Smoke Gets In Your Eyes....

It's from grass fires started by lightening strikes. I was hoping to see lightening in Minneapolis, but it all happened back at home. My asthma started acting up just as soon as we got off the plane. So tonight we are sleeping with the windows closed and the air conditioning on. I'm going to have to find my surgical masks. That will help when I'm out tomorrow.

Looking back on our trip to see my sister, I have to say that it was harder than I thought it would be. Her husband is a saint. She is so depressed and anxious (and so in need of a medication change). This morning I found her still in bed at 11:45 a.m. She had been crying for most of the morning because we were leaving. She said she doesn't want to live in her body any more and wants to die. That is the depression speaking. Hopefully her psychiatrist will adjust her meds when she sees him on Monday.

Today she had a swallow test to find out what was going on in her throat. To do the swallow test she had to eat things. Her husband and I conjectured that she ate more during the test than she did all week. Food is a big issue. She says she can't eat; you get her to eat and then she says she is going to throw up. If you work with her to breath in through her nose and out through her lips she doesn't throw up. Very frustrating for everyone.

The staff where she lives now is great. I think they saw a lot more of me than they wanted to during the past ten days. I tried to educate them about anxiety and depression. They are used to people with knee and hip replacements. I was Vicky's advocate; today I thanked them profusely for being so helpful.

Next week she also sees the surgeon to assess her belly wound. To give you an idea of what happened to her belly during all the surgeries; her belly button was cut in half and each half is several inches apart. Yuck. If they hadn't done that her belly probably would have shut her lungs down or exploded. Nice work Mr. Surgeon.

She also has a consultation with an ostomy nurse; one of you wonderful bloggers gave us all kinds of things to think about in this arena. So we found a wonderful woman close by who will assess her and find the best bag for her situation.

One thing I keep going back to is my brother and his cochlear implant (it's a thing that makes a deaf person hear; that's the short version). My sister would benefit so much from one but with all the surgical mistakes that have taken place she will never do it. That's something her surgeon will never know; he robbed her of the chance to hear normally.

This is a pretty depressing post but I needed to say these things. We are very glad to be home. I have an applique class tomorrow morning and then I'm going to veg until our friends Steve and Janet visit on Sunday and spend the night. They are the parents of the late Abby. Good people. It will be strange to not have Abby here.