First day at home. Vicki is now handling Mom's long list of medicines, though Mom has been managing her own medication quite well thank you very much. We just want to be able to step in if necessary.

Yesterday we found out that the hospital sent her home without a prescription for a vital medicine. Super Doctor Paul came to the rescue and got us over that hurdle. But man, what is it with modern medicine? They can handle brain surgery but not sending a patient home with the correct medication. 

Mom is very calm, and very sure that we will be guided along the way through this maze of challenges. My sisters have been doing yeoman duty with Mom, a heroic task. Mom is a great woman but can be very hard on those close to her. My sisters too are exhausted and yet they're right there, plugging away with whatever is needed. I conked out last night on the dinner table and today I only made a couple of short visits to Mom's home. I've had a lot of work to catch up with and I'm still behind. Life goes on and bills have to be paid.

Today Home Health Care came in the form of nurse Andres. He found that yet another medicine was prescribed without a prescription. Mom's list of medicines could take up a couple of shelves at Walgreens. Once again a call to Super Doc got this taken care of. And today I finally got a call back from Dr. Zhang's assistant. I called yesterday because the home care instructions specified one thing about a couple of medicines and his own discharge sheet indicated something else. Plus we needed an appointment for the follow-up meeting with both Dr. Zhang and Dr. New, at the same time. Dr. New didn't even know Mom was going home. I'll write more later about these modern hospital snafus.

In any case, nearly 24-hours later the problem with the instructions was straightened out. "Your Mom has a lot of physicians taking part in her care," the assistant mused. Yes, I thought, and they all specialize in their own little world. Besides, no one talks to anyone so the result is that the patient has to be aware of the whole picture or you're in for some unexpected and preventable troubles ahead. Not only that but the doctors never asked to speak to the family. We caught what we could when their visits coincided with one of us being there. Other than that they only focused on giving Mom instructions and explanations but hey, just because she just had brain surgery and is on enough medication to outfit a MASH unit shouldn't be a problem. The assumption is she'll be able to digest all the information and inform the rest of us. And never mind that her family is exhausted. We're all capable of comprehending the intricacies of steroid effects coupled with hypertension and diabetes as well as the projected path of Hurricane Glioblastoma in Mom's brain, right? Yes indeed. And this is one of the world's most advanced countries? I'm a little pissed.