Jet Katana

Bill and Jan got here around 10 a.m. We had a bit of brunch, and then we went to the airport to pick up Bob, Reiko, and Jet. He is such a sweet baby, you just wouldn't believe it. He's 11 months old, has 8 teeth, and weighs 14,000 pounds. Well, maybe not. But he's a big boy. They're off to Manistee to visit until Friday.

Mother is having a health crisis - she's still really sick with a bad cold, and Shannon is afraid that the cold will develop into pneumonia, or that it's a contagious virus of some kind. Shannon doesn't want to pass on any viral conditions to her other clients. Mother refuses to see a doctor.

I called Thirlby Clinic and talked to Dr. Auer's nurse, who said that she would set up a home visit tomorrow so a nurse will come and evaluate Mom's health, listen to her chest, etc. I really wish she would come here and stay with us until she feels better, but right now she won't hear of it. Shannon says that if Mother's not better by Thursday, she's not coming to the house.

Dr. Auer was nice enough to call Mom, but according to Mother, nothing came of the phone call. We'll wait and see what the visiting nurse says tomorrow. Right now I'm feeling that if Mom's not better by Thursday, she'll have to come out here whether she wants to or not. I'm certainly not going to spend days and nights at her house. Maybe if we made her come out here, it would give her incentive to get better so she could go back home! I have a problem though trying to figure out how to make her do anything that she doesn't want to do. I don't know the fireman's carry!

Meanwhile, Stacy from Integrity is scheduled to be at Mother's in the morning. I haven't heard from the visiting nurse yet.

I lost the desire to go to the movies. Maybe next week.

Dr. Auer called me and insisted that Mother come in for an appointment. I told him that she didn't want to, and he said that there comes a time when we don't give people choices. I mentioned that she has trouble getting around, and he said they have wheelchairs for that. I made an appointment for Thursday. I told mother, and she really didn't object that much, which surprised me. She said, "I guess I don't have any choice."

The doctor visit takes the place of the visiting nurse. Dr. Auer said that listening to the lungs is about 20% as effective as having an x-ray. He said that she really needs a health assessment at this point in case we want to have hospice care or special medications. He can determine how bad (or good) it is and what we need to do next.