The Great Glasses Mystery

It’s nice to find a little humor in the midst of all the turmoil these days. So I thought I’d share this fun little story with you.

As you know, my parents moved into an assisted living facility on May 7. It was kind of a traumatic day and we had no idea how things were going to go. They hadn’t lived together since February 1 and everyone was excited about getting them back together.

I just realized I haven’t posted anything about my parents on my blog since May 9. Oh boy, a lot has happened since then. If you follow me (personally) or my mom on Facebook, you may have already heard about some of it. If not, I’ll give you a brief update.

Assisted living did not go well for her. She needs far more supervision than anyone expected and was more than my dad could handle. After three days, they moved her to memory care to give him a break.

The second day there, she fell and was in the hospital until May 18. She has a compression fracture in one of her vertebrae and is wearing a brace around her middle. (Well, she’s supposed to be wearing a brace.)

She went back to SunnyView for rehab, although she’s not a very good patient when it comes to rehab. But at least insurance/Medicare covers that. She returned to Vintage Hills memory care two days ago on Wednesday, after her insurance company refused to pay anymore.

Glasses background

Now, to the glasses mystery. But first, some context. My mom and dad were together from Thursday through Monday morning (May 7 through May 11). Either later on Monday or early on Tuesday, he asked me if my glasses were in my car.

I told him they couldn’t possibly be there, since he was wearing them when he moved into his apartment. He said he’d looked all over and couldn’t find them. I thought, how could someone lose something in a 798 square foot apartment? Especially when he’d only lived there a few days?

Tim and I went to their house to see if we could find a spare pair. We found several pairs of glasses around the house, but weren’t sure if any of them would work.

We gave him the pair we thought was the right one, based on his description of where to find them. At first, he thought they were great. He said they were much better for reading. We thought we were doing OK.

Not so great after all

Later in the week, he told me those were the glasses he’d had before cataract surgery, so they weren’t that great after all. He had a hard time watching TV and they weren’t even that good for reading anymore. We had to do something.

By the next Monday (about a week after he’d reported them lost), we were beginning to think we’d have to get him a new pair. He wanted us to take the pair we’d found and have the eye doctor just replace the lenses.

In the meantime

As I mentioned above, my mom ended up going to the hospital (on May 12) and I was allowed to be in the ER with her. After a while of sitting there watching her sleep, I noticed she was wearing a pair of glasses I didn’t recognize. My first thought was she’d somehow switched with someone at SunnyView. I wondered how we would figure this one out.

I mentioned to Tim the next day that I thought she had someone else’s glasses. He said, maybe they’re your dad’s. What? Why hadn’t I thought of that?

We told everyone, including my dad, that we thought she was the one who had his glasses. No one thought that was possible. However, he did say that the pair she usually wears was in the apartment, so she must have had on her other pair.

He continued to complain and I was certain she had his glasses. But of course, we couldn’t see her to find out for sure. He kept asking us to get his glasses replaced. I just didn’t want to do that until we knew.

The mystery is solved

By now, I’m sure you’ve figured this out. Once she got to SunnyView on the 18th, I had someone there FaceTime with my dad so he could see the glasses she was wearing. Sure enough, they were his.

So, we had to navigate the great switch, which again, required coordination in order to get her glasses to her and then his glasses from her. Thankfully, my brother-in-law handled this part, saving me a trip to Ankeny.

But my dad had to go a whole week without his glasses. How terrible for someone who’s in quarantine for 14 days!!

I’m just glad we finally figured it out because I didn’t want him needlessly spending money. I am his accountant now, you know!!

Now that she’s back in Vintage Hills, she’s subject to another 14 day quarantine. It doesn’t seem to matter that she’s had two negative tests already since May 12. Because of her propensity to fall, and the need to stay in her 10×15 room for those 14 days, we had to provide a companion 24/7. It’s just one thing after another.

But a piece of good news with that. They just changed their protocol and now, if she takes a COVID-19 test after 7 days and it’s negative, her quarantine is over. That will make things so much easier.

Now, we just need to get visitation rights again so we can finally get them settled in the way we’d like. But I also understand the need for safety and the last thing I want is for them to be exposed to the virus.

Happy Friday!! 😎