In Touch With Reality ...

Good Morning ...

I got a call from my uncle last night who needed someone to come and sit with my aunt for a while this morning ... she is an invalid - hasn't been out of bed in about two years. Very pityful ...

Anyhoo ... I went by McDonalds and picked up her favorite this morning and was there by the designated time, 9:00 A.M. ... got in the house, sat the food down, checked on her - was hunting for the tray to get her food prepared and she said, "I just pooped!" ... Oh my ... I wasn't prepared for that! In my mind ... I was thinking ... I'll go in, feed her, sit down and chat with her, maybe watch a little TV ... and that will be that ...

WELL ... No ...

So ...

Remember, she can't get out of bed ... and it was BAD .... EVERYWHERE ... Oh My ...

Didn't really know what to do first ...

I will spare you the details ... because ... well ... I'll just spare you the details ...

So ... I FINALLY got her cleaned up ... only by the help of God Himself ... she's sort of heavy and I'm sort of short ... and well you know ... aaahhh ... I used one WHOLE box of wipes! Plus toilet paper, plus a wet wash rag ... had to change the sheets ... yes, got poop on the sheets ... Yikes! And ... changed gloves twice ... Couldn't help it ... and you know me, germaphobic! So afterwards ... I washed my hands three times ... I know she thought I was crazy ... oh well ... I told her, I was used to this with LeAnna as a baby, but LeAnna's legs actually moved when I wanted them to ... her's are numb and stiff ... you can only imagine ...

SO ...

Got all that done ... I walked back into the room, and said, "Okay, I"m going to prepare your breakfast" ... and she said, "You're not going to believe this ... I just pooped again"!!!!!

Oh My Goodness ... so dumb me ... I said, "well, do you want to eat first and then change it?" ... of course she said, "no, let's change it now" ...

SO ...

Once again ... same routine ... BUT, went a little faster this time and a little quicker ...

So ... at 9:58 A.M. - I sat down to feed her breakfast to her... we finished about 10:45 eating ...

It's so pityful ... it brings you to a whole new light ... I mean the whole time I'm changing her "I'm dying" ... but on the outside, I'm smiling and cracking jokes (no pun attended) and she's apologizing over and over ... it's just SO pityful ...

I went through this with my Dad, grandmother and grandfather ... but they were in Nursing Homes and I didn't have to change diapers if I didn't want to ... I just did everything else ... Yack! Oh my ...

So ... once again ... in touch with reality ... another "moment" of realization ... simple things that we take for granted everyday ... like being able to "wipe yourself" all by yourself in privacy! Or feeding yourself ... which I found out I was doing it wrong ... ha! We joked about it ... but she likes eating like my grandfather used to eat (her dad) ... if there were three different items on his plate, he would eat all of the first item, then go to the next, before eating the 3rd one and then wait until he was finished eating before drinking anything .... oh my ... it had me all messed up ... I was giving her a bite of each thing and then offering her a drink ... well, thats the way I do it ... so ... anyhoo ... when she told me her preference ... I sort of laughed, and made the statement "that's just like Grandaddy" ... she laughed and agreed, but she has never really liked anyone making reference to her and her dad being "alike" ... oh well ...

The regular sitter, who had a doctor's appointment this morning, finally got there and I was able to leave ... I feel so sorry for her ... she's tired of living like this ... she even said, I'm tired of eating ... we got to this point with my Dad (her brother) ... he got so tired of "living" ... it's so sad to see someone go through this process.

Thank God for the "right now" to enjoy ... because one day, most of us will be in some type of predicament where we'll "need help" in some form or fashion.

So ... Happy Wednesday ... as I leave you with this to ponder ...

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me." ~Erma Bombeck