Continuing to Catch Up!

As my last post was titled, Always Trying to Catch Up,  (You can read it HERE) I have decided that,

I WILL NEVER CATCH UP! 

So I’ll just go with the flow and do what I can.

Samantha asked me how my dad was doing and since I can only post 140 characters on twitter… 🙂 I figured I’d share an update.

Life is funny sometimes and I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, so let me catch you up.

Most of you know my dad fell on the 17th of June and it was originally thought that he broke his collar bone, but the last x-ray showed it was his shoulder. Let’s move on to June 20th; My step-mom fell and fractured a vertebrae.

Jinny, my step-mom, is doing okay. Sore and bruised, but she’s in good spirits. She goes to see the doctor on Wednesday. My dad’s neighbor and good friend, Orvil, said he wants to take Jinny for her appointment.

Now Orvil is one of those guys who would give you the shirt off his back, or at least he’d give my dad the shirt off his back. 🙂 He’s a great guy and a wonderful friend.

 

Dad had blood drawn and the doctor said everything is perfect, except for the shoulder, dad’s in great health. 🙂 He must be feeling pretty good because he is getting cabin fever and had one of the caregivers drive him, my step-mom, and the dog to Trader Joes today. 🙂

 

Dad goofing around and Orvil is in the middle egging him on.

Anyway, my dad called me last Thursday, June 26th, and said, “Guess what happened?” (Lately this is a very scary question.) “Orvil just came over.”

The first thing out of my mouth was, “Don’t tell me, he’s on crutches.”

“Nope, he fell in the store parking lot and did the same thing as me!”  Dad tells me as he laughs.

I asked him which arm and Orvil’s is the left and dad’s is the right, so I told them they were a fine pair and now they could help each other button their pants!  (Dad had sent me shopping the day before to buy pull on shorts)

I know you are thinking just how horrible this is, but frankly,  the three of them think it’s quite funny.

Now let’s get to the bad part. My step-mom had a series of strokes back in 2005 and since then my dad has been her main caretaker,  except for the few times he was in the hospital, but with his fractured shoulder he can’t take care of her or, drive, or do the dishes, or cook!

Now I don’t know if you know this or not, but caretakers charge anywhere from $10 to $20 dollars an hour!

I was talking to Roxanne on the phone the other day (She organizes which caregivers go where) and she was telling me that there is a board and care in the area that has a bedroom, with a walk in closet, available for…Wait for it…Seven thousand a month. A month! Good God most people don’t even make that much in a month, especially on social security. My dad’s not rich, nor even well to do, but they live comfortably.  They both get social security and dad has a reasonable pension along with a stipend from the Veterans.

BUT $7,000.00 a month!

Okay, I’m done ranting. I told my kids, now I am really scared to get old.

So I am going to have to find someone to live-in. They’d get free board and care and a reasonable salary. Want to know the really scary part? Where do you find a honest, trustworthy person?

Did you read or hear about the lady that was hired to live-in in Upland, CA? And now she won’t leave. If not, you can read about her here. http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/29/us/california-nanny-squatter/index.html

And here

So my advice to everyone is to start saving now.

There is a sliver of silver lining in the clouds though. If you are a Veteran or the spouse of a Veteran there is an Aid and Attendance benefit that you can apply for. You can learn more about it here.  http://www.vetangels.org/

(Sorry this is a jumbled mess, but it’s totally like my thoughts!)

Okay, I‘ll save the rest for another time (Like, How I broke my dad’s computer today) Eek! Shhh, don’t tell dad.

Hugs till then!

 

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• Tagged: board and care prices, dad, fracture, karens different corners, outrageous