July 5, 2005

We spent the morning setting up our new blog site. Keeping family and friends in the loop of our whereabouts and doings is fun and it will be great looking back during our rocking chair days!

Then it was off to the hospital to visit with Aunt Flo. She is 86 and not doing so well. We drove to he other side of the world as we refer to the South Hills area of Pittsburgh and arrived at St. Claire Hospital to find that she was discharged yesterday. Will paid our $2 parking fee and we called around to find Flo had been moved to Kane Regional Center just a few miles down the road. We found Aunt Flo resting dressed in an exercise outfit! They had given her physical therapy that just zapped all her energy. While we were there the breathing therapist arrived and left her with a breathing tube that Aunt Flo referrs to as the peace pipe. She had no energy to even hold the tube up to her mouth.

We all have to mature, to grow old, to slowly feel that we are out of control. Aunt Flo still has her wits about her, it is just that the body is out of control. Memories of those already gone flitter around and the time just before they past gets into the conversations. We all wish that doctors could just tell us all what to expect, what the stages are going to be that we go through during these last days, but maybe they don't know. So we speculate based on past experiences and anticipate when our loved one will no longer be able to respond. Meanwhile, we are spending as much time together as we can. The time is mostly quiet, but sometimes the eyes open and Aunt Flo asks a questions, wants a drink, or tells a tale from days gone by. Then the eyes close again and she naps or maybe she is visiting with old friends she will soon be meeting up with again.

Jayne watches her sister, helpless to do anything to comfort her. She can't understand why doctors can't get that flem from her sister's throat, why the oxygen has a jar the air bubbles through, why the air conditioner needs to be so loud...She sits and watches. Kathy stands to one side and Will to the other of Aunt Flo. Kathy telling her tales of the days gone by and ones to come. Flo listens with a blank stare and sometimes whispers a comment that Kathy repeats for everyone else to hear too. Flo's daughter comes and goes trying to see doctors and social workers in hopes of coming up with a plan for her mothers comfort.

Late afernoon we left the Aunt Flo with her daughter.

Since it was rush hour we decided to stop at Bados Resaurant in Dormont and let the vehicles clear the highway. Their laguna special was super. The sauce smooth and sweet.

Kathy's sister, Sueann, lives nearby. We brought her a takeout order of ravioli and spent a few hours there. Will relaxed watching some TV while the girls sat in the diningroom chatting. It was just before dark when we arrived home.
Jayne headed to bed and we tried to add more pieces to a 500 piece puzzle we have.

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Comments

Anonymous said…
love ya...prayers to Aunt Flo
10:49 PM, July 06, 2006
Anonymous said…
from sue
10:49 PM, July 06, 2006
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