My Mother's Life Dedicated to the Only Woman I'll Love, My Mother.

The phone rings, it is 8:33am and before you can get out of bed, it stops.   Three short rings, and you are awake, so you check and see that dreaded phone number on the display.   Beacon Community Services.

It is like your nightmare is coming to life, because this was your first chance to sleep in, in over 2 weeks. You are exhausted from the stupidity of Beacon Community Services, the stress they caused just the last week by making schedule changes, three of them, and only two with any warnings.  You have dealt with an 94 year old who is afraid another change will happen, at any time.

The paranoia grows, the depression grows, and the fear of waking up in the morning to find that 94 year old dead, becomes a constant night time companion. It makes what little sleep you get, troubled and restless. And here we go again, the phone has rung.

So you call back, they put you on hold at first, then they want to know who you are calling for. You give them the last name, they can’t find her records, so you give them the first name and still the ‘so called’ scheduler can’t find any client ( stop calling them clients, they are PATIENTS ) by that name, so you give them the address, and STILL they can’t find her name anywhere.

You are wide awake now, and then she tells you,  “If it is important, they will call you back” and you lose it.  IT IS IMPORTANT and so you tell them NO, find out who called and why, NOW and as you try to get it across to them, the line goes dead.  You didn’t hit any buttons, so gee, they hung up.

You pull your pants on, slip on your slippers, and pull a shirt on, pissed and angry because you know something is afoot, but what, well hell, they can’t even find a listing for your accounts. IS ANYONE COMING? DID THEY DECIDE TO SEND ANOTHER INCOMPETENT SUBSTITUTE?

The thoughts race through your head as you get upstairs, and call them back.  The same ‘so called scheduler Alice” answers and miracles of miracles, she’s found who called.  ( Like how, if she couldn’t find your account when you were on the phone? ) and quick as a bunny you are transferred to Lisa.  

Lisa tells you there is a time change, you breathe a little easier, because at least it isn’t another idiot being sent, instead it is one of the few competent workers in their employ.

Here is the kicker though. WHY DIDN’T THEY CALL BACK AS SOON AS SHE FOUND OUT I HAD CALLED BACK?

So now, after over 2 weeks, another chance to get some needed rest for me, is gone. I’ll need to wait till next Sunday for a chance at not being awake and on duty at 7:30am, making it nearly a month since my last mini break.   These people haven’t a clue as to how life really is.  They need a reality check, big time but hey, they have their shiny new cars, their brand new iPhones, and they get TWO DAYS A WEEK to sleep in, if they wish.

In the meantime, another change in her routine, which means breakfast is now delayed again, and she is fragile enough, from the bullshit from just last week. Not even recovered from all that garbage, and here we go again. 

What these IDIOTS at Beacon Community Services obviously DO NOT GET, is that it takes more than a day for an old person to recover from the sudden changes. To have workers suddenly show up, that aren’t scheduled, does impact them. At night they worry who is coming in the morning, and even if you check the schedule, it doesn’t mean shit.  I checked last night, at 11pm and there was no change.   Yet here we are, the worker arrives after 9:30 and the whole day is pushed back.   Yes, that includes her lunch, and dinner, because you can’t give her lunch at noon, if she’s only finished breakfast at 11:15am.   Ninety Four year olds tend to take their time in eating, so they DON’T CHOKE.

In turn that means my opportunity to get out to get her needed supplies like Depends, is pushed back so it will take longer, because I can’t sneak out at before 11am, like was planned.  It means shopping for food is pushed back to when stores are busy, adding to the time factor, when really, there isn’t a lot of it.   It also means I am already stressed, and on edge, when I need to keep calm, to cope with her peccadillos that can drive a sane person, insane.

It is UP TO ME, to calm her down, to try and push away her fears that perhaps tomorrow it won’t be Tracy, that it’ll be someone new, or just someone else.  And honestly, even if I can convince her to not worry, it will add to my nightmares for the night.  My own body is resisting the lack of sleep, and no, one can’t just go and lie down later.  Sleep that is interrupted, broken into a bit here and bit there, is not sleep. Oh it may help in your stamina, but it does nothing for your mental state.  It only makes it more disturbed, more in turmoil, and why?

Because a person who works as a scheduler, or receptionist, couldn’t find a listing for your account, and was too stupid, too uncaring, to properly try. Oh she could find who called you, and could they immediately call you back?  Course not, what did it matter to them, they had their 7 or 8 hours sleep, so what if yours was broken, so what if your 94 year old Mother will spend the next two or three days on edge, before finally calming down. Who cares that her left leg drags, that her speech is becoming more slurred with each change, each new fear being thrown into her

After all she is 94 and expendable, she’s old.    Right Beacon Community Services & VIHA?