Survival.....The Long And Winding Road posted 8/17/2009 8:47:16 PM | 5 kudos what's this?     report abuse tagged: family

summerbreeze916

My job is to take care of my sister. She turned 76 years young in June. When a Social Service Worker first approached me and asked me if I would consider taking care of my sister, well....let's just say that she asked me three times before I said that I would give it a try.

Dor was not expected to live the last time she landed in the hospital. It was looking very, very grim. There was an excellent doctor there that literally saved her life single-handedly. When she was able to leave the hospital, she had to return to the Nursing Home. She couldn't walk at this time, but she was so angry that she had to return there, that she didn't even want to talk. She was giving up the will to even live, after all she had just been through.

The Nursing Home Staff was allowing her to stay in her bed most of the time, even bringing her the three meals a day. She did not even get up to use the bathroom. I guess the staff figured it was just easier to go into my sister's room and change diapers on her than to try to help her stand or put her into a wheelchair and take her. I am not saying that the staff was lazy or that they didn't care about the residents. I understand that they were extremely short-handed, especially with the cutbacks forced upon all the Healthcare Facilities by our lovely Governor.

It didn't take her brother and sisters too awfully long to show their dismay at this. My brother lives right in the town where the Nursing Home is located. He visited with Dor nearly every day. We three sisters went together there every Saturday and had the staff get her situated in a wheelchair. We'd take her from her room to one of the lounges and practically force her to play Canasta and Pinochle with us. This is something she always loved doing, so...by golly...we were NOT going to let her quit on us. Her spirits were 'up' on some days, but mostly, they were 'down'.

It was nearing Christmastime. I did her gift shopping for her, but I figured I would bring the gifts to the Nursing Home so she could help wrap them. I had hoped to lift her spirits. She was unable...or unwilling...to finish even one package. We needed to do more. The next step was to try to encourage her to put her feet on the floor any time she was positioned at the edge of her bed or sitting in a wheelchair. We told her to keep pressing her feet as hard as she was able to on that floor. Soon we were able to tell her to push herself back and forth while sitting in the wheelchair to build the muscles in her legs and feet. We began to see a change in Dor, and so did the staff. She was becoming determined, so to speak, in wanting to go home again. Now THAT'S the stubbornness I remember! And yes........it does tend to run in the family. A couple workers from down in Physical Therapy started coming upstairs to work Dor's arms and legs. It was all a very slow process........and so painful for Dor. Plus, there was one young man who worked at the Nursing Home that (Shhhh......against all regulations) would sneak into Dor's room, and help her stand! She begged and pleaded with this poor guy to do this. He finally gave in to her....Bless his heart. I mean, she was relentless. Then came the payoff. When I arrived there one morning, she had a big, ol' smirk on her face and informed me that the staff was going to be taking her downstairs to Physical Therapy twice a day. They were going to let her try standing and walking. It was only a few short baby steps that she was able to take, but in time.....she was taking more and more of these precious little steps.

Teamwork. That is what it's all about, isn't it???

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