Stress, stress and more stress...

First, for an update on Aspynne for those of you who are keeping up with this blog just for that reason. Aspynne is doing great. She seems in great spirits, and so far, doesn't at all seem to be affected by the medicine. Tomorrow we start full doses (we have been doing 1/2 doses thus far), so we will see if the increased doses affect her any differently. On another note, the viral infection that she has had for well over a month seems to really be coming back now. It seemed to get better for a bit, but now is kicking in again full force. She has a stuffy nose, a cough, and her rash is back, but doesn't seem to be bothering her. I think I'll call the pediatrician if it's still around by Tuesday just to make sure it's okay that it's been around this long.

As for the title of today's blog, a trip to my parent's house this morning turned out to be just a little more stressful than planned. As many of you know, my mom has M.S. and has been gettting progressively worse over the past several months. They hired a daytime assistant for my dad to help take care of her. Last week, they brough hospice in to give them some more help. Yesterday morning, my dad spent 2 hours just trying to get my mom out of her chair, with no success. He had to wait another hour for his assistant to arrive just so they, together, could get her up. Last night, my dad had such a hard time getting her ready for bed that he decided he just couldn't handle it anymore. (Mind you, he's 73...) When we arrived at their house this morning, there was a hospice nurse there, and my dad informed me that they had decided to take her by ambulance to a facility where she could get taken care of. After I asked about a thousand questions.....it all came down to this: She was being taken to an assisted living facility where this hospice company has several rooms where they care for patients....some that are getting ready to transition and their family member decided a facility would be best, and some, like my mom, who just needs a few days of special care to help get her back on her feet.

After I helped pack a bag for her, they came and took her away. I had Bob take the girls back home, and I went with my dad to the facility to check it out and to make sure she got settled in okay. They said that generally patients aren't there more than about 5 days, but that they, for sure, would keep her through the Labor Day holiday. We have known for quite some time that there would soon come a day that my dad couldn't do it anymore, but it was quite hard seeing that day come to fruition.

I know that my mom's heart is breaking right now having to be in a facility. Though it probably is truly better for her, it's so hard to see someone that is 100% in their right mind, and their body just won't work.

It was also a little hard explaining to Addyson today that an ambulance would be coming to take MiMi away and that they were going to help her get better. There was a nagging part of me that wondered if she'd ever come back home (though I believe she will).

As an only child, and only 31 years old it is really hard to think about losing one of my parents. I have said for a few years now that I just wanted to get to the point where Addyson would remember her....and I think at 5 1/2, we are there.

There is one good thing that came out of my mom going into that facility today. My dad is going to accompany us to church tomorrow morning! My dad who is the most devout follwer of Christ I have ever known hasn't been able to attend service in quite some time because of caring for my mom. I am so excited that he is going to get to expericence Valley Creek with us! After church we will have lunch, and then my dad and I will go to see mom again and make sure that she's doing okay.

For now, I am once again fried. I know it says that God won't give you more than you can handle, but I hope he feels like I've got enough because I'm not sure how much more I can take at this point.

In the day when I cried out, You answered me,

and made me bold with strength in my soul.

--Psalm 138:3 NKJV