Living with Bob and "Al"

The beginning of the end Chapter 13

Sheri quickly called back the number. Sheri said who she was and apologized for missing the calls and inquired about what was happening. She replied that they were sending him over to the emergency room, because he was not responding to the staff , that he had a bloody discharge coming out of his male parts and that usually he is way more alert. Sheri held her tongue, well somewhat. in a tone that was pretty much yelling into the phone "Absolutely not! We just spent 8 hours there! I am meeting with hospice in the morning !" (All the while Sheri is holding her cell phone up by her shoulder as she scrambled to get dressed ) The on call nurse said "I see the notes... but he is not on hospice yet , so we have to address the staffs concerns." Sheri finally pulled up her big girl panties and said "you are not sending him anywhere, I am 30 minutes away, I will be there and stay with him until hospice comes to meet with me in the morning, do NOT send him to the hospital! "

Sheri needed to pause, praise and pray. She did not. She was reliving the past 24 hours and was struggling to fight back tears so she could drive.

Living with Bob and "Al"

This morning while Sheri was sitting on patio drinking her coffee, the first humming bird of the season flew right up with in inches of Sheri's face and stayed there for several seconds. A smile spread across Sheri's face as she heard the soft hum of it's wings. It felt like it was looking straight at her, and as it flew away Sheri thought she heard it calling "come follow me, there is so much more of this life to lead."

Living with Bob and "Al"

Sheri looks at Bob and sees the man she married, fathered her children and spent 28 years of her life with. Then "Al" emerges and when he speaks... Bob disappears into the shadow of Alzheimer's.

Living with Bob and "Al"

When Sheri looks around at the state of our world, she is able to see how minute her sorrow really is. She is trying to think beyond herself and her own grief, and see what kind of impact she can make in her small piece of the world.
Sheri needs to pause, praise and pray.

Living with Bob and "Al"

Sheri needs to make a note to self, keep door alarm set even during the day... "Al" over shot the bathroom by about 10 steps. :(

Living with Bob and "Al"

Sheri is still struggling with foot pain, from her fall last fall. (No pun intended) She saw the surgeon yesterday and her gave a cortisone shot in her foot. She is hoping that will help because as a result of compensating for her foot pain she is having hip pain that is almost worse then her foot pain. What was that old song... the knee bone is connected to thigh bone... the thigh bones connected to the....
none of this is helping with her sleep since her hip seems to wake her up opposite times of "Al's night escapades. Finding time to take of yourself is one of the many challenges of being a caregiver, but it is a vicious cycle,  since we are no good to anyone if we don't take care of ourselves.
Heavy sigh....

Living with Bob and "Al"

Sheri has had a vase with FAKE yellow Mums in it sitting on top of the player piano for years. Each morning while Bob is sitting drinking his coffee, "Al" with amazement in Bob's voice will say "Wow, I just can"t get over how long those yellow flowers have lived. We should write that down somewhere."  :)