I was apart from Oma for the two weeks at the end of March and beginning of April 2010. Dagmar was with her, arranging for the shifts of nursing care. On March 29 I wrote:
I spoke with Dagmar this morning. Veronica, who will take Anna’s place over the next two weeks with Oma, is at the house and learning the ropes from Anna. The big news was that once Anna gets back in two weeks, she plans to stay on! In other words, no switches every two weeks. Every now and then she will have to take a break or deal with family matters (she has a nine-year-old son living with her mother in Slovakia), and at those times Curavita will supply someone else to be with Oma. But in general, Anna will be present with Oma.
Since Oma really likes Anna, this seems like a win to me.
Oma waved when Dagmar showed her the videophone with me on it. She is still in bed, but is doing well, according to those there.
Dagmar added:
I also told Anna that when I return she may bring along her boy some time, once he has summer vacation, so he wont miss her so much. I have tried to make anja feel welcome and part of the family and am glad that the effort bore fruit.
Well… “well” is relative. She will be in bed for awhile. Her blood pressure is too low and her heart beat irregular so… as I said well is relative. Tonight Dr. B made a house call and simply said… there is always hope… but her heart is weak.
Dr. B was the neighborhood doctor, who lived at the end of Oma’s block. He would stop by regularly. Oma was also being followed by Dr. D, her longtime friend and doctor who had also cared for Opa. Dr. D was more of a specialist, though, and Oma’s case did not really fit his specialty. But he was highly regarded, even by Dr. B. In addition Dagmar had arranged with the only hospice operation in Vienna, a mobile hospice, to have their doctors on call. The nurses of the mobile hospice checked in with the nurses of Curavita to make sure the home care staff, Veronica for the time being, were doing their job. It was quite an operation!
Meanwhile, at home, Alex was getting ready to celebrate his 18th birthday and return to Vienna with me.
This post is part of my Remembering Oma series, which recounts the weeks I spent with Oma in 2010 as she died at home. Previous: New Technology. Next: Return.