Sela got her groove back!

So, as you can see by this happy photo, Sela got her groove back!  After three long hours, she came out from the dentist, Dr. Conner, with a complete smile!  Afterwards, she went to eat with Roberto and Katie, her loving caretaker.  I was here tutoring and unable to witness the happy event.  Since then, we’ve been careful not to feed her crusty baguettes or any other hard food she truly loves.  Oh well! 

Coming out of the dentist.

In the meantime, I have finished decorating for Christmas.  Sela helped by taking the ornaments out of the boxes and having a say as to where they should go on the tree and around the house.  We have not made plans for the holidays yet.  Surely, due to Sela’s condition, whatever we plan, will have to be here.  Hope ‘all in the family’ agree. 

We had sad news this weekend with Florence’s grand-mѐre passing.  She was 96, a lovely lady, much loved by her only daughter Michelle and three grandchildren.  Colette lived in Céret, which is in the south of France, on the foothills of the Pyrénées mountains, about 2 hours from Barcelona.    She will be sadly missed by all, as she was the center of that family, who often visited her from Charlotte, Paris and Berlin.  I am sure, her good friend Marisse, who we met at Florence and Brian’s wedding, will truly miss her so, as well as her son Frederic. 

This week we received the visit of a new social worker assigned to Sela.  Maureen is very pleasant, energetic and speaks clearly and loud enough for my mother to understand every word she says.  We talked about my mother’s condition and the fact that she’s hardly able to care for herself, and thus needs more hours of home-care.  At the moment, Social Services allows her 80 hours a month, which comes to about 18 hours weekly or 3 hours per day.  In the afternoon, we have a caregiver as well, but we have to pay for her.  So if they give us the maximum which is 120 hours, we could well use that money for Sela's many other expenses.  Tío Carlitos gets the whole 120 hours a month which is quite nicer, but I’m told each state is different.  As far as I know, tío Carlitos is quite happy with his caretaker who pampers him, cleans and even cooks well!  I hope this new government doesn’t do away with these badly needed services, Medicare, Medicaid, but… let’s just not go there, right?

Tomorrow, we go to Dr. Punjabi, the macular degeneration specialist.  There she will have pictures taken of her eyes, and then Dr. Punjabi will decide whether to give her an injection or wait.  These shots are done under local anesthesia, right there at the office.  He first injects the numbing agent, goes away for ten minutes or so, and then returns to inject her eyeball.  It does not hurt at all, but there’s some discomfort and irritation afterwards.  Sela loves to visit “Omar” –they’re on first names now- who is quite young and handsome.  Today, she had the CNA wash her hair for this occasion.  Hopefully it won’t rain tomorrow as today the day was grey, wet and chilly. 

I will let you know how this visit goes.  Here are some photos of the decorations for Christmas:  

Little tree in kitchen.

Dining room

The fireplace.

The tree.