Siesta Key and Rest for the Weary!



Sunset on Siesta Key 

I just got back from vacation on Siesta Key, Florida.  What a beautiful spot.  The beach named Crescent Beach is pure white due to the fact that it is made from tiny particles of Quartz. For some reason the Gulf currents dump this type of sand on this beach.  You can go to the end of the island and the beach is made from shells not Quartz.  When you step your foot on the beach it is cool because quartz does not retain heat (little scientific fact!). After having spent summers on New Jersey beaches and running through the hot sand, I am always surprised when I step foot on this beach.  My brain is prepared for HOT, HOT, HOT (this is Florida were the sun shines strong, right!) but that doesn't happen.  My brain says this doesn't make sense.

Vacation didn't make sense this year as 2 days after I got there, I had to leave to visit my mom in the hospital in NJ.  She suffered a heart attack and in dealing with Doctors and hospitals over the phone I realized that she needed someone to speak for her and connect the dots.  Her primary care doctor was on vacation and no one knew that she saw a cardiologist on a regular basis (who was on staff at the hospital but the other team started treating her).  They did not know her history.  Why that information was not transferred to the hospital from the home where she lives, I do not know. Since I am the only child, my job was to connect the dots for everyone and get her cardiologist on the case.  Everyone needs an advocate or someone to connect the dots when you become critically ill.  I discovered that health care is a vast wilderness. Not much information is passed from agency to agency. I was able to help staff and doctors understand more about who she was and her on-going medical problems. What do people who do not have family do to navigate this wilderness and get the appropriate care?

Mom At Christmas 2010

My mom is now in rehab and hopefully getting stronger so she can go back to her apartment.  I headed back to Florida and spent the next week resting around the pool and reading escape books!  Family is in Florida, so I felt well taken care of. My husband and I walked the beach and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Being there is so different from our New England environment.  The surrounding colors of water, sky, sand, and vegetation are so different, it is refreshing.  The sunsets are gorgeous! I am always inspired by the colors I experience while there. The pace of life is different.  My time there was cut short but the time there, even though short, was exactly what I needed.

I will head back to NJ on Sunday for a few days to visit my mom and see how she is doing in rehab. Decisions may need to be made for her long term care but I have all those wonderful warm colors from Siesta Key to keep me going. I just need to pull up those pictures in my mind and relax!