Pausing for Life

Here it is the middle of November and I haven't written in over two months. So much is going on. It is totally my personality to fold inward and cut off all ties. Too much is going on. Where do I begin?...

Steven's dad went into the hospital after having congestive heart failure. They discovered some weird blood vessel or artery that was bypassing the normal pathway of blood/oxygen to his lower extremities. So, we all told him he should have surgery to correct it. The doctors recommended surgery to prevent paralysis. So, Dad had the surgery. And, despite what the doctors said, he became paralyzed.

Three weeks later, his wife, Nita, died.

Since Nita died, we have been going to Everett to visit Dad every weekend. He has been in the hospital and a nursing facility for the last two months. A visit to the mainland requires at least five hours because of the ferries. It's been overwhelming - more so for him.

Now, he's over here. My sister-in-law got him in a great assisted living facility. He was there for all of four days and it was obvious that they couldn't care for him. He's diabetic. He has some pretty serious wounds. He's paralyzed from the waist down. They aren't equipped to transfer him from the wheel chair to the bed as often as he needs to be transferred. So, today he was transferred to a nursing facility about 30 minutes north of us. I don't know what we'd all do if Steve's sister, Marsha, was working and couldn't deal with all of the details. It's so overwhelming! She's doing a great job, despite being totally overwhelmed by everything that needs to be done.

So, I haven't listed a single item on Etsy since this all started. I've been dealing with a dislocated tailbone since well before this started, but now it's much worse with all of the sitting in the hospital, in the car on the way to the hospital and on the way home, etc. Besides, it's just been too darn hard to focus, to find creative inspiration.

Well, now that I've totally spiralled into a downer, I'll let you go. Ta ta for now. Next time will be more uplifting - I promise!