Back at home--and happy about it

Now that lovely Rita is back in Asotin, she is having a chance to re-connect with all of her friends in the Valley. She told me that on Tuesday her friend Ellen came over and together they said a rosary; that was heartwarming to hear about. Today, Kate has arranged to pick her up and bring her to her beauty parlor for another one of those beautiful hair-dos that Kate always does. These, along with numerous other expressions of kindness and concern from others, such as Joyce, Virginia and Ingrid, have really lifted her spirits. Last night, I drove from Pullman to Asotin and spent the night with her. I found her eyes sparkling and her manner lively, even though it's clear that she's not feeling completely comfortable. Thank you, thank you to everyone.

The kind folks at the Tri-State Hospital Lifeline program put that equipment back into the house. Mom had had it set up for a short time before deciding to move into Evergreen Estates Retirement Center. Now that she is going to have to be alone for periods of time during the day, it was important, we all agreed, to get it back in place. My mind is a lot easier because of it, for sure.

On Monday, there was a bit of a scare with one of her medications. While getting her Monday dose out of her Sunday-through-Saturday pill box, she accidently dropped the Wednesday dose on the floor. Neither of us noticed it until a bit later, when I saw two capsules on the kitchen floor. One of them had been broken open, leaving a dusty pile of medicine on the floor. The other one seemed as if it might have been slightly bitten by one of the dogs, but it hadn't been pierced. I wasn't sure how many capsules make up each dose, so I checked the pill box. The remaining pill box sections each had three capsules, not two. Yipes! Could Zen or Yoda have eaten one of them? That quite distressing possibility had me madly making calls to confirm that the Wednesday pill box section should have had three capsules in it. Only when I was on the phone with Peg for the second or third time did I finally spot the third capsule at the edge of the kitchen floor. It was whole. Thank goodness!

So then began a quest for a replacement for the broken pill. We would need to track one down before her final dose on Wednesday. I called almost all of the pharmacies in the Valley, but no one stocked that medication. I called my Pullman pharmacy; they could order it for the next day. Ruminating, I realized that billing would be SO complicated, and this medication is $60 per capsule. Finally, a wonderful woman at Albertons Sav-On pharmacy in Spokane where Peg had originally gotten the prescription stepped up and offered to play a truly kind and generous role. They agreed to run over to the post office with a single capsule and mail it overnight mail to Mom's P.O. Box in Asotin. It got there in time, and we owe a big, big thanks to the pharmacy staff there.

I won't be able to get down to Asotin tonight because of an evening meeting, but I may go down tomorrow evening, unless Mom is doing so well that the commute just seems silly. I definitely will be going down for the weekend, though.