Wow. Life sure throws you a curve once in a while.
I did move, to Franklin, Kentucky, in May 2011. My mom and I arrived on May 9th. I am still living here.
We spent 3 weeks unpacking, and getting things going such as the DirecTV, the land line phone, the utilities and such, renting a post office box and so forth. Things looks really good.
My mom was receiving Orencia treatments for her severe rheumatoid arthritis. It is a drug cocktail they run through the bloodstream to help fight the disease. She was to have an infusion every 4 weeks. She got one on April 4th, so we assumed that she could get one in Kentucky around May 10th. After all, she was on Medicare, a FEDERAL program to pay for the expenses of seniors.
Well, the hospital in Bowling Green, Kentucky refused to give her the treatment. They were pissy-farting around and not being straight with us. I finally called and asked, "What is the problem?!" They said they weren't sure they would be paid. BOTH Medicare and Blue Shield of California called them and told them that, YES, the bill would be paid in Kentucky and to give her the treatment. They told us that due to changes in the payment procedure "and due to procedures put into place by ObamaCare" they could not authorize the treatment.
They would not budge. I said, "What if we pay CASH? Will you do it if we pay cash?" They replied, "This is a very expensive treatment. you could be liable for ten or fifteen thousand dollars ... I interrupted. "You didn't answer my question! If I give you CASH, a stack of dead presidents, will you do the treatment?! I'll walk into your lobby with $15,000.00 CASH!" They refused, but offered to set an appointment for mid-July, indicating that the payment issue would probably be worked out by then.
I bought two plane tickets to return mom to California immediately for her treatment which was coming up on 8 weeks since the last one. It was obvious that Kentucky had their heads up their posteriors. The same went for Nashville. I guess Medicare is a big joke, since it doesn't seem to apply to people who are not in their home towns.
We flew into San Diego on June 8th. The treatment is only given on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and her doctor was on vacation. He cut his vacation short by two days so that he could return to do the infusion on June 12th.
Well, the afternoon of the 10th, my mom started having breathing problems. She would not let me take her to the hospital. She insisted that I take her to the hotel room. There, I could see that she was very ill, unable to take two steps without running out of energy. Her face turned blue.
I called 9-1-1. They were there in an instant, and rushed her to Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside. The medical team was great, but despite their best efforts, my mom suffered cardiac failure that night and passed away. They did CPR for 26 minutes and DID get her heart started again, but it was obvious to me that she was not there.
I said, "Doctor. I am a realist. 26 minutes of CPR. What are the chances that she will be a vegetable?" He said, "They are very high, but we will know more in a few hours."
Three hours later, they called me into a room. They had injected dye into mom's veins to do some X-rays. They said, "You'll want to say goodbye to your mom. she is not going to make it."
Although I knew that she had actually died three hours earlier, it was the hardest decision of my life to tell them to shut off the life support machines.
On June 17th, we held a private burial service at Eternal Hills. I returned to Kentucky with my sister for three weeks. We went through things and prepared for the Memorial Service on July 11th, which would have been her 72nd birthday. About 150 people came.
I returned alone to this home in Franklin, where I am slowly going through the motions. It seems like time has stopped. Each day is like the previous one. This wasn't was I had hoped. I wanted my mom to enjoy Kentucky, walk in the green grass in her bare feet, write her books and relax a little. God had other plans.
I don't know what is in store for me in the coming months, but I'm going to give Kentucky a year to show me what it has. Four seasons. Then I will know if I am going to stay, or move somewhere else.
I do want to buy another Gold Wing, just so I can ride again. So much going on. Maybe some day.
