Never Thought Crying Could Put Someone Behind Bars!!
Late one afternoon I discovered (had been told, I'm told, but I forgot supposedly) my daughter was heading away for a visit with her sister. She'd be gone a number of days.
I'd been asked to oversee the younger generation left at home, but I became upset realizing I was to arrive to my role, AFTER my daughter had already left. All was well at her home. One of her older sons was watching the flock until I was to take over the following day.
I texted my daughter (while she and her husband were enroute) in a sense of anxiety and emotion about their leaving without including me. It quickly became obvious to her that I wasn't under good emotional control and she couldn't reason with me. She volunteered to call me when they stopped for Gas, but I said not to. The texting stopped and I began to cry.
Without my awareness and after we'd stopped communicating, she called to tell her older son that I wasn't capable of caring for the stay-at-homes.
All my things were packed, the following morning. My unhappiness was still present but my crying was under management. Then the bottom fell out of my boat. My grandson didn't arrive for me. I called him.
He let me know things had changed and I wasn't needed after all.
To say my unhappiness slithered into full, blown tears would be an understatement. The crying began, and did not cease. I was crying when I called my other daughter to see if the first daughter had arrived safely. No one responded to my call. The crying continued.
I could add more drama, for drama lovers, but today is not the day... I'm certain when my daughters read this, they will see I've not reported events entirely or correctly... but that's okay. I've got Lewy Body Dementia and among my varied symptoms are... "paranoia, delusions, anxiety, etc."
This is how MY brain processed events... I kept crying, and crying...
Somewhere along the continuum of tears, I do recall my granddaughter telling me all was well and they'd arrived safely. Everyone was having fun.
You'd think that might have shut down my tears, but it did not. After 18 or so hours of crying, and trying to determine what I ought to do to shut off the tap, I remembered there was a Nurses Hot Line in our province and I made a call asking for any suggestions or recommendations.
The first nurse and I spoke for a while, then she said (because I was still crying), she'd have the Dementia Nurse call me.
I don't know how much later that call came, but I cried through that conversation as well, She told me I needed to go to an Emergency Centre and see a physician. I promised her I would do so in the morning when I could call for a Handibus (I reside in a very small town) which could take me to a close by larger centre. She asked me if she could trust me. I told her yes, and we parted ways, with my ongoing crying.
Laying on my bed sobbing, I heard a knock a short time later and two Lodge staff members and two R.C.M.P. officers walked into my room. To say I was stunned would be an understatement, but it didn't stop the crying.
One officer mentioned something about the 811 nurse being concerned about me. I tearfully repeated the promise I had made to the 811 nurse. The officers indicated they were going to take me to the ER. Amid my tears, I knew there was no point in making a fuss... besides, one of the two staffers looked annoyed and the other looked bewildered. For anyone who has seen the movie the Green Mile, I walked behind the officers, still crying, all the way down our green carpeted hallway and was escorted to a truck. One officer went to his car and disappeared. The other officer opened the door for me - Oh I should mention he offered me a front seat ride, but I couldn't stop crying so I opted for the privacy of the back seat, with no awareness of bars, lack of door handles, etc.
I continued to sob quietly all the way to the ER, while stacking up wet tissues, one upon another.
Having a history of ER visits with children, foster children, etc. I know the layout. There are beds with curtains all in a row, but there is always a room with a door. If you guessed, that is where I was seated crying, you'd be correct! Everyone else has a curtain pulled around them if desired,
Not Geri!!!
Geri was the CRYING PSYCHO FELON in full view of the nurses station and anyone happening to go past, toward one of the curtained beds. Even then I couldn't quit crying.
Then, adding to the worst event of my life MY LUCK would have it... I was cared for by a physician on call, WHOM I KNEW FROM MY PRE-RETIREMENT (working with 40 physicians) DAYS. He entered the room. I kept crying and began apologizing. I was sorry to be a bother, sorry I was crying, sorry to be creating work for him, sorry I couldn't stop crying, ... probably more but that's sufficient.
I'm famous for apologizing. Ask anyone who knows or who has worked with me over the years.
My tombstone, or URN will host a plaque...
"Geri is sorry she has inconvenienced everyone
by having died!"
I should admit my first meal with the residents was "show stopping" as well... Some residents had actually witnessed my being carted off by the R.C.M.P. They wondered what I had done to rate two vehicles service.
Don't worry, I was able to laugh it off.
Experienced Humiliation is a talent I've acquired over 70 years...
I've laughed off lots of events in my life, but this one deserves a blog spot.
Talk with you again soon.... I haven't determined what our conversational topic might be, but inspiration will hit eventually.
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