Dealing with my mother in law's stay in the hospital

[chrisinhouston]

My 85 year old mother in law went into the hospital on Tuesday to have her shoulder joint replaced as it was pretty worn out from arthritis and other age related wear and tear. The surgery went fine but she is really loopy from the pain pills and just being out of her normal routine. She was in the hospital for4 days and now is at a rehab hospital so they can get her to the point she can go back to her apartment. Here are few of the high points from this week:

1. Thursday night our phone rang at 4am, my wife grabs it and it's her mother. She told my wife she was at that church down that road and couldn't get to the bathroom and could we come help her. My wife finally got through to her that she was in the hospital and needed to call the nurse using the big call button on the remote that was pinned to her pillow. She called back 10 minutes later saying she kept pushing the button and the TV was going on and off. Finally she pushed the right button.

2. She is an incredibly fussy eater and only likes to eat what she cooks so my wife has been taking her breakfast and dinner. I refuse to participate in this part of the care.

3. Called us last night at 2am because the nurse took out the IV from her arm and she wanted my wife to say it was ok. My wife reminded her that she is not a nurse or a doctor.

4. We gave up and took her dog to a kennel for this week. The dog is a little mix, like a shitzpoo or something along the Benji line. The dog drives me crazy, she shits and pees every where and a lot! It doesn't matter if I just took her for a walk and she peed 10 times in a 1/4 mile, she comes in the back door and pees on my floor. Last night I found a turd in the dining room which had the doors closed so I don't know how she pooped there. So I penned her into the kitchen area with half sheet of plywood across the doorway and the kitchen has a tile floor so it should be easier to clean the pee and she barks and cries and yelps and scratches at the plywood. She wants to be with me or my wife and sit in our laps all day just like she does at home. The dog is very overweight because besides getting dog food she gets cereal and milk for breakfast and a crackers and cheese for lunch and usually whatever my M in L is eating for dinner like a pork loin and potatoes. It will cost us $23 per day to kennel her but our sanity and carpets are worth it. Oh and my dog hates her dog, too.

5. She called this afternoon and told my wife that they tried to take away her dirty linen bag from her room for laundering but she insisted they leave it because she wants us to come get it and bring it home and do the laundry as she might not like the detergent they use. She claims to have some kind of skin sensitivity to laundry detergents other then the one she buys. My wife had to convince her that it was ok for the hospital to do the washing and she wasn't going to do it!