My last family update in mid-November was about some really good areas of progress with Mom, Dad, and our Caregiving journey. Then the next day the wheels fell off LOL!
We had to take Mom to the ER. She was hospitalized for 4 days with a pretty wicked Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) that made her severely confused and unable to walk.
Dad got some kind of crazy infection that caused a large bubbly rash on his legs. His legs and knees ballooned up to the point that he could hardly walk and wasn't able to bend his knees. He had to get in & out of the car at a diagonal with straight legs.
That put Traci, Laurie, & I right back into the 24/7 Caregiving mode.
Then I got COVID right after Thanksgiving. Thankfully it was a mild case with only one bad night that was quickly squelched with the Monoclonal Antibody Treatment... and aided by an awesome family that made me bone broth and several amazing hand made cards :) ... 10 days later I was back 100%.
Then Mom got another UTI about 10 days after finishing up with her original UTI. This time it wasn't as severe as the first one and didn't require hospitalization.
In September I had some dear friends that sent me a card of encouragement with some clutch verses in 2 Timothy that I've been anchored to for a few months now. Those verses have supernaturally fueled me! I love how God's Word changes everything.
Over the past few weeks Mom has returned back to better balance and better days. Dad's knees and legs have returned back to his normal (which usually isn't good, but way better than they were). Traci & I have been able to back off the 24/7 Caregiving and get a little reprieve here and there. Laurie was able to go visit family for 2 weeks.
It was literally like we took one big step forward then two big steps backwards then one big step forward... so now we are back to where we were at my last update :)
We didn't get to do the amount of Christmas celebrating or decorating that we wanted to, but we were able to do a little bit. Huge thanks to my awesome nephew Carson who helped me hang Christmas lights and unpack a lot of decorations.
Mom loves her new rocking chairs and Dad loves his new ice machine. We had a nice family time together for Christmas at my sister's house.
I'm still getting caught up calling and thanking everyone who made our Annual Banquet an enormous success! God blessed us all so much by everyone's involvement and generosity :)
We've gone 1 year in the 24/7 Caregiving mode, and we have learned a lot. There were a lot of defeats and hard days, but we survived PTL! Now we are going to draw from the past year of experiential learning and make wise adjustments so that we go from SURVIVING to THRiVING in 2022!
Greater things are yet to come!
I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas and holiday season. And I hope 2022 becomes a great year for everyone.
Much love!
