Mickey is cute except when he is living in the a.c. duct with 500 of his best buddies

Friends, here is another installment of “how I spent my day.”

I reported the mouse/rat infestation in my mother’s apartment, for which we pay, by the way, a small fortune/monthly. Those are pretty expensive mice. And they don’t belong there, especially around an ill person. In addition, they are making the nurses and aides very upset. Did I mention droppings? Noises in the wall? Visitors popping out of the wall and air conditioning? Do you think I need this?

I happily went to the periodontist in pouring rain to escape from my life for a while. Then did some food shopping; frankly I knew when I got home it would start all over.

Today my mother spoke to me on the phone. It was not her usual strong voice but a voice that said she thought she was getting better. The truth is you can’t get better on fifty calories a day. She barely eats or drinks, but she has walked with assistance and sat in her chair in the living room right near Rat Family Robinson.

And what did I do when I got home?

• I called the Department of Environmental Health
• I called the Department of Aging and Disability Hotline: they gave me the number for …
• The Agency for Healthcare Administration: I filed a complaint
• I called the Department of Elder Abuse … filed a complaint
• I left a message with the Long Term Care Ombudsman
• I called the Assisted Living Facility (Emeritus) and yelled politely to a couple of people who in turn left messages for the head of maintenance to call me: I knew I was dealing with trouble when this young man flat-out lied and said he had been to my mother’s apartment this morning, saying he was there each day since he heard about the problem. Get this: he wasn’t there this morning–he said he came in when people were sleeping. I mean, what did he want me to believe, that he entered my mother’s place while she and two nurses were sleeping–two nurses on night duty who don’t sleep? In addition, I was told that HE JUST CAME ON DUTY AT 4:00 PM. I asked him what the plan was–it was now 5:00 pm, he was supposed to call me when he got in. He told me he’d go up at 6:00. I told him to go up there NOW. The nurse confirmed that he did ten minutes later with a big vacuum. He was cleaning the mouse droppings with the vacuum cleaner from the dining room. Makes sense, right? Then he promised to return at 6:00 pm with the exterminator the residence has a contract with.
• I almost called corporate but held back: I saw so many complaints and negative comments on the internet about this corporation that runs the facility I figured I would just meet up with more lip service. I have gotten a lot of same at this place.

Let me summarize briefly: I am not happy. I hate spending my days this way. I honestly feel burdened and anxious and exhausted and crabby. Everywhere I turn I feel like I am hitting the wall. But my mother thinks she is getting better. And, maybe she is– the Hospice crisis team is leaving as of tomorrow and then there will just be my agency round the clock care. She’s never had so much attention and she is enjoying it. It’s now the standard of what she expects.

But, I am terrified that her funds will soon run out. And then what?

[This series is linked: see “continued here.” Also, below the line there will be links for the previous post and the next.]

continued here

The series starts here