Bottom line, my stepmother cannot be alone and needs someone with her in case something happens to her. As I said, she's lost her peripheral vision and that was an adjustment for her (and all of us). After discharge from the hospital, the first two days were disorienting for her as she tried to navigate through the house without her full sight.
On top of the vision issue, the discharge papers included a bunch of scripts and a new insulin plan. So we all have had to re-learn everything and get things organized. It seemed that the hospital forgot one script for one medication. That will be sorted out this afternoon when she visits with her PCP doctor.
Family members have been taking turns in rallying around to assist her with medications and insulin shots. Ultimately, it will be me and my aunt who will be looking after my stepmother primarily. Eventually, we will look into home care options for her. There may be some home modifications...such as the bathroom and bathtub/shower area.
In short, it has been a very steep learning curve for everyone.
During this process, I had a very slow realization and epiphany about myself. I believe I've come to a full circle about my own MLC. The realization was that if this had happened while I was in the midst of my own MLC...you can bet your sweet bippy that I wouldn't be able to cope and be the rock for my stepmother that I am today.
I washed the dishes for several days after lunch and dinner and I was CONTENT to do them. In recalling the contrasts between my MLC addled days and now, I am amazing that I am even able to tackle a gaggle of dirty dishes. For some reason, I was able to recall how I couldn't cope with dirty dishes during my MLC phases. I literally would just walk away from the dining room after a family meal/holiday/event so someone will need to step in and do them.
It is very, very interesting how I've evolved from being a wacky MLCer and being somewhat put-together these days. Sometimes I do think that God/Universe does work in mysterious ways through people and situations. Otherwise, I would not have been able to support my late father through his lung cancer battle nor my stepmother's current health crisis. Fascinating how incidents, situations, and events are viewed through the prism of 20-20 hindsight.
Oh and Ms. Wonka and I have been in constant touch via email during this latest development. I reached out to her and informed her about this whole situation as I sensed that this is something that Ms. Wonka would want to know about. I've found that Ms. Wonka has been incredibly supportive and validating to me throughout this process. Isn't she reading the DB book now??! Ha.
