Thursday, January 29, 2009

I really need to thank all of you...

Thank you for your comments, thoughts, and prayers. Boy do I need them. We have Hospice Of The Valley helping us out now. They are very supportive and do an amazing job. We still have our battles to fight, me especially, since I can't understand how someone would not want to try and make them self better. I am practicing my listening, not reacting, and turning to walk away routine. It worked tonight pretty good. Who in their right mind (I say that very loosley) would think that taking 2 pills a day is too much? But I am learning that the process of dying is complicated at best.

You know what I'm thinking right now...Lord, please take me quickly!

On a brighter note, while I didn't get to go to CHA, Jennifer did go and she came back with tons of eye candy. Tomorrow we are going to sit down and decide what new product we want to bring in and get some ordering done. Now that makes me happy!

Friday, January 23, 2009

Wow...life comes at you fast

And then you try to make the best of it. We now have Hospice, Nurses, Social Workers, and Doctors at our house on a daily basis. All I can say is HELP!!! I may need some help.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

O.K. Here goes...5 addictions that I have

1. Celestial Seasonings Antioxidant Green Tea. Two cups every day or else! No substitutes.

2. Reality Shows. Favorites are American Idol and The Bachelor. The Peddler doesn't get it.

3. Reading blogs! Seriously!

4. Winter weather in Arizona.

5. My Grandkids...love 'em.

So, I'm supposed to tag five people. How about Nicole, Pam, Tanya, Joy, and Marissa.

Obligation fulfilled finally!
I've been tagged!!!

Several times. I promise to get to that today. First, off to work. Then, hopefully home in time to watch some of the play off game. Go Cards! And last, some addictions. Since I don't think I have enough to list 5 for every person that tagged me I'm gonna go with 5. If I listed 15 addictions you guys would know waaaayyyyy to much about me!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Remember this show...

That's me... one day at a time. When I got home tonight DAM wanted me to go right to her room. She grabbed my hand and said Thank you for all I am doing for her. Made me cry. Her anxiety pills must me working! And the blood pressure pills...and everything else! So... one day at a time!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

It seems...

that 2009 will be a long and winding road at Casa Johnson. DAM will be coming home on Friday. They managed (well The Peddler demanded) that she allow them to take a chest x-ray. As we could have guessed, it came back with spots on her smoke filled lungs. I met with the Dr. yesterday and he told her that he wanted to do a Cat Scan to determine what the spots are. Of course she told him no. We really can't blame her. She weighs 85 pounds and probably wouldn't survive chemo anyway. The Dr. took me outside and told me to tell her she couldn't come back to our house unless she does the Cat Scan. Talk about putting me in the middle. I told him my hands were tied. There was nothing I could do. So she has signed herself out against medical advice and is returning home. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this. We've been down this road twice already. The Peddler's mother and my father. Pretty unfair, but like the saying goes "who said life is fair?"


Tuesday, January 6, 2009

A huge thankyou to everyone!

Your comments and thoughts are so very appreciated. This has been a tough week. DAM is out of the hospital and in a rehab facility that is right down the street from our house. We were a little leary about choosing one sight unseen but went with the closest one to us. We went to check it out before they transported her and we were amazed. If I ever, ever, ever have to go to a rehab facility I'm checking myself in there. I pictured a stinky place with people sitting in wheel chairs with bibs on. You know...yuck. This place is beautiful! At the entrance you are greeted by a receptionist with a personality. A fake, but beautiful fireplace, nice furniture. And the hallways are beautifully wallpapered and pictures are hanging that are peaceful and warm. Ya know, we're kind of hoping she likes it there so much she won't want to leave! And the best part is that dogs are allowed the same visitation rights as people as long as they are house trained. There's an extra bed in her room that we're thinking about setting Maverick up in. Maybe the physical therapist will do a two for one!

So, I'll leave you with this visual...the first whole day that DAM was in the hospital things were very busy and we didn't get there when we thought we would. When we got to the nurses station there were people that wanted to talk to us and since Drs. and nurses are so busy we talked with them first before letting DAM know that we were there. The nurse wanted DAM's permission to tell us everything so we went into her room. No DAM! All of a sudden the bathroom door opened and out came DAM in a cloud of smoke. She was busted smoking in the bathroom! Let's just say that nurse chewed her out and went through her things to find the cigarettes and gave them all to me. But DAM is too smart for that, she had more but I don't think she tried to sneak one in the bathroom again. Heaven help us!!!

Sunday, January 4, 2009

It's peaceful at casa Johnson!

The peddler and I have been amazed at how quiet it is at home. DAM is still in the hospital, much to her dismay. She is in a brace on her right leg from her ankle to her thigh. Nothing broken, but the fall caused the already broken bone to slice through whatever muscle she had and the scar tissue from the first break. Once we were able to get through to her doctors and prove that the unfixed hip was not a case of "elder abuse" they finally started talking to us. Oh, and we had to answer as to why she is "so thin". Eating is her choice, surgery is her choice...her entire friggin life is her choice. I was really tired of seeing them shake their heads. They turned the whole thing in to Social Services so I am sure we are in for a rocky road.

In our favor, Social Services has made a Psych exam mandatory for her. Who knows what that will find.

The ER on New Years Eve was an interesting place. Very quiet for the first three hours, except for the new mothers that were coming in. Holy cow, there were so many women in labor coming through those doors! At around 3:00 a.m. the drunks started coming in. Oddly enough none of them had been "drinking and driving". How come those drunks never get hurt much? And they are very vocal about not being drunk.

The interesting thing is that doctors tell you what you should not be doing for your health. Such as, caffiene, energy drinks, smoking, and so on. So many people working in the ER were drinking sodas, energy drinks, eating candy, pizza, and junk food, and going outside to smoke. They were all waiting for the exciting traumas to come in. Not some lady that fell! That just wasn't exciting enough for them.

Friday, January 2, 2009


HAPPY 2009 EVERYONE

I've been enjoying reading
everyone's stories about what they did to ring in the New Year! Families, traditions, new babies...all of those fun things. So, can you tell where this is going? Think hard...this is MY life we're talking about here. I'll start with what time the Paramedics and ambulance arrived at our house. 11:30 P.M. on New Years Eve. Why were they there? Because DAM fell again. Remember the story about how she broke her hip and wouldn't get it fixed? Here we go again. She tried to refuse to go to the hospital and the Captain was great. He said, "Myrna, you can refuse to go with me, but if you do I can guarantee you that I'll be back here in a week to take you to the hospital and they'll cut your leg off". Load her up boys, and we were off! I went in the ambulance (that was fun). The driver had the personality of a peanut. Come on, it's New Years Eve of course I had a few glasses of wine. Duh! He said, I didn't think "people" in this neighborhood drank. Oh so naive young man. And, since friends don't let friends drive if they have had a few, Jennifer was kind enough to come over and take the Peddler to the hospital.

We had the honor of being the first people in the ER for 2009. Officially clocked in at 12:01 A.M. Woo hoo! After 4 hours in the ER they decided to admit her and we were free to go home. No problem, just call a cab. Except the wait time for a cab on New Years Eve is approximately 2 hours. And since friends don't call friends at 4:00 A.M. for a ride home we waited. Then an angel appeared out of no where and asked us what we were waiting for. She said "no problem, wait here". There she came in her car and gave us a ride home. A happy ending to what I am sure is going to an on going comedy! Happy 2009 everyone!

I'll be back later with some good ER stories. What a place to be on New Years Eve!