Well, it's been a while. And I apologize for the long lapse in posting to this blog. Unfortunately, it's been a tumultuous two months where I've seen my role as Jeanne's caregiver undergo a fundamental change. More about that in a moment.
My last post (Oct 8th) indicated that Jeanne had suffered a broken leg that required a trip to the Emergency Room. It all seemed pretty straightforward, but I found that nothing is really "pretty straightforward" when it comes to anything that compromises the health of someone battling a very advanced case of secondary progressive MS.
Jeanne remained hospitalized for almost two months. In that time, her condition became quite serious as she battled through a blood infection, multiple seizures and a fever that her doctors could never quite explain. She also underwent surgery to insert a metal rod into her leg to strengthen it and hopefully avoid future fractures.
During Jeanne's hospitalization, I spent more time at the hospital than many of the doctors and nurses who work there. Jeanne's condition was so tenuous that I found it difficult to focus on any other area of my life -- including my business and even updating this blog.
About a week before Thanksgiving, it was determined that Jeanne should be discharged from the hospital. Although she was still dealing with a variety of health issues, the doctors had run out of tests to put her through, and there wasn't much more that they could do for her. At the same time, they felt that she required a higher level of care than she could receive from me at home. And that meant going to a skilled nursing facility. That meant that I would no longer be Jeanne's primary caregiver. And that meant that I would be breaking a promise that I had made to Jeanne many years ago -- that she would never enter a nursing home.
My next post will take you through my search for the right skilled nursing facility for Jeanne, how I came to appreciate that it was really the right place for her, how I am dealing with the associated guilt and how, in the past three weeks, I came to re-define my role and responsibilities as Jeanne's caregiver.
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