In reflection, returning to the US seemed like an adventure into every element of the medical enterprise, as formed in the United States. After being gone for six months, I had prescheduled my own medical checkups, but as soon as they were done, I was on my way to Ohio to check on my mother, who had been moved into a rehabilitation facility adjacent to her independent living apartment.
Needless to say she was glad to see me. She had shared with her friends that the longer I stayed in Africa, she didn’t think she would see me again. The competent and caring staff didn’t offer a glowing picture of Charlesetta’s progress toward returning to her independent living. They suggested early in July that I might have until early September to find a place for her in a skilled nursing facility.
Knowing before I left for South Africa that mom’s financial resources were nearly diminished, the issue was to find a facility to take her that accepted Medicaid. It was an easy decision to look only in the Philadelphia area. Looking at facilities within walking distance of our home, Germantown Home is 3-4 blocks away and halfway to the seminary where I work. Our health care system determined that I did not have until September, but had to move her by late July. So on August 6th, my mom and I drove to Detroit and we flew to Philadelphia, where she now lives. The only difficulty is that her memory of any move is lost, so every time I enter her room she wonders when I arrived.
There are days of sad feelings of her being lost, but there are moments of high laughter of experiencing her explore her new environment. One morning she got her wheel chair to the elevator and was bound and determined that she was going to work. When I asked her how old she was she said 55 and that she had to get to the ‘hospital kitchen’ and she couldn’t understand why we wouldn’t let her. She was sure that she had gotten to the hospital ‘where she worked.’ Smiles appeared when I told those surrounding her that she had been a food service supervisor in a hospital for 27 years.
Someone noted that there might be a change in my schedule. I responded that there was a change in lifestyle. I use to see her every 4 months, now I can see her daily. But after two months her spirits seem to be much better.
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