Mom took over my garden

Mom pretty much took over my back yard garden. She is planting and caring for various hot pepper and mint plants. I don't know if they will survive the 100+ Arizona summer.

Mom first operation

I took mom to the Mayo Clinic today for her operation to remove an ovarian cyst. It has been detected back in Hawaii about 8 months ago. The doctor at the Mayo recommended removal and mom went along with this.

It was a short operation. The hospital wouldn't let mom go home until she can pee! She didn't get home until late afternoon.

She is tired but doing well.

Don't depend on family doctor to refer mom to specialist

Mom's family doctor wants to administer regular PT-INR testing to adjust coumadin dosage for mom instead of referring her to a specialist. I didn't know any better and mom didn't understand what that mean.

Mom complained that the lab took too much blood and it took several days before she know what dosage to take. At first, I just thought that this old lady complains too much! Upon further research, she's right. It should be done like diabetic testing where only a drop of blood is required and the operator let you know the coumadin dosage right away.

After some searching, I found that Medicare allows you to do request referral and pick your own specialist. I made one last request to mom's family doctor to give her a referral to a cardiologist and I found her another family doctor.

My mom is please with the treatment by the cardiology office (Advanced Cardiac Specialists). They do it the right way.

Lesson learned: do more research for each condition to be treated by doctor. Specialist is probably better than family practice.

Moving day

Mom is moving in with me and my wife today.

Check list:

1. Appointment for new family doctor
2. Change address for: Social Security, Tricare For Life DEER, Bank
3. Get medical record.
4. Make sure mom has prescription refill for 3 months or more
5. See doctor about schedule of Coumadin testing, requirement...
   

Mom has heart / blood condition where she must take coumadin regularly to thin her blood. She must attend regular testing to adjust the level of coumadin intake as needed.

Visit dad

We visited National Memorial Center of the Pacific (in Punchbowl) where my step father remain is kept. We hung around for a while, doing nothing.

I still miss that old man.

Visit old high school for the last time

I've been visiting my mom once a year ever since I went to work in the main land some 20 years ago. I've gone by my old high school before but have never stopped to look around.

During the afternoon break today, I stopped by my old high school. I thought I've better give it a visit one last time before my mom moved to Arizona. I took a few pictures of the place.

Well, got to get back to help mom packing.

Home to help mom move.

I've just arrived home to help mom finalize her home selling. The couple that she sold the house to was nice enough to let her stay in the house for a week while I help her pack to move.

My mom lives on Oahu, Hawaii. My step father had just passed away last year. She was doing fine living by herself but she is increasingly having difficult time keeping up with all the medical appointments and tests. She had decided to sell the house and move to Arizona to live with or closer to me.

I'm still wonder whether this is a good decision. I wonder if it's better for me to move to Hawaii and try to find a job there. I know I won't be able to find a similar job that pay as well there.


Packing brought back lots of memories...