Saturday, July 12, 2014

Short Update

Hi friends, I trust you are all doing well.

I've had a busy time with my niece who has now gone home. We had a lovely but very short visit.  At least we had an opportunity to have a birthday dinner with her brother, go to the beach, the movies and a bit of shopping and relaxing.

Since I posted here last (and after my niece's visit), I went out of town to escort my mom to the hospital for a consultation with a specialist. Unfortunately after leaving very early from my home to get to her city on time, the appointment was cancelled.

On the return home, the light is beautiful and these mountains near Hope on the way to Vancouver are in full view.

The medical van did not bring the right stretcher to transport mom and though they were in process to get the right stretcher delivered,  the doctor's office cancelled the appointment altogether and said it would need to be rescheduled.

Passing through farm fields near Chilliwack.

Mom was disappointed and I wasn't so happy either.  But what can you do? Things happen and I always try to think that things happen for "the best" because of things we cannot know or foresee. It is just a real pain in the butt to have to travel 355 kilometers one way (220 miles) to be told that the appointment is cancelled. So we wait to see what happens next.

I did my best to make mom feel less upset about things but understandably she wasn't happy.  She has already been waiting 4-5 months for this appointment. It is important to the healing of her pressure wounds and once healed she can be free to get out of bed every day. Since I got back home I found out that the wound nurse is going to work with the nurse practitioner and open up and treat the wounds and it remains to be seen about the doctor consultation. I would appreciate your prayers on this as the procedure will happen on Monday.

Approaching the new Port Mann Bridge

On this most recent trip to mom's we were able to bring all the remaining things from mom's storage unit. She was a little shocked (perhaps surprised is a better word) that I threw away some pieces of her furniture. But I explained that it wasn't good sense to pay for storage of furniture that has become old and battered after the many moves they have been through. I am storing all of her excess things in my storage unit which also needed cleaning out first.  I have a lot of medical equipment in my storage and I don't want to throw it away because of the high replacement cost.  I may need something for my own use or if have a friend or acquaintance who could benefit from some of the medical equipment at some point. The only thing I do want to get rid of is one of her electric wheelchair as it takes a lot of space in my home.


In other news, I got home from my trip to mom's, logged on to my computer to check messages and discovered that my hard drive failed. I have been without computer for over 24 hours and lost a lot of documents and photos.

It isn't a major problem because most of what I want to keep or really need is older stuff which I saved in a special place.  These are still safe. It is just the inconvenience factor and the additional cost and lost time trying to find things again that are a nuisance.

The old bridge is being dismantled.

Fraser River looking northeast from Port Mann Bridge

I'm afraid I'm not so good at keeping all my photos and documents organized and safe. It requires more work and effort than I'd like to put into it the task.  So for those things I did lose, I have no one to blame but myself.  Is anyone in my shoes on this one?



Driving west toward Vancouver and home, the sun sets as we pass through Burnaby/Port Coquitlam.



The weather in the next few days is expected to be very hot at 30 degrees + Celsius (86+ Farenheit).  I will be trying to stay cool. 

I wish you all an enjoyable week ahead.

Our World Tuesday 

 Our World Tuesday Graphic

8 comments:

Cynthia said...

That's too bad about your mom's appointment being cancelled. I hope they can reschedule her quickly. You live in a beautiful part of the world. The bridge lines are so graceful and pretty, as are the mountains in your first photo.

Joanne Noragon said...

These photos are outstanding. I hope the treatment change will help your mom a lot.

jabbott said...

Sorry to hear you missed your mum's appointment. Hoping what they do for her on Monday helps her. Great photos too I love bridges there amazing x

Joy said...

So sorry to hear of the 'mess-around' with your Mum's appt. Joyful, and pray that the treatment goes well for her on Monday. It's very nice to see more pics of your surroundings, thank you - beautiful country and majestic bridge. Enjoy your weekend,
xoJoy

John's Island said...

Hi Joyful, I am sorry to hear about your mom’s appointment being cancelled. I can surely understand your being very annoyed at that. What has happened to medical care these days? Sometimes it is wonderful and other times it is just depressing. Well, I do hope your mom gets the attention she needs from the nurse practitioner. The good part of all this is that we get to enjoy your excellent photos taken along the way. That is such a beautiful stretch of highway. I have driven that route from Vancouver to Hope several times and it always impresses me. Thank you for sharing those photos. I am also sorry to hear about your computer problems … goodness sakes, this technology thing … always something … my router/modem died yesterday and I wrote up the whole experience on my blog today. And thank you for your kind comments there … and you are so welcome on the small donation … I just hope it helps. Today, I went to a movie that I think you would really enjoy. Wonder if it is on up in Vancouver? The name is “The Grand Seduction” and it’s the story of a small Canadian town and the efforts they would make to get a doctor to live in their town! It’s an old-fashioned kind of movie … no explosions, violence, or swearing … ha ha! You can watch a trailer for the movie on the web by doing a search for it on YouTube. Keep cool up there … it was over 90F again today down here! And we are under a “heat advisory” until Monday morning. Best regards, John

Lynda said...

That bridge is beautiful. Great pics of it. So sorry about all the stuff with your mom. Doctors need to be in the place of the patient some times to see what it feels like to have your hope on the next time you will see them - - - even when you don't have to drive as far as you did. So sorry for both of you with this situation.

Ceil said...

Hi Joyful! Wow, you were really tested to stay Joyful in all your trials. Driving all that way for nothing? Yuck. And your Mom would have been upset of course. I'm sure she looked forward to finally having her sores addressed. Well, it does sound like there is a plan. That's good!
I'm glad you were able to save some of your photos, that was clever!
Hope you are having a good weekend,
Ceil

Meredith said...

Your poor Mom with that wound and poor you for having to deal with an ill parent, it is not easy I know. The bridge is beautiful and I liked all of your pictures of it.

Sending you a big hug,
Meredith

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