Sometimes we assume that when people get to a certain age they aren’t as competent as they used to be.  Unfair folks, but true.  That’s the furthest from the truth with my mom.  At 76, she’s as sharp as a tack.  A very sharp tack.  Last week my beautiful mother had emergency abdominal surgery.  Her angry appendix burst just as the surgeon was removing it.  “A bit mucky,” he muttered describing her festered appendix.  

And with surgery comes an endless array of pretty coloured pills and capsules.  So when my mom counted the pills in the little plastic cup that the nurse brought to her, she raised her eyebrows.
“There’s too many.”
“I beg your pardon.”
“The pills.”
“It’s your medication,” the nurse replied.
“What are they?”
Sighing the nurse showed her each individual pill.
“These two are antibiotics, this is Digoxin and this one is Avodart.”
“What’s that last one for?”
“I’m not sure.”
“I take that one too,” my father piped up from the adjacent chair.
“Do you have a heart condition?”
“No, but I have a prostate condition.”
The ashen-faced nurse sprinted out of the room and came rushing back with the surgical floor’s Pharmacist in tow.
“Have you been taking these at home?” she asked, slowly enunciating each word.
“Of course not,” snapped my mother.
“Your pharmacist.  She’s put it on your list of meds.”
“Well then perhaps she should try taking it.”

Incompetence. Comes in all shapes and sizes.

Weight Loss Progress Report:  I’ve lost 5 lbs!  The kitchen table leg has teeth marks, but I’ve lost 5 lbs.

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