Dukes Family
< progress…hopefully. >
So sorry for not updating since Wednesday. We have had a busy Thursday and Friday. It has been such a blessing this week to have Jen and the kids here. Dad and Mom and I have all so enjoyed it. It’s been a change of pace, for sure, which has been very good. It has also changed our routine a bit, so the updating hasn’t been as frequent, as you have probably noticed.
Thursday was a good day overall. The highlight to me was Jen getting some focused time with Mom. She really loves Mom, and over the past two years has come to know her well. More than just mother-in-law or grandma. Also as friend. They have spent a lot of time together. Mom has been pretty much a daily part of our lives since they moved to Orlando in June 2007.
Thursday afternoon, Dad and Jen got to hang with Mom for a while. I took the kids and rode around, enjoying the Westbank scenery. We drove down toward the end of the road (near Jean Laffitte toward the Gulf) and through the Barataria Preserve. Didn’t see an alligator, which was the goal of the older two kids. Oh well. They have lots of those in our neighborhood back home, so it’s okay.
Jen really enjoyed her time. Jen helped Mom take in about half a chocolate smoothie that we brought her. She got to care for Mom like the amazing nurse that she is. Her smile afterward, when we met them in the parking garage, was neat to see. I could also see in her eyes a hurt in her heart, missing her friend.
It is hard to see Mom and remember. The hurt is in the remembering and in the imagining. The beauty is in the now. We are thankful for the time now with Mom. We hurt thinking back on time before, because we don’t know yet if we will have that time again. We will see. We are praying. And dealing with the anger from time to time of the driver who wasn’t supposed to even be driving that stole the prime of Mom’s “grandmother” life.
Pray for us in that. And for the driver. It does no good to dwell in that anger. Just admitting it’s there.
Thursday morning, Dad and I went to see Mom early. Then, we headed out to Kenner, LA to tour another LTAC (long-term acute care hospital) for Mom. Ochsner hospital recently purchased this LTAC, and we wanted to check it out. You may have picked up from time to time in our postings some real dissatisfaction with where Mom has been. There are some bright spots for sure, but overall we lost have lost our trust in her care there. We have great trust in Ochsner and a long relationship with them taking care of our family. We trust that this new LTAC will be good for Mom.
Friday evening, Mom was moved there. SHE IS NOW IN THE OCHSNER KENNER HOSPITAL off of Loyola Ave in Kenner. She is in the LTAC there. We are thankful for Mom’s progress. We are very hopeful that it will continue at her new facility with more attention, more precaution, more cleanliness, and more proactiveness.
The New Orleans Baptist Seminary has been amazing in their support of our family. They reminded me again to put the link for the web page where you can donate to help Mom and Dad with the coming medical bills. If you want to do so, you can click here to visit that page. When you donate, you will be donating to the Seminary and notating that the donation is for the “Jimmy and Retia Dukes fund.”
Thankful for all of you and all of your support. Today, we are going to see Mom this morning and afternoon, going to take the kids to the Aquarium in between, and going to take Dad to Drago’s for lunch I think. Some friends from the Tylertown, MS area are down and want to take Dad to his favorite restaurant. They are sweet to do so.
We’ll post at you later.
-jason
The Prayer Link 