It wasn't looking horribly stressful but I was doing allocations and there were lots of problems. I also had training scheduled both Monday and Tuesday afternoons, which cut into my productivity. I did manage a nice lunch with Darla on Tuesday but by Wednesday morning I was stressed.
Pie didn't come in Monday night and Tuesday morning I saw that her mouth was stuck open again. She didn't come in Tuesday night so between that and worrying about my sister and the trip, I didn't sleep well at all. I did manage to get Pie's mouth shut Wednesday before work - big relief! Once I got to work, I was slamming to get allocations done so they weren't left for Nora when I was gone. I was waiting for an update from my brother-in-law but wasn't getting a call so had nagging worry on that front. At one point Nora came over and was going on and on about something or other and I had to tell her that if I didn't get some time to concentrate and get allocations done I might cry. She left me alone to get them done, which I did, and then I called my nephew and heard that Dottie was OK. With all that resolved, my stress melted away but that left me exhausted. Nora had said I could leave early so I worked through lunch to get a few last things done and left at 3:00.
Having that extra time was lovely. My plan was to be on the road by 6:30 on Thursday so I would be through Chicago before rush hour, which meant I needed to get to bed early. I packed over the course of the evening and got the car loaded before heading to bed. I even got Pie to come inside, which she rarely does, so I was all set for my early departure.
It was pitch black and raining Thursday morning so I ate a quick breakfast, filled my thermos and loaded the last stuff into the car. I was ready to go but thought I'd left my jacket in the house. Well, when I opened the door to get it, Pie shot outside. Damn! There'd be no catching her so I put some food on the deck, put a jar of extra food in the grill and headed out. Lorri was taking care of the inside cats but that wouldn't require daily trips so I'd call my neighbor when I got to Indiana to have her feed Pie everyday. Sheesh!
The drive was uneventful. I drove out of the rain (it was behind me all the way, I'm sure) and other than stopping for gas and potty breaks at rest stops, I drove straight through. I listened to NPR through most of Iowa then put in the book on tape I'd bought for the ride - Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. It's not his best book but still kept me engaged for hours. I got to Dottie's at 3:30.
Dottie was sitting in a chair in her nightie with a machine hooked up to her legs that was supposed to prevent blood clots. There was also an ice thing involved. She did not look happy. We ordered Chinese and she ate in her chair. They all go to bed early (Mike works in eastern time so has to be on the road super early since he has an hour drive and loses an hour) so we headed upstairs not long after dinner. I'd wisely brought my laptop so sat on my bed streaming and knitting until my bedtime. I was looking forward to a good night's sleep. Ha!
I had been asleep for about 2 hours when I heard my sister calling for help. I went into her bedroom to find her on her butt on the floor. Her husband was nowhere to be found. She couldn't get up so had to scooch on her butt ~20 feet to the stairs to stand up. That was hard to watch. Hard that time and hard 2 hours later when she slid out of bed again. This time she was still half on the bed when I got in there but I couldn't pull her up and she wasn't putting her feet under her at all. It happened a 3rd time but Mike was up by then so he took charge. Clearly something had to change if I was going to get any sleep.
We had a talk in the morning. Now I had a 4 hour orientation before my surgery but she clearly had gotten no information before hers. I gave her the details of what they'd done and why it wouldn't be a problem to put weight on her new knee and why she was swollen and bruised. I think that helped a lot, as did taking a shower and getting dressed. She was still cranky as all get out about the machine on her legs but I couldn't help with that. We had a pleasant day sitting in the sun and watching TV then she sat at the table for dinner. Progress. She had decided not to wear the machine to bed so there were no incidents in the night. I slept great.
Dottie's first PT was Friday afternoon, which was also her first time leaving home since her surgery. Her PT was 20 minutes away in Michigan City so I dropped her off and hit the Aldi next door then explored Michigan City a bit. It being her first session, it was only an hour and she was exhausted (rightly so) so we went straight home. I made dinner and it was another early bedtime for everyone while I streamed and knitted in bed.
Otherwise, the weekend didn't feel much different from mine at home except I was doing her chores instead of mine. With 3 people, there was 3 times the laundry (6 loads!) and lots and lots of cooking. She had planned to cook some food ahead but said she'd overestimated her ability to function when she couldn't take drugs the week before her surgery so hadn't done much prep. One of Mike's clients had given him a HUGE cabbage so I made it my mission to use it up. I made cabbage casserole and 2 batches of cranberry cole slaw plus corn chowder, tortilla casserole and pork chops, that last being their style rather than mine.
Anyway, I was super busy getting everything done but still had time to knit so it was all good. Seeing the improvement in Dottie's mood and ability to move was the icing on the cake. Plus I only had 2 more days of sister duty before I'd drive home on Wednesday for another short work week. I was looking forward to being home.
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