tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.comments2024-03-12T09:31:59.061+09:00Okaasan and MeOyome-san1http://www.blogger.com/profile/17613603965553003711noreply@blogger.comBlogger2516125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-82283983430076441642024-03-12T02:58:44.535+09:002024-03-12T02:58:44.535+09:00Glad you got a visit with MIL. I'm sure it'...Glad you got a visit with MIL. I'm sure it's sad for you both. <br />The camper van sounds like lots of fun. I've never been much at camping, but with a van it<br />would be so much better. Always happy to see your blog.<br />Wishing you an lovely spring.Kentucky Ladyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13445246012063461895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-31789012423877845142024-02-13T06:58:14.985+09:002024-02-13T06:58:14.985+09:00Thankyou! She was, lots of chat about flowers....t...Thankyou! She was, lots of chat about flowers....the best kind of chat! MIL is ok...we guess, we get to see her for 15 mins next week...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-24252314473413114462024-02-13T03:26:08.335+09:002024-02-13T03:26:08.335+09:00Sorry to hear about your neighbor. She sounds like...Sorry to hear about your neighbor. She sounds like a lovely lady. Hope MIL is doing as well as can<br />be expected. Miss your blog. Take care.Kentucky Ladyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13445246012063461895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-13887997091411098352024-02-05T05:43:16.699+09:002024-02-05T05:43:16.699+09:00Still checking in from west coast of Canada. All ...Still checking in from west coast of Canada. All we can do is keep going forward (almost 65😊)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-33238302923175342232024-01-30T19:05:06.045+09:002024-01-30T19:05:06.045+09:00Time flies! Things have changed a lot. Let's e...Time flies! Things have changed a lot. Let's enjoy this moment!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-16026601377117181512023-11-22T12:08:44.160+09:002023-11-22T12:08:44.160+09:00Well put Amanda.Well put Amanda.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-4072490086830548292023-11-17T12:14:26.520+09:002023-11-17T12:14:26.520+09:00Hi there! Still here!! We are actually going to vi...Hi there! Still here!! We are actually going to visit Okaasan next week, the still...once a month short visits....life here is busy...I should write something about that. Anyway next week. Snow? Yes we had a little, but here in the city it melted. Now is just cold and wet. Ski resorts are delaying opening for another week or two.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-733520671562504072023-11-13T03:52:23.882+09:002023-11-13T03:52:23.882+09:00Hope you get to visit with MIL soon. It most be dr...Hope you get to visit with MIL soon. It most be dreadful not to visit when you want. Hope things are going<br />well. Miss your blog. Not sure where o4.you live, but did you get snow???Kentucky Ladyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13445246012063461895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-28240548805779725912023-10-21T07:58:46.923+09:002023-10-21T07:58:46.923+09:00well, that's very kind of you :-) Not much of ...well, that's very kind of you :-) Not much of a blog these days...since we never get to meet Okaasan. And even when we do, she may be asleep....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-38773546124792978462023-10-21T05:55:37.247+09:002023-10-21T05:55:37.247+09:00Found your blog again! Always wanted to tell you ...Found your blog again! Always wanted to tell you are such an inspiration & hopefully, you'l continue to share.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-73231844325110931642023-09-05T16:01:35.458+09:002023-09-05T16:01:35.458+09:00Hi Laura, thankyou for reading and commenting.
Yes...Hi Laura, thankyou for reading and commenting.<br />Yes - we are well - the terrible summer heat has broken and now we can start to think again and lead ordinary lives. <br />We have made a plan to visit Okaasan again later this month...so until we do there isn't much to report here. Just our lives trundling on...but I WILL blog again when we have something about her to share :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-74639084355984463732023-09-04T04:49:33.673+09:002023-09-04T04:49:33.673+09:00I miss your blog, hope all is well,
LauraI miss your blog, hope all is well,<br />LauraKentucky Ladyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13445246012063461895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-74274754842299267132023-08-22T09:21:12.192+09:002023-08-22T09:21:12.192+09:00Oh, that's tough!! T have to leave her in anot...Oh, that's tough!! T have to leave her in another country and come back to your life far away. Yes. I hope our visit gives her a little happiness for that moment. I think she does know us. Yesterday Dear Son was doing the funny head rocking gesture, and I think her eyes were following that movement with recognition. But the groaning in place of words is tough to hear...doctors are just doing their job...prolonging the life. I wish there was a better way. But most society isn't ready for that yet.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-31805841027606549502023-08-22T09:17:58.506+09:002023-08-22T09:17:58.506+09:00I think if there hadn't been the Pandemic - th...I think if there hadn't been the Pandemic - the decline would have been slower. Before Covid, when we did go once or twice a week she would talk a sentence or two and enjoy the karaoke events in the care home, clapping along. But then the eating stop...and then general decline...and then Covid and hospital moves....so of course the interaction with another human has declined a lot.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-71371461390134933262023-08-21T23:40:12.274+09:002023-08-21T23:40:12.274+09:00If she knew her son and you even for a second of y...If she knew her son and you even for a second of your visit, I am sure she was comforted for that brief moment in time. If she did not, perhaps it was okay. Either way at this point it is also about how that visit makes you and your partner feel. I just came back from a visit overseas with my mother who lives alone, is 88 and in poor health. She is ready for end of life but the doctors keep fixing her up and getting her to go just that bit further. Through my visit she kept telling me now, it was about how the people who survive her will feel; that it was our mental health is important. She says she had a mostly happy and active life and now she has no more wishes left and so is okay if the end is near. Philosophically I believe she is right but after I came back home to my active life and family, emotionally I was a mess. I need to start letting go as much as my mother has. But the damn doctors just keep going on and on,Kiranghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08605133975746277458noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-78488132917496273122023-08-20T03:12:22.323+09:002023-08-20T03:12:22.323+09:00I'm so sorry to hear of MIL's health decli...I'm so sorry to hear of MIL's health decline. I know it must be very difficult for you and her son. I wonder if<br />it would have helped if you could have visited regularly and often? Know I'm thinking of you.<br />LauraKentucky Ladyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13445246012063461895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-706781250984292942023-08-17T07:27:05.956+09:002023-08-17T07:27:05.956+09:00yes! It's the only way of getting ahead...yes! It's the only way of getting ahead...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-12046746905789321642023-08-17T05:45:27.733+09:002023-08-17T05:45:27.733+09:002024? have you jumped ahead a year in Sapporo? 2024? have you jumped ahead a year in Sapporo? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-25906110745366349272023-08-06T07:44:16.987+09:002023-08-06T07:44:16.987+09:00Hi there Jen, Oh interesting! I will check out the...Hi there Jen, Oh interesting! I will check out the New Zealand situation. Here in Japan there IS an Death with Dignity group - which helps members write an End of Life choice document about use of drugs and medical technology. But the basic line in Japan is that doctors must NOT do anything which hastens the end of life. In fact I think one of the famous cases about this was in Sapporo (my home city here) a few years ago. When even animal doctors refuse/caution against end of life choice...you can understand that considering the question for human life is way WAY in the future!<br />Yes, the doc told us last year that Okaasan's body is all pretty healthy...so I think, sadly, she could remain trapped in it for some years to come...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-63869844078814119112023-08-05T19:56:55.807+09:002023-08-05T19:56:55.807+09:00Hi Amanda. I am so sorry this visit was so worryin...Hi Amanda. I am so sorry this visit was so worrying. You are absolutely right that easing suffering should be so much easier. My mother in law died last year after six years of "belligerent dementia" which was just as fun as it sounds. But she did not physically fail badly until just before the end. Okaasan has had little quality of life for so long; it is unbelievable she has survived six years in care AND a pandemic.<br /><br />You may wish to add New Zealand's "End of Life Choice Act" to your reading list- it doesnt mean it's easy (in fact the most recent news referring to it is about 90+ year olds who are not considered terminal and therefore dont qualify) but I am still glad we have it. It went to a referendum in 2020 and 65% of voters voted yes.<br /><br />Sending you thoughts that no doubt match your own...Jen in NZhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00059999883952407303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-37963231385376419142023-08-04T03:53:01.141+09:002023-08-04T03:53:01.141+09:00Hope you have had another in person visit. Hope you have had another in person visit. Kentucky Ladyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13445246012063461895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-21693350161008933902023-07-28T03:52:23.683+09:002023-07-28T03:52:23.683+09:00Hope you get to visit again soon,
LauraHope you get to visit again soon,<br />LauraKentucky Ladyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13445246012063461895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-45922054251379154472023-06-30T06:17:58.741+09:002023-06-30T06:17:58.741+09:00Yes, it felt strange to finally be sitting there w...Yes, it felt strange to finally be sitting there with her! To think she has lived in that space, with those people for over a year - and we have never been there. They said she doesn't have the muscle power now to sit up in a wheelchair :-(, so my thoughts about being able to take her outside of the hospital doors sometime this summer....don't seem possible at all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-26205544798044641022023-06-30T03:54:47.301+09:002023-06-30T03:54:47.301+09:00So glad you were "permitted" to visit MI...So glad you were "permitted" to visit MIL. Still don't understand such unbending rules. Wish you could have left the beautiful rose, Glad you got to have "eyes on", Wishing the next month goes quickly.Kentucky Ladyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13445246012063461895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998844447617430892.post-8054171537624389762023-06-14T03:44:31.075+09:002023-06-14T03:44:31.075+09:00Congratulations on getting a real visit! Glad to s...Congratulations on getting a real visit! Glad to see Japan is finally opening. Enjoy your summer activites!<br />Laura Kentucky Ladyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13445246012063461895noreply@blogger.com