Disjointed Revelations

Since the last entry in mid August: I've retired. Removed mother from the nursing home and brought her home. Cleaned out my house and moved in to mother's to take care of her. Discovered that I will have to sell my house to a broker at a below appraisal price because of its condition. (According to a realtor, there have been so many foreclosures that it is very difficult to get a loan on a house that is not in good condition.)

Medicare fully covers the first 20 days of skilling nursing care. For days 21 - 100, there is a resident fee of $114 per day. After day 100, the resident fee jumps to $158 per day.

And that does not touch fees for physical therapy or drug costs.

By the way, her group insurance pays nothing. However, the pharmacy program pays a portion of drug cost irrespective of setting.

Everything has been paid off save for a bill for drugs after day 100 in the nursing home. And I can't figure out if it has been adjusted via the pharmacy program or not. The bill is more than a thousand, so this could be a very important factor.

The most difficult aspect has been finding something that is entertaining, but not mindless, and requires some degree of skill. The best bet, so far, has been small jigsaw puzzles. They are not overly difficult to do, but they do call for some mental and physical dexterity.

When I returned with cats four and five, the first three had vanished. I looked everywhere but could not find them. I thought for awhile that they may have gotten out some how. I finally found Hermes behind the stove, and he was terrified. At last I gave up trying to find the others. There's is no doubt that cats have access to a portal that takes them to another dimension of which we know nothing.

Around 3 am or so, I woke up, and they were all in the bed with me. Looking very snuggly and innocent.

Lots of old vinyl records were tossed. Dozens of VHS tapes that I'd recorded. Assorted books. Hundreds of magazines including a complete run of "Wired" from issue #1. A sizable collection of gay erotic mags. Among which, I now realize, was the famous "Playgirl" issue of Brad Pitt nudes. But these can easily be found of the web.

It's odd that out of everything that was trashed, the only thing I regret was a cookie jar in the shape of a standing duck wearing an apron.

I became so stressed out by the situation at the end of August, I wound up in the emergency room with a severe panic attack that caused bronchial spasms. I really felt I should have been admitted for observation, but after an hour or so, they send me home.

The last few days of August were marked by the presence of Katrina. The power was out at work for several days, so the agency was not officially open. Fortunately, the power at home was off for less than 24 hours. When I went to pick up mother at the nursing home on Wednesday morning, I discovered that it was also without power. Although they had generators, they were not able to run them for long periods.

PAX!