Finally. Hospital.

Help has arrived. Finally.

Dear Son finally got real and agreed that a hospital should look at his 86 year old mother who is groaning in pain in diapers on the soiled living room carpet.....finally.


I'm relieved.

True: yesterday she did manage to sit up for a short time and drink tea. And she lay down again on the other side. And she ate some rice and milk. All good.....so we don't think it's a huge emergency.

But.


She stayed in the same position on the carpet after that. As we tried to change the diapers again this morning she was crying out in pain and slapping us away....

And Dear Son looked at me. And I sighed. And he agreed.
What IS it with him and this hospital aversion? Why oh why? He pressures me to take the cats to the vets if they have the slightest problem - why won't he respond naturally for his own mother?

As the ambulance staff were taking notes and checking Okaasan - one of them asked me about the situation.

"Saturday? She fell on Saturday? Why did you call us today???"

Why indeed. I felt guilty. While I don't wish bad things on Okaasan, I hope a doctor or somebody says to Dear Son: you should have brought her here earlier. Why didn't you?

Okaasan was ok with the ambulance guys. Didn't remember the fall and the past 4 days of course. But grudgingly agreed that maybe an X-ray was a good idea etc. She let them take her. They talked kindly and professionally.

So. They've gone. I have a big day of work ahead. 7 classes and stuff. 


And a really soiled carpet to take to the dry cleaners. Finally.

Truth will...out...maybe...

Okaasan has been tired recently.
We first noticed it at our family walk round a city park, when the lady who often spends several hours walking round shops downtown seemed tired after a short stroll.
Then last week there was the strange story about going to an ears, nose, throat hospital again and the aybe connected tooth ache...which seemed to get better again. I am due to go to the dentist soon and I think I'll take Okaasan with me for a check this week or next.

And this Sunday evening, she told us an old leg injury/pain had come back again and she felt tired in the legs.
"Did you fall down?"
"No! I didn't fall, it's an old problem....I won't eat any dinner, it'll get better".

And so we left her.
She was getting up off the carpet and going to the bathroom ok, getting herself a cup of water etc. Didn't seem a big deal.
Monday she took herself out to the local MacDonald's for a coffee and a magazine read. Called to be picked up in the car....legs feel tired....

This morning was hula day at day care. We didn't think she'd go.
At 7 am - "yes, I'm going...what time is the car coming?"
At 8.30 am - "I'm not going. My leg is tired. I slipped and hurt my leg...."

"?????????? you slipped? When? But you said you didn't fall!"
"I didn't fall. I slipped.The ground was rough in the street, I slipped..."
"Slipped. Fall. Same thing really. You were on the ground, not standing up.!!"

She peeled back her pajamas and I could see a bit of a bruise on her hip....not a big injury, but maybe now beginning to feel sore.

Cancel day care again.

It really IS a lesson for us in how me must keep asking the checking questions with Okaasan. She may not remember clearly just after something has happened, and her talking about it may connect to something way back in her memory - not to something that happened this week.
We guess she slipped and FELL on Sunday between 3 and 6 pm on that trip out.
Probably on Sunday night she didn't have much pain and just had a vague memory of something to do with her legs - and told us "old leg problem".
On Monday she felt ok enough to go walking.
Monday night the bruise was coming thru and it felt sore.

Finally Tuesday we get to hear what happened 2 days ago - not that she hid the fact from us, but didn't clearly remember herself.
"Slipped" isn't "fall" in her mind. Slip is something accidental and slight.
My dear Dad used to do similar things with all the accidents he had in his car in later years - the way he told it: the car park barriers of Britain were rising up and conspiring to hit him at every opportunity. It was never HIS driving fault.

So. Okaasan. Feeling a bit rough this week.
We have to keep asking her, asking her and asking her again - to try and get the truth out.

** ...oh...and yes? Last week spare ribs at the newly opened Tony Roma's in Sapporo....oh yeeeees!

......and....coming next year to this blog....maybe....how Dear Son and Oyomesan escape this life to run away to Brazil to see the FIFA World Cup.
He is the biggest Brazilian soccer fan in Japan. Probably in Asia. I got all fired up at the Olympics in London last year. We are starting to talk in real terms about how and if we could go to Brazil next summer to see it all - once in a life time thing etc.

But.
Okaasan.
Cats.

A LOT to think about and plan around.

Okaasan injured???!

I was going to write a chirpy blog about how Okaasan is so good at talking to strangers and getting them to help her.
Today, by chance, I was on the same subway train as she went downtown to buy that concert ticket.
She was sitting talking with a middle aged woman, on the platform, on the train...and then at Odori station the woman was holding Okaasan's hand and showing her the way to the north exit!
Yes, I was kind of spying...but actually she left the house before me and I noticed her on the platform and decided to let her enjoy meeting the other woman etc, who I guessed was showing her the way to the newspaper office ticket window for events.

So. I was going to write that.

But.
Yujiro got home at 6 pm, Okaasan was on the doorstep without a housekey and said she'd fallen down and twisted her wrist a bit.

I came home at 6.30 pm and cooked dinner. When we called her into the kitchen to eat we were shocked at what the bright kitchen light revealed.

She has a terrible bruising/grazing and swelling to her mouth, jaw and left eye and temple. Looks like the boxer who lost. She can't remember of course. She thinks she "fell forward" somewhere. But doesn't know where. It seems to be only her face. But we don't know.
Ironically in downtown Sapporo now the ice has gone. Today was a wonderful, warm spring day.
And she doesn't know if she bought the concert ticket or not.

She was very low at dinner and her mouth hurt. But she drank soup and ate rice and Korean pancakes. Drank Japanese tea. Went back to the kotatsu.

What on EARTH happened?
When  saw her just before 11 am she was having fun walking hand in hand with some woman in the station. And 6 hours later she has nasty face injuries.

We'll see how she feels tomorrow. But of course, she'll refuse to go to a doctor anyway and will take the No Eating and Let Me Sleep course of action.

I heard a bit of a horror story from a  student a few days ago - her 90 year old father-in-law fell in February, but seemed ok. 3 weeks later he got up one day and couldn't walk! Finally diagnosed as blood seeping inside his brain...it was drained off and he was ok.
But falls and hits to the head at any age are bad. And Okaasan has really take a bashing.

I complain big time about Okaasan I know. But I worry about her too.

I'm still standing...but not eating.

Okaasan is making progress, getting to her feet from the carpet better. Standing and moving around the apartment. We're not sure if she can get into the bath yet because the bathside is about hip height.

She is generally brighter and more her old self.

I suggested to Yujiro that we take dinner IN to her apartment yesterday. I thought maybe some family time with conversation and food would be a lift for her, as opposed to our constant short little checking visits.

So at 6 pm we put all the nabe/table-top stew materials in a pot and bag and took them to her place. She found the table under the mountain of papers and we set up dinner in front of the TV.

"Ahh, but I don't really want to eat...I had a food delivery at lunchtime...I'm not so hungry!"

Oh well...it can't be helped! Our mistake really, he hadn't clearly checked with her that she wanted to actually eat dinner. So, we sat and ate. She sat next to us and chatted a bit and we all companionably stared at the Tv for a while.

Then we took all the dirty bowls, chopsticks, pots and food pacakging back to OUR apartment.
She didn't eat. But maybe it was a good thing to do, a little energising event. She's been inside her apartment now for 4 days.

Luckily now there is snow falling in Sapporo...finally. So the ice sheets are getting covered up and hopefully she'll be able to go out later this week. Her knee still looks swollen to me. But she and he don't seem to think that's a problem. And we know Okaasan's feelings about doctors!

So today. My day off.

This morning the accountant is coming to look at my books and tell me if I actually made a small profit on my English school this year.
And then we are off to see THREE houses that Yujiro found.
We have to give an answer on "our" house today. I kind of just want to decide THAT house and stop the search. There will always be "better" places, but I'd like to move to the next stage of planning and enjoying the place we already found.

Sitting in the bath last night, with my knees on the same level as my ears, I thought about the BIG, new bath in "our" house...ahhhh....nice! And it would be SO nice for Okaasan.

I like our home here - I like the little pocket garden with its cherry tree and gardening neighbors, I like the view of the Japanese-style house across the street, I like the location...but...but..I will find more things to like in another house I am sure.

"Our" house - chance again?

Just like a teenage love drama - the Minami Hiragishi house comes back into our lives again.
And we are all of a dither.

Sunday's estate agent called back yesterday to say: "The yellow house owner says 'No' to a cat, and in fact this owner has already said 'No' to about 30 people...they seem to want only doctors and lawyers in these houses!"

Then he and Yujiro talked some more. This company too has "our" house on its books. He asked us what kind of price we WOULD pay for it. We told him...he called the owner...for 15 minutes Yujiro and I pretended we were interested in washing tea cups and checking weather reports on TV...and then the agent called back...

The Minami Hiragishi house could be ours! For a new, lower price! And an April 1st move. And the cat is ok. AND we could have the key in March if we want to measure things and move some stuff in!

Eeeeekk! Good news at last? We hope!

We asked to have until Wednesday to decide. But....
Yujiro is doing a final search on the Internet for houses and there is one maybe nearer my school that is a possible, we may go see today...but... the Minami-Hiragshi house has been "our" house in conversation since we first saw it.

Fingers crossed please!

Okaasan of course doesn't know about all of this.
Her leg is still painful. But she can slowly get up and down from the carpet. She gets to the toilet and bathroom and she gets to the front door to pay the food delivery man. Last night she even talked about going to hula dancing on Wednesday, although I think that would be in car.

Yujiro's leg is also getting a bit better. The doctor said he should start gentle bending practice at home.

The cat's legs are as wobbly as ever. He looked over his shoulder at the dried food bag yesterday - lost his balance and fell over.

My legs are great. One of my charm points really. I got them from my mother!

Okaasan returns...we hope!

This morning she is looking MUCH better! Much more her usual strong voice, smiling self.

Such a relief. The curled up on the carpet, moaning and crying Okaasan was awful.

We woke up and went straight in to see her. She'd moved from last night's sleeping place and was under the bedding instead, she'd obviously got up and walked to the bathroom and changed her pajamas. And got back again safely.
She was sitting up in the bedding watching TV.
And she wants breakfast!

Thank goodness.

A looong day.

Oh it's been a long day.

Constant toing and froing between the two houses. We are all tired.

We moved the clothes rail so she wouldn't use it to support her body weight, we tried to get her to stand by pushing up on the chair.

Okaasan slept a bit. Moaned a lot in pain. Didn't eat.
Late afternoon he sent me out to buy diapers. Three trips to the local drugstore later I finally bought the things he wanted..and then Okaasan refused to put them on. This was just after she'd failed to get to the toilet room again and had to use newspapers and tissues in the middle of the living room...

He got angry with her. She moaned and cried. He ended up throwing the diapers at her and shouting. Meanwhile I was on my knees in the bathroom unplugging the blocked drain.

We are so quickly reduced to tragic farce.

Anyway we all apologised. He started talking to her about dinner. She managed finally to sit upright and look at a delivery menu. They ordered a bowl of udon noodles for her.
She managed to walk to the bathroom. Standing up is very very hard for her.

Finally he came home here and we ate cheese fondue and drank a bottle of wine. Had an exhausted dinner together and talked quietly about outside help and future. Tomorrow I am going to see (maybe him too if he can get away for an hour) another house...I saw it from outside today. It's in Sumikawa. Nice neighborhood. Huge garden. Smallish rooms. Maybe old bathroom.

We just went in to check on Okaasan. She was curled up again on the carpet by the heater asleep. So we tiptoed out again.

He might sleep in her room tonight in case she tries to get to the bathroom tonight.

A long, long day.