Today my grandmother was admitted to the nursing home for what we hope will be about a week of rehab and strength building before she goes home once again. A lot has happened since the last trip in 2004, and I was a little rusty, so I still have to take some forms in for the admissions office, but in all, the admission went pretty smoothly. As my mom and I sat in the office trying to recall dates and facts for the admissions officer, we realized that someone in our family has been in this nursing home since 1987... my maternal grandparents, two great-aunts, two cousins, and my paternal grandmother... not to mention the mother of a cousin by marriage, the grandmother of my best friend from high school, my next door neighbor from childhood, and numerous acquaintences and family friends. During this time period, the name of the facility - and it's ownership - has changed three times, and now they are once again under a new ownership. So far, so good. The Director of Nursing is Mam-ma's next-door neighbor, and the assistant D.O.N. was Mam-ma's Home Health nurse for awhile, and they were "arguing" over who would get to care for her the most - in jest of course. I think she is in pretty capable hands. For more, see my post at The Deli.
The storms were all around us last night, but all we got was a little wind and thunder. For some reason, at least a few of the tornado sirens in town were activated, and the patients at the hospital were all evacuated from their rooms to the hallway for about an hour. All of that excitement was too much for Mam-ma, and she had a sick spell from it. An LPN friend of ours was next door with her son, and she helped get Mam-ma into bed and settled after the storms passed. She said that patients from the hospital in Mountain View (which was destroyed) and Clinton (which had no power) were being brought here for admission, and the hospital was "a zoo." I didn't go... all was well with Mam-ma, and I figured I would be in the way. I feel so badly for all of the storm victims and pray that they will recover quickly.
