It's about TIME!

It's been a long time coming but today the ball was dropped, Grandma is no longer allowed to drive on her own.


Today we had another follow up with her general doctor and I was determined to leave with results. If it wasn't her driving it was gonna be about her memory. It's been almost 2 years since her knee surgery and almost 1 year since we got her tested at the Neuropsych center and I have not been satisfied with how these doctors have been handling all these changes. 


Going back about a week I received an email from her tenant upstairs expressing some concerns about Grandma's health. Now she sees my Grandma everyday so she's gets a front row seat to the work that is Grandma. 


This is what she wrote to me:

                                       I'm writing to express my concern about your grandmother.

                                   For the past few weeks, she's saying she's more and more tired during the days, and it's getting worse and worse.

For instance, today, she got up, went to the bathroom, came out after about an hour and complained that she was tired. Then she ate something and took her pills, sat for a bit, then again said she was tired. I had to help her up from the couch after she had sat for a couple hours. 

Just a small walk to the washing machines outside seems to wipe her out. And (unlike her) she's been dozing off on the couch during the day without meaning to.

I mentioned this to her and of course she pooh poohed me. I told her I would be contacting you to suggest at least a call to the doctor to see if there's reason to be concerned. It is possible that this is a result of her starting to take the "memory" medication in the past couple weeks?

Anyhow, I thought you should know so that you can at least address it with her.

And so I thank her and let her know I've been aware of a few of these changes and I would address them with the doctor this week. In her next response she also lets me know that the week before she attempted to drive herself to church and never made it.  She got in the car got on the freeway and just couldn't make it to church. I now have all this information and I will get results from the doctor I say.

Finally it's show time! Thursday night I do my usual reminder call about the appointment and when she can expect me, to which she "already knows" and is glad I remembered, and we say our goodbyes.

I arrived and she is ready... for the most part. she has already had her breakfast but will be fixing herself a snack for the car ride there and I would like to leave at 12:15 because she needs the extra time to walk from the parking garage up to the 4th floor. I don't dare drop her off again because she took a trip up and down the elevator the last time. 

Once in with the Doctor she tells him she's fine, a little tired, has some pain but nothing she can't handle... same old speech, which is why we get nowhere in these visits! Finally he asks me if there's anything I'd like to add. So I list my concerns, about the driving, the missed medications, lack of movement and her increasingly deteriorating memory. Within minutes of a conversation she can't tell you what was said. And so he listens and then he says to her "I'm going to have to make a recommendation for you to no longer get behind the wheel" "no more driving" I completely understand that this is the MOST devastating news she could get in her life right now because this is the end of her independence but it has to be done. I don't want to wait for that call one day letting me know that there has been an accident and that she could've caused it because she became disoriented while driving. 

She fought back for a while asking why and rationalizing her "self-awareness" and thankfully the Doctor stuck to his guns and told her he was required to report things like this if he felt she could be a danger to herself or others. I think she finally agreed. At least for the moment. 

Once we left and were on our way to (can you guess?) The Sizzler... you know that place where I can walk around and pick my own food...  As we sat in traffic making small talk she must have asked me about 3 times are we going to eat? Where are we going? Are we stopping for food? Even as we were sitting at the intersection right across from The Sizzler she asked again "Where are we going"? I had to ask her, Where are we? just to see if she would recognize her surroundings. Finally she saw the Sizzler and got very excited. 

Now that Sizzler has the automated Kiosks it makes things so much faster! I love it! We order and get our table. She fills up her salad bar plate first because I already know it's gonna take her forever to finish it and she can start first then I can serve myself. I was able to serve eat, and eat my entree all before she was even finished with her first salad bar plate, nothing new.

Then the comedy starts! She's all done, we've packed her entree untouched in a to go box have a little ice cream and then she sees a fruit bowl! Now she decides she wants to take some home... but you can't pack salad bar items to go... I sit there with a blank look on my face because she has fruit at home. We can stop to buy fruit but she has to have THAT ONE! I tell she's technically not supposed to do it but as an old lady she can do whatever she wants! 30 EXTRA Minutes she sat there contemplating how she was gonna get this fruit, until she finally remembers what she's gonna ask the waiter and he brings her a new plate for the fruit she cannot take home... The plate is warm... "I don't want to put cold Melon on a warm plate!" I just about fell out of my chair laughing! She finally got the fruit, ate a couple pieces and managed to fit it into her to go box and we left. 2 and a half hours later!! I could've had a completely new meal in that time.

My oh my what am I to do!! 

The laughter continues...