On this first Monday of the new decade I was able to get a few important things done. Getting some organizing for the new year was top priority.

Updating Calendars – I added appointment, my work obligations and vacations to my calendars including my online calendar.

Financial Paperwork – Since I always wait until the last minute to get our taxes done, I started to file paperwork that I’ll be needing for that nasty deed.

Medical Forms – Our prescriptions are kept on file on my desktop. All I need to do is update them when one of us starts or stops a new prescription. Instead I’ve been crossing off things in pen. I got those taken care of for me and for Samantha.

Vacation Planning – I needed to have some fun so I looked through my daughter’s school calendar to see when we could take some short weekends to either go to Disney or do some other things close to home. Our April Disney vacation is planned so I began looking at what we can do for that week.

All in all this was a worthwhile first Monday of the new decade.

I went for a quick dental cleaning today, but it turned into a 2 hour appointment. I ended up needing an old filling replaced. I could feel it as soon as the dentist touched it. It felt like is was cracking and that’s what it was. With openings like that, I run the chance of more decay, so I decided to get it taken care of while I was there.

I was told the actual work would only take 10 minutes. The preparation took a lot longer though. And the taste! It was as if I had everything from nail polish remover to spoiled milk in my mouth. I didn’t feel anything thanks to the shot but as it wore off it hurt. As a matter of fact my mouth is still sore.

When it comes to taking care of my teeth, since I have Sjogren’s Syndrome, which causes dry mouth, I’m extra careful. I’ll be back for a cleaning in three months. I hope that’s all I’ll need.

I’m losing count of how many times we’ve been to the hospital for someone in my immediate family these past few months. Today there was another hospitalization and it wasn’t my mother. It was my husband, Shawn. All he did was go to our Primary Doctor for his follow up appointment this morning so he could go back to work on Monday.

Instead of getting clearance, he ended up being admitted to the hospital for a high heart rate. His appointment was at 8:15 AM and by 10:00 AM he was in a room, hooked up to a heart monitor. When I got the call, I thought I was dreaming.

I stayed with him most of the day and the doctors came in around 5 PM. They think that he’s dehydrated again which caused his heart rate to change because in a few hours after he got his IV the rate returned to normal. He really isn’t having a problem with the C Diff so they’re not sure why he’s dehydrated. (The C Diff test came back negative Wednesday.)

More blood tests, an abdominal scan and who knows what else tomorrow. Oh and his liver count is high too. There should be another hospitalization next Tuesday for my mother’s surgery. What a mess!

My mother’s surgery was canceled – by her! Her doctor usually does procedures and surgeries in a hospital that is a short distance from our home. For her out patient surgery it was fine, but since she was going to be hospitalized overnight for this surgery he said he would do her operation at the hospital closer to home.

We were told to come in to the out patient surgery center at noon. Of course she couldn’t eat from midnight last night. We arrived and it took a while to get her ready, especially get her IV in. She was finally settled in when a nurse came in and said that the doctor was running late but that they’d keep us informed.

My Mom was very anxious so she was prescribed some medication to calm her down. Once she was given that, she was fine. About 3 hours later, she was getting upset and wanted to know where the doctor was. I went to ask the nurse and also ask if she could get more of that medication. Instead the nurse came in and said that the doctor was still in surgery and wouldn’t arrive until about 6 PM. My Mom said she wanted to leave because she couldn’t handle waiting that long. I asked again about the medicine, but the nurse told my mother that she had every right to be upset and that waiting this long was difficult.

No matter that it took this long to get her scheduled for this surgery because of being sick and hospitalized. No matter that my mother wants to put off this surgery and her anxiety is getting worse every day. No matter that my husband was home today and tomorrow so I didn’t have to worry about someone to take care of my daughter. No matter that the doctor wants her to have this surgery ASAP.

I lost it today. I cried my eyes out from the stress of this. I don’t want to be selfish, but I’m torn between taking care of my mother, my husband and daughter and myself. I’ve canceled doctors’ appointments for myself for the past two months. I just needed to vent a bit.