Well, it's a good thing I got to relax in Newport because it's certainly been a long 4 days since getting back. Work has been crazy busy, and my aunt ended up back in the hospital on Wednesday with dehydration and walking pneumonia. We knew she was dehydrated and wasn't doing great, but since she lives alone and we're one and a half hours away even without traffic on the Parkway we couldn't do more than ask her to drink more water and eat.

In some ways it's better she's in the hospital since they'll feed and hydrate her along with taking care of the pneumonia, but longer term we need to find something that works to get her to take better care of herself post-surgery. The major problem is that we can't do it without her accepting things have permanently changed for her way of life. She is 85, nothing will turn back the clock. It takes longer to recover, and serious commitment to change, and she's not there yet.

I get it. I fought for 10 years to accept that I had cirrhosis and a major relapse/hospitalizations until I'm finally (so far) doing better. I cheat on my diet when I eat out, but I cook as much as I can, do the low sodium thing, take my medications, stay sober, try to get decent sleep, and keep up with my doctors while working full time. Not going to lie - it's a lot and I still get angry sometimes that I'm 46 but have the energy level/health problems of someone 20 years older, but I have accepted the responsibility for that and now am just trying to make it better and settle into new routines.

She doesn't have 10 more years in all likelihood, however, and if she can't reconcile the new reality with what she is willing to change then it will only be a short while until she passes away. It is her choice though, and I respect that, share my experience of health problems starting when I was 20 with the botched appendicitis and what worked/didn't work for me, and hope she understands and adapts.