Should we call you Kojak? Yul? GI Jane?

Well, quite an interesting day to say the least. I went down to the hospital after talking to the doctor. Dad was awake and chatty. The doctor sent him back to Magnolia this evening. I asked if they could keep him one more night, but he said there was nothing that can be done for him that they cannot do at the nursing home. So, he arrived just after 6:00 p.m., and he was really hurting. It is such a labor to move him at all, and having been moved almost daily for the past few days really takes a toll on him. The nurses at Magnolia gave him some pain meds and he drifted off to sleep. He needs a good night's sleep. Once we get the infections cleared up, and the congestion handled, hopefully he will be able to enjoy some ice cream and chocolate again soon. And once we can get him fixed up to where he was, we are going to bring in hospice. I am not sure exactly how much time Dad has left, but it is time to start considering his comfort and what little joys in life he has left. He still loves visitors, so if you come to see him, wake him up!


Well, the other interesting thing that happened today, is that I got to Magnolia around 2:00, and when I rounded the corner into my Mom's room, and she was sleeping...Oh, and bald. Yes, bald. More bald than my Father...I am glad she was sleeping because the look of horror on my face must have been tremendous. So, I slowly back out of the room, and turn to the day nurse and with my eyes wide as dinner plates, calmly ask who shaved my Mom's head. She took a step back and said "I told them you wouldn't like it, but Joe approved it..." So, I went to talk to Joe, the administrator, who wasn't in his office. So, I went back to Mom's room, and this time she was awake. I asked her who shaved her, and she told me that one of the ladies in the activities room did it...I asked her why, and she said "because I asked her too, and I like it!" About this time, the afternoon shift was coming on, and one of the CNAs stopped in to say hello...And froze in her tracks, mouth agape, eyes wide...Then she swung and looked at me...I said "Don't look at me, they did this when I wasn't here." I got this same reaction from everyone seeing her for the first time...All looking at me in horror, wondering what happened...


I did finally get in to see Joe, and I asked him if he were trying to give me a heart attack now, and he looked at me, confused. I asked him if he had seen my Mom, and he said "this morning when she came in with Gladys and asked if Gladys could cut her hair..." So, I explained that she was bald as a newborn baby, and made him come and look. He was quite surprised, but she claims to love it and that it made her day. Walking back to Joe's office, he tried to explain to me that he is trying to foster an atmosphere with the staff to help the residents by granting small wishes when possible...He said that although what happened to my Mom wasn't quite what he had in mind, she seems happy...I said, "Yah, today...But what happens when she comes to me tomorrow or next week and asks why I let that happen to her???" One of the ladies saw me wheeling Mom into her room from down the hall, and later when I was calling the hospital to check on my Dad, she said "I saw you wheeling someone before, I thought it was your Dad..." I told her no, indeed it was my bald Mom. I told Mom I am going to tape a bow to her head like they do newborn girls...

She claims to like it, that she has always wanted to do it...Yet when she looks at herself in the mirror, she says things like "I look like a refugee." I told her that they got all the cancer, she doesn't have to go through the hair loss of cancer treatments...One of the things Dorothy likes the most is the shock on everyone's face. She is loving being the center of the action, and is really relishing in it. I am afraid the novelty is going to wear off quickly, and the regret will set in. I swear she is crazy...But, in reality, she was slightly better as far as her mood goes...Good thing I guess. The nursing home has not been instructed by any doctor that Mom is not responsible for herself, so they granted her wish...Oy vey.



Anyway, Dad is back, Mom is bald...Interesting day all around I'd say...Much love!