Update on Mom

Well, somehow she has done it.  She has gotten herself well enough to go home.  Mom is to be discharged from the hospital today.  She is too stubborn to die.  Now don't get me wrong, I don't want my mother to die.  It's just that when she was admitted, she was so sick it appeared death was inevitable.  Now she is going home.  She had nothing going for her at all so all I can chalk it up to is her stubbornness.

Her stubbornness is one of the many reasons I do NOT want her to die.  My mother is a hoarder albeit an extremely neat one.  She is too stubborn to get rid of anything and therefore has a houseful of items she doesn't need.  She will not listen to reason. She feels she is rational when she says there is no reason to throw out any of the 20 lapel pins with the name of her old employer on it.  (Every company has them but does anyone actually wear them)?   She can keep one but damn, 20?  They are all in their individual plastic bags in a drawer.  She has 6 animal crates of various sizes.  The only pet she has left is one cat.  One cat = one crate.  For the occasional trip to the vet.  She won't get rid of any of them because they were "expensive".  I told her we could sell them on Craig's list but she won't hear of it. She might get another pet she says.   Riiiight.......  She can't take care of herself.  All of her "pets" in the last 10 years or so have not been treated well at all.  They are physically sound but they receive no interaction.  Two dogs spent a lot of their time crated when they weren't outside, others in kennel runs.  She feeds them but doesn't play or interact with them.  They were lonely and depressed.  I did the best that I could when I was there but that was only every couple of weeks. It was sad.  She needs no other pets.  She hoards food.  She has two full refrigerators and a chest freezer that is packed as well.  There is just her.  She has started buying things and placing in my grandmother's freezer.  She has so many canned goods etc that are out of date that she will not throw out because "they're still good, they haven't been opened".  I'm not eating anything again that has come from that house.  She has boxes and boxes of sewing items. Materials, patterns, etc.  they are in file boxes stacked along entire walls and up to the ceiling.  There are baubles in cabinets, projects stacked on furniture.  The only place you can sit in the house is the couch (which she sleeps on) or two of the dining room chairs.  The table is covered in her latest project so there isn't a place to eat.  The kitchen counter tops and the bar is covered in food stuffs and miscellaneous junk so there is little room for food prep in a kitchen that has little counter space to begin with.  Her bed is covered in miscellaneous, stuff is stacked on the floor.  There are paths throughout the main level of the house.  The upstairs is fairly clean as she can't climb the stairs to get there.  So...  She has taken to stacking the binders of her crafting magazines up the steps.

The ambulance could not get a stretcher into the house.  She had to walk to the door.  She has learned nothing from this last trip to the hospital other than she needed to get her house phone fixed. (it has been out for almost a year, she didn't want to spend the $75).

When she does finally meet her demise, I am left to deal with the aftermath.  I don't think they make dumpsters big enough for what she has going on in that house.  I am going to try to talk to her today and will probably make her very angry with me when I suggest what needs to be done to keep her safe.  I'll keep you posted...