Back to Manitowoc

When we brought Mom home, we had no idea that would be the last weekend Mom would be in that house, sit at the table on the back patio, or see her garden. If we would have known I am sure I would have used that weekend much differently. I would have asked about life insurance and bills. I would have also made Mom help me know what to get rid of and what to keep. Before the summer Mom and I had planned to take some time late that summer to declutter and clean the house. How convenient that she got out of that chore.

Since we thought that weekend was just a start to a long journey of radiation treatments and end of life planning, we took the weekend to rest. On Sunday Mom and I went to have coffee and rolls at Grandma’s house. We all noticed that Mom was having some difficulty with conversations again. She would get frustrated when she could not think of the words or say the words. She also slept a lot that weekend. Dad and I did not think much of it though, because we understood she had just been a lot.

On Monday though something was definitely off. As we got ready to go meet with the Oncologist to discuss radiation treatment, she struggled to get ready. I asked her to take the medicine and she wasn’t sure how to take it. I would tell her we need to go and got her up and then she would sit back down. I basically had to pull her to the car.

When we got to the Oncologists they had not received all of the test results from Peoria and so there was little they could tell us about treatment options. We did discuss Mom’s recurrence of disorientation and concern that the brain lining may be swelling again. We left the doctor’s with little of new information or direction.

When we got home I tried to get all things in order before heading back to Manitowoc. I could tell Dad was nervous with me leaving. Mom had a lot of medications to manage, including shots for her diabetes. Plus with Mom’s disorientation I was just as anxious to leave. Yet I had to get home. I kissed both my parents good bye and headed to Manitowoc. 

As I drove home I thought about the week and how fortunate I was to have so much vacation time that I could home often to help during this difficult time. When I arrived in Manitowoc it was nice to sleep in my own bed and try to get back to somewhat back to normal. Who knew that my time at home would be so short and my time with Mom would be so limited.