone than she did even a week ago. Needless to say she was over the moon about the news. She has to spend two weeks in quarantine after the move out of the hospital and then she will transfer into her new digs, sharing a room with another woman.
"I don't care if I have to move in with ten other people, just get me outa here!" is what she said.
She has lost 40 lbs over five and a half months in the hospital, which she could well afford to lose. The nursing home rep told her she would lose even more once she moved in with them because they would have her out walking in their gardens every day. This particular nursing home is known for its gardens. They told her about the various activities that would be available to her once she completed the quarantine and she zeroed in on their cribbage tournament.
"Watch out! I'm gonna beat all those guys!" she said in anticipation.
I called her today, she is in the nursing home in a large room all by herself on the top floor. The food is no different from the hospital, but she does have a TV now. She hopes the two weeks of quarantine will speed by. She looks forward to seeing Hapi again, even if it is just through a window. This nursing home does window visits, you have to pre-register for it. It is about 20 km from where I live and a 20 minute drive away by highway.
3 comments:
I am so glad the story of B has a good ending, I honestly thought it was lights out for her.
Isn't it a crime about the unpalatable food though?
But I am so happy she is looking forward rather than giving up.
XO
WWW
She’s a tough cookie! I thought the same but she just kept coming back. As for the food I have no idea what it’s like in its original state but they mash it up so she can’t aspirate or choke on it. She hates it but they tell her she can’t handle it any other way. She has gotten no exercise so losing 40 lbs is undoubtedly due to finding the food quite distasteful.
Glad it worked out for her. Old age is tough for sure.
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