With advance planning, one should always assume that there will be changes in circumstances that will change the plans a bit. This change in circumstances changed things more than a bit.
My grandmother began hallucinating a couple of weeks ago and it was sudden and strange. She has done this before and kind of snapped out of it after we got her to eat and drink more, but this time it just didn't work. Then she fell. We took her to the hospital and we discovered that she had a stroke. She was there a while, and they really wanted to monitor her more to see what kind of recovery she may have, but of course, you can't stay in the hospital forever. She was sent to a rehab facility that she has been in before that we loved, and there she will be getting physical therapy and monitoring. She can't stay there forever, either. She loves the place, but at $8,000 a month, she can't afford more than what her insurance will cover. No more than 100 days. We hope that she recovers, but only God knows whether she will.
Anyway, that changes the road trip. Honestly, we don't care much about the hallucinations. We know where they are coming from and my kids are used to ignoring some of the things she says. They are so flexible and good with her. It comes from having Micah around to show them that not everyone thinks in the same way and being in your own world is just relaxing sometimes. If she is hallucinating, that doesn't change much, just makes our plans a bit more complicated. She doesn't get around without help, so she won't run off or anything. The plans change with mobility. She firmly believes that she has broken her hip. The x-rays say otherwise, but she is still obviously in pain. Weird for a lady with neuropathy so bad she can't feel much more than pressure anywhere on her body. When she last actually broke something it was her knee and she didn't feel it at all.
In order for her to go with us, she has to be able to get in and out of my car. That's it. That means that the physical therapist has to convince her that she is okay, get her up and about so that she doesn't lose the mobility she has, and get her to try again. I don't care if she calls me George or berates my parenting skills to my mother (who she often calls "Nurse") when I'm not there.
If she doesn't come, the expense of getting her care for the month will have to be added to the budget concerns. I'd say it changes the way that we will sleep places, but in reality we can't wait for her to get better or not to make reservations, so we will be staying in places that will work for her anyway. It will make my mom more comfortable anyway.
Well, all that assumes that someone other than me (I don't have a say in this nor do I want one) doesn't decide that she needs more 24 hour care than we can give her at my house and she moves from the rehab place to somewhere with a nursing staff anyway. That would break my grandmother's heart (assuming that she knows where she is anyway) and my mom's.
Okay, so there's the hitch in the plans. Pretty huge, right? I know it is a huge undertaking to bring my grandmother along anyway, but it's just not a relief to plan for the conditions that would exist if she doesn't come.
