The New Thing

Treatment
There are so many things going on.
1. Mom's dementia is taking it's toll on her and the rest of the family.
2. The aphasia makes it difficult for her to communicate what on her mind, what she needs.
3. She broke her leg 3 months ago with a nasty fall down 21 steps to a concrete floor.
4. The fall caused a large sarcoma/tumor in her right leg to bleed out.
5. It was hard to pin down why her right leg was so swollen and painful 2 months after the fall.
6. A surgical biopsy revealed the sarcoma.
7. The right leg pain prevented her from rehabbing her broken left leg.
8. Now the new thing - Drs recommend a partial hip replacement to eliminate the pain in her left leg to take place this week.
9. Radiation is necessary to shrink the sarcoma. Starts soon. Will be 5 days a week meaning labor intensive and painful for her. She'll have to be sedated.
10. We have mostly run out of money to pay for daily care, and emergency steps are being taken to make sure a caregiver is there everyday. Family members take turns with the night shift.
11. Water pipes in her house are also feeling the affects of aging. They broke and flooded the basement. Other home repairs are needed and the costs are adding up.
12. Some family members are looking into a reverse mortgage. My mother is leaving her house to my youngest brother. All he will get is a big fat mortgage.
13. Other family members owe money to her they evidently don't have.
14. Family members are worn out and exhausted from the mammoth effort it is taking to keep Mom barely comfortable.
Bottom line. Suffering the diseases of aging SUCKS. It's a big mess that no one was prepared to handle. And, it costs a fortune with minimal quality of life!! seriously, it's an outrage. Does my mother have a big Medicare $ etched on her forehead?? If my mother thought 10 years ago that she would be in this position now, she would have done a lot more to prepare for it. It is a lesson for us all.
I am headed to her house now to spend a week to give the caregiver a week off without pay. The best part will be just hanging out with Mom. I hate to think of what New Thing this week might bring.