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The Last Old Woman — Part 2
https://mitzi-flyte.medium.com/the-last-old-woman-2f38ace794b3
My first article about this subject two years ago. Part 2 is after spending weeks in the hospital with multiple surgeries.
I wasn’t long into my nursing career when I realized that most of the patients in the hospital and residents in the nursing homes were female.
Of course, women live longer than men and many older wives end up taking care of their elderly husbands. Just look around when you find yourself in a doctor’s office waiting room.
During my forty-five-year career, I cared for many elderly women. But one stands out. She was in a four-bed room. She was very old woman — thin, with white hair the aide would pile on top of her head in a bun. Large ulcers on her heels prevented her from walking but we would get her up and into a wheelchair as often as staffing numbers would allow. But there were not many places for her to sit on the dingy nursing unit.
One day as I was redressing her heel ulcers, she said, “I will never have another beautiful day.” That almost brought me to tears. I made sure she was out of bed, in a wheelchair and sitting in the small outside area.
I’ve cared for many old ladies, from friends, to my mother-in-law who didn’t like me, and then my mother when she was dying of lymphoma.
