Chapter 28

Good Morning,

Well, I’m back to sleeping 10-12 hours, being awake for 4-5 hours, then down for another 10-12.  Talk about sleeping your life away!!

Had an MRI, and all sorts of blood work.  I must have studied real hard for all those tests because I passed.  The MRI showed no cancer, but I have a lot of fluid in my abdomen.  Went to the hospital, and they pumped 6 liters off.  It is so hard to function when the fluid is up to your lungs.  I’ve never been pregnant, but that’s what they compare it to.  All those blood tests gave me a meld score of 6-7.  5-6 is compared to a normal, healthy person. 

Leslie (my younger sister) keeps wanting to get together and do all the prepping for our funerals and wills.  I just don’t want to.  She’s mad at me for being the first born.  When daddy died 21 years ago, our step-mother, Lula Mae, did give me several things handed down from the family.  There’s a ring that had belonged to my Grandma Chastain with a pretty good size purple stone.  It was too small for my fat little fingers.  So I just put it away.  Then a couple years ago, mama gave me Grandma Babbitt’s wedding band, and over the years, grandma had gotten a 2nd wedding ring.  Leslie noticed the ring on my finger with my wedding rings.  Needless to say, she got her feelings hurt.  Now I’m afraid we’re gonna have more hurt feelings.  Mama has 2 mother’s rings.  The one my dad got for her only had stones put in for mama and us girls.  The other one mama got for herself, and it has atones for us girls and the grandchildren.    I’m gonna see about getting both rings adjusted so I can wear both the mother’s ring from Daddy and Grandma Chastain’s purple ring.  Leslie won’t get her mother’s ring until mama takes it off.  I hope she doesn’t get her feelings hurt, but I know my sister and her tender heart that doesn’t take much to upset her. 

I better get off here while I still have a little energy.  Got to wash the dishes.  We’re having so much trouble getting a home health aide.  Hadn’t seen any aides for at least 4 weeks until the one they sent yesterday.  After trying to work with three different agencies, who act like they could not care less about truly providing good care, my expectations are not high when it comes to meeting a new aide, but when the new one yesterday said something that cut to the core, I told him to get his backpack and leave less than 5 minutes after he got here (at the wrong time, I might add).  Jerry’s mouth fell open and stayed that way.  You see, Jerry gets angry when the home health agencies have jerked us around, and I am always telling him to be nice.  When the guy left, Jerry looked at me and asked, “Who told me to be nice, that the aides didn’t know what all is going with management?”  Yep, that’s me, Mrs. B.  Best not mess with her, she’s a tough cookie—haha!!!

CYA,

Arlynda