And then one more thing....

So with Tim home and therapy going well, variety of hospital stays due to ups and downs, our life has certainly changed from the normal routine.  It is evident that the way we were and the life we had when we took that trip to the Bahamas 2 weeks before Tim's accident would never return.  But that's OK because we were now prepared to meet all the new challenges that would come our way.  Tim had a goal in mind.  He never dwelled on the past.  We fondly referred to him as the new Tim and the old Tim.  Old Tim was the way he was prior to the accident.  New Tim is the way he is now.  Always a fighter, but definately with a personality change, but a good change.  So we continued on.

However, in July of 2007, I was not prepared for what happened next.  (Although, who is ever prepared for catastrophic occurances?) My aunt, who I have always been very close to, suffered a devastating stroke.  I received a call from her work saying that she did not come into work yet, nor were they able to reach her.  They had called 911 and one of the ladies who works with her was going to stop by her apartment to check on her.  I decided to run over there as well.  When I got there, she was laying on the floor.  The paramedics were also there.  They were going to take her to the hospital.  I called home to let them know what happended and followed the ambulance to the hospital.

Once she was there, it was confirmed that she had a stroke and it was a pretty bad one.  She remained in the hospital for a while and was eventually transferred to a nursing home/rehab facility.  She stayed there, but really was not making any progress.  I am her power of attorney, as well as her son.  However he lives in Florida and she is here in Illinois.  So it was up to me to take care of her needs here.  I tried to do the best for her, however, Medicare only allows a 3 month stay in a nursing home facility.  We had to make a decision where she was going to go from there.  I could not take her to my home, as I was already taking care of my husband.  She was unable to go to Florida.  So we decided to bring her home to her apartment and hire a live-in to care for her to see how it would go.  She needed 24/7 care and even with the live-in care, she needed more.  It was a bit of a struggle for me at this time, trying to coordinate her needs, my husband's needs and remain sane.  From the stress, I also developed shingles.  My doctor, (who was also her doctor), suggested I find a nursing home for her.  I began the search not knowing really where to look.  One of the officers that my husband worked with suggested I contact his wife as she worked in a very nice local nursing home.  I followed through on that suggestion and filled out all the necessary paperwork for her to get admitted.  They called on a Friday and we had her settled into her new residence by Monday.  My cousin came in and helped clean out her apartment.  We closed out her lease and settled all her accounts.  She remains in this wonderful, caring facility until this day.  With peace of mind, I was able to go back to being my husband's full time caregiver!