The Doctor’s Appointment that Wasn’t: Mixed Updates

Dellafair

First of all, I cannot overstate how grateful I am for the warm welcome I’ve received on this board from everyone who responded to my introduction thread and elsewhere. All your helpfulness and kindness last week truly helped me away from the edge, and for the first time since Mom had Grandma carried across our doorstep in Winter 2021 I finally feel like I just might have both options and also the strength to actually do something about them. Thank you all so much again, and I wish similar-- or better!--blessings for you.

You may remember that I had also felt myself extremely fortunate that my LO had an upcoming doctor’s appointment, which was scheduled for Tuesday the 6th. I remember that Iris L., and maybe some others as well, had expressed concern that Grandma’s mood swings could point to possible infection, medication problems, or some other unbalance that needed addressing.

Bad news about that appointment: It’s since been postponed. Mom had a car breakdown at the worst possible time (this could honestly use its own rant but I am too tired to write it), so Grandpa wisely rescheduled his own checkup which was supposed to have been that Tuesday as well. Since both my grandparents still share the same doctor, Mom decided to also shift Grandma’s appointment to that new rescheduled date a month from now. I suppose in a way “no news is good news” if even our LO’s own doctor agrees with Mom that delaying her next examination shouldn’t do her much harm. But still, there went that chance to help me figure things out, darn and blast.

That being said, Mom did finally follow doctor’s orders to get Grandma started on melatonin (3 mg) for sleep, which so far seems to be working well-- our nights are already quieter! So in the future Mom at least may be able to get more sleep too, thank goodness. I’ve also found out that Grandma’s clonazepam needs a refill, which I have duly reminded Mom about.

One last thing for now: I had wondered if our LO was on hospice, since we were able to get a hospital bed and other useful things for her. It turns out that those things came from Grandma’s own healthcare provider and not hospice at all. This is mixed news; of course we are exceptionally blessed to have such a good provider, and they have plenty more on offer that we do intend to take advantage of, such as a Hoyer lift. However, disregarding hospice means that even beyond these things there’s possible extra help that we’re currently leaving on the table... even more help that Mom is obstinately refusing to use for the sake of our LO and the rest of the family. It’s frustrating, to say the least.