We're busting Lois out of jail (the nursing home) just after lunch. :smile:
Who's Lois?
Lois is our 84 year old neighbor of the past few years. Lois lives alone with her two dogs Joey and Lucy. She's a very private and independent woman. I can't say my wife and I have had much of a relationship with her over the years. She's the quiet and independent type. Given her age we've looked after her in basic neighborly ways; when the power goes out during storms we check on her to make sure she's okay or when it snows we shovel out her car. Other than that, it's been just exchanging pleasantries when we see her out walking her dogs.
One thing we've always noticed is that she hardly ever has had any visitors. She pretty much just chills in her apartment with her dogs and only leaves to go to church or run errands. Because of her age, we've always wondered what would happen if she had a medical emergency. One week before Christmas, we found out. She knocked on our door and it was clear she was very sick and needed to go to the emergency room. We called 911 and sent her off with the EMTs kicking and screaming. It was obvious she was scared that if she left in such a manner she'd never come home again. All we could do was promise her she'd be okay and we'd care for her dogs until she got home.
And so our 129 day odyssey until now began.....
In the beginning, it was tough to get much information from the hospital due to us not being family. It wasn't until two days after we sent her off that we were able to visit her in the ICU once she finally become coherent enough to welcome us to visit. We found her still heavily sedated and recovering from major surgery, but aware enough to recognize us.
From here, the pieces of Lois's life fell into place. The only family she has is a somewhat estranged son who lives with his dad; her 93 year old ex-husband. They divorced years ago and Lois remarried, but lost her second husband 13 years ago. She lost her daughter 5 years later. No grandchildren, no surviving siblings, she basically has no one. The son showed up the first few days she was in ICU, but basically dropped off the map after that outside of a handful of visits over the past 4+ months often times only to bring her ex-husband to see her why he waited in the car outside the hospital or eventually the nursing home. It became quite clear to my wife and I that Lois was screwed....no support system at all.
This story is getting long as is, so I'll spare many more details (especially how we've had to assume leadership in her financial affairs due to her son's unwillingness to do so, as well as all that's been involved in taking care of her dogs), but for all intents and purposes, jess and I have adopted an old lady and her dogs for the past 129 days. Lois spent three weeks in the local hospital before being transferred to the county nursing home's rehabilitation unit. The early weeks were tough, she had no faith she'd get better and come home. There was a point where the nursing staff in rehab made it quite clear if she didn't start having faith in herself and nourish herself and get moving, that she'd soon die. She was completely sedentary and depressed on a feeding tube early on......but as we kept coming to visit her with her dogs every few days, she'd perk up and listen to us and start trying harder. There's been set backs that have found her back in the hospital a few times, such as pneumonia and falls, but she's kept pushing.
and just after lunch tomorrow all her hard work finally pays off as we will pick Lois up from the nursing home and bring her home.
Can't wait to walk her through her door and see the joy on her face as she settles onto her couch with her dogs and begins to live life on her own again.
Tomorrow for Lois would be like any of us fighting long and hard to come back from injury and enjoy a Pow Day. Extremely gratifying experience for me and my wife over the past 129 days helping her get there. And personally for me seeing her courage and determination to fight back from near death really helped me put my own situation and frustrations this winter in perspective where I couldn't ski for a couple of months due to injury.
Pic of me and Lois's dogs:
For those who read this, if you can spare Lois some keep getting well Vibes, I'd appreciate it. She's much better, but still has a long way to go and my wife and I still have a lot of work to do to get her back to her old independent self. Our faith is strong though. She's one tough woman and a true inspiration for us.
Who's Lois?
Lois is our 84 year old neighbor of the past few years. Lois lives alone with her two dogs Joey and Lucy. She's a very private and independent woman. I can't say my wife and I have had much of a relationship with her over the years. She's the quiet and independent type. Given her age we've looked after her in basic neighborly ways; when the power goes out during storms we check on her to make sure she's okay or when it snows we shovel out her car. Other than that, it's been just exchanging pleasantries when we see her out walking her dogs.
One thing we've always noticed is that she hardly ever has had any visitors. She pretty much just chills in her apartment with her dogs and only leaves to go to church or run errands. Because of her age, we've always wondered what would happen if she had a medical emergency. One week before Christmas, we found out. She knocked on our door and it was clear she was very sick and needed to go to the emergency room. We called 911 and sent her off with the EMTs kicking and screaming. It was obvious she was scared that if she left in such a manner she'd never come home again. All we could do was promise her she'd be okay and we'd care for her dogs until she got home.
And so our 129 day odyssey until now began.....
In the beginning, it was tough to get much information from the hospital due to us not being family. It wasn't until two days after we sent her off that we were able to visit her in the ICU once she finally become coherent enough to welcome us to visit. We found her still heavily sedated and recovering from major surgery, but aware enough to recognize us.
From here, the pieces of Lois's life fell into place. The only family she has is a somewhat estranged son who lives with his dad; her 93 year old ex-husband. They divorced years ago and Lois remarried, but lost her second husband 13 years ago. She lost her daughter 5 years later. No grandchildren, no surviving siblings, she basically has no one. The son showed up the first few days she was in ICU, but basically dropped off the map after that outside of a handful of visits over the past 4+ months often times only to bring her ex-husband to see her why he waited in the car outside the hospital or eventually the nursing home. It became quite clear to my wife and I that Lois was screwed....no support system at all.
This story is getting long as is, so I'll spare many more details (especially how we've had to assume leadership in her financial affairs due to her son's unwillingness to do so, as well as all that's been involved in taking care of her dogs), but for all intents and purposes, jess and I have adopted an old lady and her dogs for the past 129 days. Lois spent three weeks in the local hospital before being transferred to the county nursing home's rehabilitation unit. The early weeks were tough, she had no faith she'd get better and come home. There was a point where the nursing staff in rehab made it quite clear if she didn't start having faith in herself and nourish herself and get moving, that she'd soon die. She was completely sedentary and depressed on a feeding tube early on......but as we kept coming to visit her with her dogs every few days, she'd perk up and listen to us and start trying harder. There's been set backs that have found her back in the hospital a few times, such as pneumonia and falls, but she's kept pushing.
and just after lunch tomorrow all her hard work finally pays off as we will pick Lois up from the nursing home and bring her home.
Can't wait to walk her through her door and see the joy on her face as she settles onto her couch with her dogs and begins to live life on her own again.
Tomorrow for Lois would be like any of us fighting long and hard to come back from injury and enjoy a Pow Day. Extremely gratifying experience for me and my wife over the past 129 days helping her get there. And personally for me seeing her courage and determination to fight back from near death really helped me put my own situation and frustrations this winter in perspective where I couldn't ski for a couple of months due to injury.
Pic of me and Lois's dogs:
For those who read this, if you can spare Lois some keep getting well Vibes, I'd appreciate it. She's much better, but still has a long way to go and my wife and I still have a lot of work to do to get her back to her old independent self. Our faith is strong though. She's one tough woman and a true inspiration for us.
