We had
the long awaited healthcare crisis a few days ago, when my mother was taken to
the hospital for dehydration and diarrhea. I was actually relieved, since I
thought she would finally trigger an all-out community alert for quick transfer
to the nearest skilled nursing facility. No such luck; they pumped her up with fluid
and sent her home. She complained endlessly about everyone’s stupidity, then
called me in a panic as she noticed her urine was blue. I alerted her nurse
case manager. I Googled side effects of antibiotics. I wondered if my father
was poisoning her. Well, guess what. They now have a weekly house cleaner – who
scrubbed the toilet with blue liquid cleanser. And then didn’t flush it.
Medical
mystery solved, leading to the next problem – Mom lost a molar crown when she
finally started eating again after a week of milkshakes. She carefully put the
remnants in a cup on the kitchen table, and then it disappeared under the mounds
of crumbling coupons, never to be seen again. It’s unlikely that the dentist
would have wanted to re-glue the pieces, but that doesn’t matter. Why waste a
perfectly good piece of porcelain? Now Mom and Dad match – he lost a crown 6
months ago and refuses to get it fixed – why bother spending money on dental
care when he doesn’t like to smile.
I’m
dealing with my own dental issues, and I just checked my urine, and this is
making me even more paranoid about aging.
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