Saturday, July 31, 2010

#8 life ending journey with mom

Yesterday my mother went into a nursing home for a 5 day respite care on hospice care.  My mother needed 24 care. The family had a crisis. I will keep the crisis a secret. I hope we all can work it out by the time mom comes home again.

At the nursing home, mom said why did you put me here ? I told her she needed 24 hour care. The family needed to make a new care plan for my mother.

Mom had a restless night in the nursing home. She had those nights in her home.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

#7 ending life journey with mom

child art, intentional portrait of motherImage via WikipediaHowever, I am exhausted! The night shift is running me down. My sister is exhausted! She awakes every time I get up, the walls are paper thin and being a light sleeper does not help matters. For some unknown reason mother cannot sleep very well at night.  A routine night, mom is up 3 times. A bad night, mom is up every hour calling out people names asking for help. In reality every night is a bad night because she does not sleep straight for 8 hours.
Last night mom was nervous about my brother was not at the home. My sister and I have been with mom for 3 days and 2 nights alone. My brother was having a vacation away from mom. My sister and I do not believe how he does it.  My brother goes all day and gets up with mom at night to help her too. My mother needs 24 hour care.  I need to go back to my husband and work. My sister needs to go back to Texas where her husband, children and her Yoga studio awaits her.

My mother is stable within her cancer disease right now. A miracle life can be. Amazing come back. We cannot predict her death.  Sister and I say it is time to hire a person to help my brother. It is impossible to care for mom day and night, until I come to the house on Saturday to relieve him until Sunday evening. When I arrive on Saturday, my brother goes to sleep for ten hours. He leaves on Sunday day to do his stuff to get a break from mom's care job.
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Monday, July 26, 2010

#6 ending life journey with mom

Picture time!

Mom at 16 years
Mom at 70
Mom at 74 years with Conner (7) and Owen (3). The kids are my grand kids and mom's great grand kids
Mom at dinner today . Dinner was yam,broccoli,salmon,spinach salad. Carrot juice and grapes and water not shown.
The bed I sleep in and Mom's Hospital bed.
             Mom at 74 years, resting in her recliner chair. Her birthday is 8/25/10.  She will be 75 years.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

#5 ending life journey with mom

Breast Cancer Awareness MonthImage by NapaneeGal via FlickrMother is very comfortable.  She made a come back from death. She requires more care after the return. She said the door would not open and had to return for unfinished business with her family. Mother does not want to suffer too long.  Mom goes in and out of two worlds. She wakens,  "I am still here?"

Us kids are very emotional. This dying process is affecting all the kids. My brother seems not to want my mother to die yet.  He wants to continue to reduce her pain medication. We all know the pain medication contributes to the death process. You are in a catch 22, comfort and death.

The medical professionals say brother is one of the best caregivers they have seen.  He said he wants to be a nurse. My aunt, her daughter and her daughter are nurses. Nurses run in our family. A bridge program into nursing seems to be my brother's calling. His siblings are encouraging him.  He can live in mom's home rent free after her passing while attending nursing school.

One surprising thing was when my brother hugged me and cried, I cried and my sister cried. We have not seen this emotion from him before.  He is tender and cares about his family.
My husband Sean
vicky
I wear the breast cancer clip in my hair everyday to remind me and when others ask to pray for mom.
A park close to where mom lives.
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Friday, July 23, 2010

#4 ending life journey with mom

Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglica...Image via WikipediaYesterday, we were busy, busy and more busy.  We were busy with company. I was detained and realized at 10pm I had not written the blog. TOO Tired, I went to be bed after mom had her night time routine.
Mom's bed time is 10pm.  We do it in steps to maintain her sanity. The first step is brushing the teeth, washing her face and placing the night gown on. A ten minute break. The second is potting time.  The commode is next to her recliner chair. Mom can bear weigh and take a few steps.  She pushes a button to lift her chair to a standing position, she holds your arms and lifts using her leg. Mom takes a few steps turns correctly to the commode chair. She needs help with pulling down and up her pants. Mom wears a brief. Sometimes she dribbles urine into the brief.  A ten minute break. The third step mom takes all her pills. The pills are placed on top of yogurt on a spoon. You cue her to swallow the pill and take water. A ten minute break. The fourth step is to walk her from the recliner to the bed. To position her in bed, you lift her feet up into bed. There is a sheet under her to lift her. One person on each side of the bed to do a manual lift to the upper part of the hospital bed. Then she has 3 pillows around the head of the bed. She sleeps until 5:30am. At 5:30am, potty time and pills.

Mom's appetite and food intake decreases every day. She still eats. Today she ate 1 yogurt, 1 ensure, 1 slice of toast, 1 cup of cream of wheat, 1/2 cup of hamburger soup, 1/2 cup strawberries, 1 slice of cheese, 1/2 cup of miso soup, 1/2 cup mix vegs,  and 1/2 cup of cottage cheese/applesauce.  She drank 5 bottle's of spring water. My mother is losing weight.

Mom said she is scared of dying. My mother believes in Jesus Christ. I tell her to have Jesus hold her in her minds eyes, focus on Jesus.

The hospice nurse came by in the morning for about 1.5 hours.  Mom's blood pressure was low normal, but better than 80/40.  She has no pain! yea yea and more yea.
My cousins, two girls and one boy,  came to visit mom.  Mom sat in the wheelchair for 15 minutes with her oxygen on. She socialized and said funny things. She still has her sense of humor.
an angel quilt at a quilt show
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Wednesday, July 21, 2010

#3 ending life journey with mom

Mother sleeps a great amount of time.  To manage her pain she is on very high dosages of opiate medication.  It is difficult to tell if it is the opiates or cancer that effects her mind. When she awakes she talks sense and nonsense.
My sister and I told mom the story about looking at cherries in the store. We both had an experience about eating a whole bag of cherries. Stomach cramps and the runs to a toilet. We decided not to buy them. We did not want to share one toilet in mom's home, not worth the mess and smell.  Mom said you nutty girls.  She fell into sleep. Sometimes she wakes up agitated over hearing a noise or your voice is too loud.
My mother talked about how her life may displease her maker. I told her "we are all wretches" and "god's abundance of grace is more than we can fathom." She fell into sleep.
Mother slept the afternoon, my sister and I watched the movie the grey mansion. One thing the movie registered with me- Honor your mother.
Since my sister moved to Texas from Washington 6 year ago she has not had any raspberries.  Now her mouth and fingers are red from eating so many. We are going to make raspberry crisp tonight.
My mother has many physical signs of dying. It is hard for my brother, Phil. My mom had a spell of dizziness, increase weakness, stomach upset and fainting.  My brother told mom, I am calling the hospice nurse. My mother said no. My brother kept insisting, and finally my frail mother gave into him.   He called hospice.  My mother awakes and ask when the hospice nurse will be here. I told her Hospice said to monitor her, and encourage water. I told her a nurse was not coming out. My mother had a look of relief. To me the more sleep the better and let mom do what she wants with her body.  I think that will be my encouragement to my siblings, let her go through her natural process of death.
Mom after chemotherapy
Mom receiving chemo-No hair.
Mom with her cute hat on

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

#2 ending life journey with mom

Last night, I tried to sleep in mom's hospital bed. The air mattress moves giving your body a different sensation from my mattress at home. Mom was next to the bed in a recliner chair. She snored all night. I slept on and off. Mom awoke at 5:30am.  Mom is an early morning person. She said I am still alive? My little brother said to her you are a tough bird mom.  Mom smiled.

Mom was waiting for the pastor to come . She asked me at 10am, 11am and noon, when will he be at the home? After lunch, I helped her wash her face and comb her hair. She was looking forward to the pastor.

My sister arrived from Texas today. She told mom she looked adorable. The pastor came from hospice. He sang amaze in grace, mother loved it.  Even though you are a wretch, God calls you and takes you with grace.  He told us about walking through the shadow of death, God is with you. Mom felt she was scared. The pastor said do not fear, God will be with you.  My sister, and brother, and I, and mom, and the pastor, held hands while the pastor prayed for love and peace.
A heart quilt from a quilt show
My little brother is a great singer like my mom.  My sister and I sing silently, I think because we are tone death.  My brother sang with mom and the pastor. It sounded like heaven was not far a away.
Edible lettuce in my garden at home

#1 ending life journey with mom

I have decided to run my blogs about my mother again in her memory.  The blogs are labeled #1 and so forth. My mother lived in Olympia WA, the journey from my home to her home is about 2.5 hours. This was a part in my life that helped me to relate and see my mother in a different way. The experiences I had with my siblings made me closer to them. I see life and doing things differently, a positive growth for me.  I truly believed, I honored my mother the best I could have. The last 2.5 years watching my mother decline from a cancer that started in the breast to the bones and then the brain was my ending life journey with mum.




My next blogs will be the stories about my moments with mother at the end of her life.  I think the stories can be entertaining and heart felt at the same time. I do add things about my faith. My faith is very important to me.

Me in a Park,thinking "dear God help my mother."
A rose,any rose reminds me of the Rose of Sharon(reference in the bible) A remembrance and gift for Mother Mary and  Lord Jesus. 

Thursday, July 15, 2010

fashion news wear a green recycled licensed plate cuff bracelet

The 3 sisters make whimsical ways to literally wear your art on your sleeve!  

Recycle-Reuse-Reclaim-Reinvent

The 3 sisters newest foray into green product... Vintage License Plates, turned into fashionable cuff bracelets, both stateside and international, and all lined with recycled and reclaimed scrap leathers and fabrics. This is 100% recycled and green folks!

vickysplace1 now carries the license plate bracelet.

visit: http://stores.ebay.com/vickys-place-collectible-art-curio/Jewelry.html

Thursday, July 8, 2010

French Garden GiveAway European linen ruffled set placemats and napkins



Lidy from French Garden is having a give away! FrenchGardenHouse will be sending the lucky winner our best~selling European Chic Luxury Linen Ruffled Set of 4 Placemats and a Set of matching Napkins! Lidy uses these at home, and she loves them! They are perfect for just about any table setting, from shabby chic to traditional. Made of 100% Belgian Linen, with a tiny ruffle ~ they are meant for the way we live today. Lidy tosses the linens in the washer and dryer, and don't iron them ~ they are supposed to be slightly wrinkled for that "casual elegant" look we all love. {a $160.00 value}
 
The only catch is that you do all the below things to enter the giveaway. Let Lidy know how many of the below tasks you did. This will assure you get one entry for each task you did.

1. Follow Lidy and leave a comment on the post.
2. Add the Giveaway Button on your sidebar.
3. Leave a comment for Connie on one of her blogs.
4. Follow Connie's Blog.
5. Post about the giveaway on your blog or on any of your social networking sites (such as Twitter or Facebook). Each social network site counts as one entry. 
6. Become a fan of FrenchGardenHouse.com on Facebook

I encourage you to Blog about this give away! Grab that Button on the side bar at the French garden. 

Monday, July 5, 2010

Hungry Girl Goes... on a Road Trip!

Hungry Girl Goes... on a Road Trip!

Weight loss or gain?

My Husband and I are at a thousand trails site in Washington. We left our house late, because our washing machine needed attention for 5 hours. The HE machine is working again. We were using to much soap and getting the "suds" sign. My advice is to use less soap than required for your HE machines. While doing a couple loads of clothing, we packed and packed and packed for our trip.

We ate dinner on the road. I ate 1/2 of the food portions. We got to our cabin , unpacked and unpacked and unpacked. We looked at each other and simultaneously said, "where is are food." We forgot to pack food. Well, my husband and I do like to eat. We both are trying to lose weight. I think it was the first time we did not think about food when going on a road trip.