helen-louise's people and communities

So my last update was a doozy. I'll update on each thing I posted about last time:

Thing the first: rhoste 

We did it! We met the deadline! We got her apartment cleaned and cleared out by the 15th. I handed the keys over and we are finally DONE. There's still a lot to do, but we can do it at our own pace now. A lot of her stuff is at our house (namely piles of clothing and boxes of books), and we will eventually bring it to her. She can't keep all of it, but what we'll do is bring her a box at a time, go through it with her, and let her decide what she wants to keep and what she's okay with us selling/donating. We know if we just dump seven to ten boxes of books on her and tell her to sort through it, it will be too overwhelming and it'll never get done, so doing it a bit at a time makes sense to us.

We still have to sort through the rest of her stuff, sell her car for her (it's in our driveway right now), and do a pile of paperwork/emails on her behalf (getting the wheels turning on her official retirement, plus dealing with Ontario Health at Home, plus getting her taxes filed, etc.). But the deadline on all that stuff is either flexible or several months off, so we can relax a little.

The stress had gotten so bad for me that I was having heart palpitations. I made a doctor's appointment and got referred to the Toronto Cardiac centre that's only a few blocks from my house. I wore a heart monitor for three days (I couldn't shower with it. on, which SUCKED), but I wore it and then took it back to them and had my follow-up. The good news is that the palpitations are harmless, and he said if they're bothering me, they can do further tests/medications/interventions, but if not, then it's all good. And it's all good, so far as I'm concerned.

In fact, now that the Feb 15th deadline has been met and passed, I've noticed the heart palpitations have significantly decreased. I am pleased.

Thing the second: MIL

She is still with us, although in palliative care. Although it's not longer called "palliative care" and now "complex continuing care." And the hospital has changed names, too, since I last had a reason to visit (my father). It was Freeport Hospital; it's now WRHN Chicopee. Which just makes me think of a pile of palliative care patients whizzing down a mountain on skis. 

They're leaning towards an ALS diagnosis, though it's not confirmed yet. Another MRI is to be scheduled. I did go see her on Family Day while I was in town, and she looks much better than she did before. She can breathe on her own again and she doesn't have a feeding tube any longer, but she still hasn't gotten out of bed since January (she hasn't the strength). 

She's still estranged from her daughter. She refuses to apologize, and SIL refuses to forgive without an apology. They've both said some truly horrible things to each other, and I'm just letting them manage their own shit. 

Thing the third: injury

Perfectly healed. Nothing to report. Leg completely back to normal. 

Thing the fourth: new job

My last day at my old job was Friday the 20th; the first day of my new job is March 2nd. I'm currently in my week of fun-employment! No work! No stress! Nothing to do but relax. I've been sleeping in, walking the dog, and tidying my space. I think I'll get a haircut tomorrow, so I maybe won't look like the girl from The Ring in my security badge photo.