Petra - Day 2

Well, my euphoria was short-lived as Mom pulled a slick move this morning. We arrived at the door just as Petra drove up so we entered the house together. I walked to the living room and told Mom I was here with Petra. She jumped up with a wad of $20. bills in her hands and said "I made a mistake. I needed to tell the lady not to come today. Here's the money for the work she did yesterday (she had at least $100. in her hand). I don't need her today, and besides, I'm throwing up and I'm sick so I don't want her here". She showed me her pan in which did indeed have the breakfast (cereal) which she had just eaten and had thrown up! I felt she had planned this whole scenario and this was going to be her excuse for not having Petra come in. I told her that her being sick was exactly the reason she needed Petra there, that I could no longer stay with her as I was starting back to school and that she could not stay alone. I had to repeat all of these reasons several times before she finally gave up. She then sat down, put her head in her hands and looked extremely distraught - her plan had completely failed! I do believe she makes herself sick as she was OK the rest of the morning (according to Petra) and, in fact, even ate some lunch. She did not respond to Petra's attempt to give her medication at first, but finally did in the course of the morning.

It looks like she will make it as hard on all of us as she possibly can as she is vehemently against having someone stay with her (unless that person is a family member, of course). And I fully expect her to continue this behavior for some time...the sad thing is if she doesn't cooperate, the next step will be placing her in a facility as she does not take care of herself nor does she take care of the house.

I asked Ralph today why he thought we had to go through all of this - is it because there a lesson or two to be learned? Well, obviously there is - as none of us want to end up our years in Mom's condition or frame or mind. While she does have a disease, much of it seems to be her refusal to face life - and does all she can to escape from reality (such as making herself sick). Of course, a big part of this is the fact that she hasn't been changing her patches, and the medication seems to have worn off. As Debbie says in her post, it will take a month or so for it to kick in again.

We do need patience, prayers and perseverance!