Elderly Parents - Welcome to Middle Age

A couple weeks ago, my 84 year old father fell in the bathtub.  He was too weak to lift himself up. He lay in the tub for six hours until my mother came home from work.  My mother was not strong enough to lift him so she needed to call 911.  On the up side, he was fully clothed and his blood sugar was not too dangerously low.

I found out about this from texts my brother sent me.  I can't imagine what was going through my dad's head as he lay there for hours.  I'm grateful that this accident had a happy ending. Sadly, it isn't the first accident with my dad. He has fallen, cut and burned himself just living in the old two story colonial my parents live in.

My mom is still working full-time and my dad is retired.  So, they are thinking of renting a one story place close to the city so my dad can live without accidents.  I don't know what their plans are for the house.  I have to say, this is a pretty genius solution and luckily my parents are healthy enough to do their rental search on their own.  Of course, me being me, I have been sending ideas to my mom. Olmsted Place looks nice and it's close to me.  Allendale could be an option if they are looking for a senior community.

Suck it February

February 2017 was not a good month for me.  I found out that I have a couple herniated cervical discs.  I had a MRI because after being rear-ended in November, there was weird nerve and pain stuff happening. Not only do I have a couple herniated discs, it looks like I have degenerative disease in my cervical spine according to my PCP. I was referred to Beth Israel’s Spine Clinic and when I called my mom, I got absolutely no sympathy or support. I was upset about dealing with yet another chronic condition and she told me that that other people are dealing with a lot worse.  I seriously have no idea what I expected but,man, the gap between the parent I need and the parent I have, makes my heart ache.

Totally coincidentally, a week after this diagnosis I came down with something that started with a sore throat and a hacking cough.  Then my entire head filled with mucus and I couldn’t sleep. I was prescribed Augmentin (a cousin of Amoxicillin) and after a couple days, I developed hives. It turns out I have developed an allergy to penicillin in my old age – fabulous! So, I was prescribed Doxycylcine – which I am finishing up today. I am feeling vaguely better. I can breathe out both nostrils and sleep fine now.  The coughing has died down. 3 weeks sick was incredibly depressing and tiring but on the up side, I was able to take a bunch of sick days!

My roomie for my birthday got us tickets to this. We went last week and it was AMAZING! I was smiling and clapping like a lunatic.  I also bought a new mattress with part of my tax refund. It feels amazing compared to my 12 year old Sleepy’s POS.

Work has been pretty good and non-stressful. I haven't worked after 6:00 pm or cried in my office for months. Nu Boss is still a good fit. Someone who I trust and respect plus he has good boundaries. He even has told me that I should not be asked to do certain things so he is taking away a nice chunk of stressful manager-level crap that landed on my shoulders. Baby Analyst is getting along really well with Sparkle Analyst. They are the same age and it is so funny how they crack each other up and take the piss out of each other. It's nice to have this solid group that allows me to take actual sick days.