Oil prices down, gas prices up, nursing station, The State of Mom.

Took this picture of the higher gas prices at Exxon on a blazing cheerfully blue day, temps in the mid 50's today. Phew!



This is a picture of the revised nursing station, it was set back six inches from where it rested last week. The guys are now putting down linoleum after pulling up the rug, while less than two years old was very thin in spots.

THE STATE OF MOM:

For some time now I have been concerned with Mom's health. She is now on continuous home oxygen, she has an oxygen machine and a few of the bottles for short trips. She has become very weak, not able to finish a job that she starts such as making the bed, or clipping her finger nails. She has not slept in her new sleep number bed but she did say she was getting tired of sleeping in the lounger. Taking a shower wears her out completely. She does not get fully dressed for the day opting for comfort. She has been relying heavily on a local pizza joint that delivers a pizza to her now and then. She also has frozen chicken patties etc in the freezer. She does not eat as much now as in the past. Her can of soup is good for two meals.

She had to cancel a doctor's appointment in December because no family member was available to take her. However, the appointment was merely to meet with a nurse practitioner who was going to explain the results of her echo cardiogram. Believe me if her ejection fraction was less then 40%, they would have been all over themselves letting her know and making medical decisions.

Her local Physicians Assistant has been very helpful in getting her prescriptions filled and checking on her oxygen etc. Mom is getting the paper work done to get her medications filled for three months at a time through Walgreen, that means her meds will come in the mail.

Also she told me that she applied for a caregiver. A nice 24 old lady with a couple of kids who will help her with shopping, cleaning, etc for 16 dollars an hour, this is through an agency that specializes in care givers.

Mom was able to successfully rid herself of Dish Network. She wants to purchase a digital TV, I coached her through some choices over the phone at Amazon.com but she has decided that she really wants to visit a real store for a Sharp digital television, 19 inches please. Perhaps the care giver can do that with her.

Just in case anyone was interested.