We spent last weekend in Fargo visiting Mom and Mike and stirring up trouble while in town.  Boredom is bad for a person, so I made sure to spice things up a bit.  And then I retreated to safety 200 miles away.   That story is here.  With an update here.

Paranoia is starting to kick in because when Beth goes to visit, Mom feels good and has an appetite.  Whenever she knows I’m coming to town, she starts feeling terrible the day or two before my ETA.  If I didn’t KNOW how much she hates being sick, I would think there’s more to this story.   Unfortunately, this just seems to be the nature of the beast.  There are some good days, but mostly, there are bad days. 

Feeling hungry, having stomach pains, and then getting nauseaus on top of everything makes for a bad combination.  Eating is a hit-or-miss proposition.  If Mom can manage to eat something, there’s not any guarantee it will stay down.  She detests throwing up so she’s pretty cautious about what she eats and how she’s feeling afterward.   It’s crazy to see her drop so much weight so quickly.  Her legs are like little bird legs and her arms are getting really thin too.   Her coloring looks good most of the time but it’s apparent she’s not her old feisty self. 

Watching Mike and the kids build stuff out of wood is how we spent most of the weekend.  Mark watered plants and did some weeding.  I mostly hung out and watched everybody play or work.  I’m good at that.  And it usually keeps me out of trouble. 

I’m worried about how everything is going to get take care of once Mike has his shoulder surgery.  He’ll be out of commission for at least 3 weeks and Mom doesn’t have the energy to cook or do housework.  My friend, Kathy, is willing to check in on them and pick up groceries and stuff.  I’m so thankful for her and her willingness to help us out.  

For now, it’s still day to day, taking what we get, feeling how we feel and dealing with whatever comes at us.  Hopefully Mom will have a lot more good days ahead.