My mom has experienced chronic urinary tract infections for the past two years. At last count, there have been18 infections, three of them landing her in the hospital, two them landing her in a short-term care facility for 5 weeks or longer.
We've been given every piece of advice you can think of concerning bladder infections in the elderly. And we've tried most of it, at least once. Advice comes from doctors, nurses, physical therapists, coworkers, family, friends, strangers. Yet, we continue on this journey.
Every time we take her in for another infection, this phrase echoes from those around us "Isn't there something they can do about this?" Sometimes the question comes out of concern for my mom and what she goes through. Sometimes the question comes out of inconvenience being caused to the other person. Sometimes the question comes out of concern for her caregivers. Sometimes the question comes out of disappointment over interrupted plans. Always, the question makes the caregivers feel like they are not doing enough.
Some things in life don't have definitive answers (not to us anyway--God knows the answers and He can be trusted). Some things in life are part of a natural process (in this case, aging). That can be hard to accept in this modern era of instant everything. We don't even ponder questions any longer. If an answer has not been blurted out in less than a minute, then we all reach for some type of electronic device that we can query for a quick answer.
I suggest to you that we might be asking the wrong question. Instead of "Isn't there anything they can do about this?" practical and loving questions would be "What can I do for you and your family that would provide some comfort? What would relieve you in this situation? How can I pray for you?" These questions (followed by action) will relieve the caregivers and the one in pain. These are answerable questions for us.
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