Talk is cheap...except when it is about sending Mom home

Mom woke up this morning with nausea like she has been doing for the last few days. For some reason she hasn't felt real well today, along with a few other patients on the floor. On the positive side, one of her physical therapists said that she thought Mom would be going home soon so she started talking to Mom about what Mom might want at home (i.e. a chair in the bathtub etc.). They say it will be a few days but it seems that they are making progress with Mom. The dilemma of how to take care of Mom's wound care seems to be the main issue keeping Mom in the hospital. I don't think there is any rush since Mom isn't feeling real well today and since her eating isn't too strong, yet. Still, things seem to be coming along and I'm looking forward to the day when Mom will be ready to go home. She is looking forward to that day, too. It's always encouraging when people start talking about sending the patient home. The PT put Mom on independent today, which means she's able to get up and go to the bathroom as well as walk on her own.

I've been thinking today about how many different nationalities have been represented through the nursing staff at this hospital. Of course, there have been American citizens of various skin colors as well as people from other countries. So far, Mom has also been served by one nurse from Nigeria, one from Mexico and one from the Philippines. I envied her when she talked about eating white rice for lunch. There is also the hospitalist from Ethiopia.

I worked at the family business this afternoon. Dad wanted me to clean the counter but all I ended up doing was spreading everything on the counter and wiping the dust off. At least I was able to clean all the dust off the fan in the office. Then when Bruce came to ask me for help I was very short with him for some reason. He wanted me to help him move a van that has a mechanical problem and I didn't think about how hard I pulled on the chain when I drove the van and I wasn't sure what he wanted me to do. I acted like I knew what to do and then I got mad at him for not being more specific. Then I wondered why I got mad at him and apologized an hour later.

I've been disconcerted since yesterday when I chatted with Sinae for a few minutes and neither of us were very good at communicating. What I was telling her didn't line up with what I e-mailed her a few days ago and so she thought I was lying to her. Well, she agreed when I said she thought I was lying. But I am still wondering if "lie" means something different to her than the classic definition of intentionally misleading someone. I haven't heard from Sinae so I'm waiting for her to respond to my e-mail. It may that nothing is wrong from her end. It's very difficult to have this kind of issue as far apart as we are from each other. But perhaps there are some things lying underneath the issue that we need to talk about.

I think I better get some phone numbers for my friend Gil-Jun who wants to study at a university in America soon. Let me know if I haven't responded to your e-mail. Thanks for reading this blog, regardless of whether or not you leave a comment.