So my mother’s appointment at the wound clinic was fine…she’s healing pretty well.  It’s not the appointment itself…it’s all the logistics surrounding it.  Here are the steps involved.

1.   Pull my car up to their front steps.
2.   Get my mother down the steps in the rain, on her walker, into the car.
3.   Bring the walker back to the front porch.
4.   Drive to the hospital.
5.   Pull into the drop off area, jockeying in between vans from nursing homes.
6.   Go inside the lobby and get a wheelchair.
7.   Get my mother into the wheelchair.
8.   Wheel my mother into the lobby.
9.   Go back to the car and drive over to the parking garage.
10.  See the "garage full" sign and go back towards the street.
11.  Drive two blocks, waiting through each red light to the parking garage at the South Clinic.
12.  Find a parking place on the third floor.
13.  Walk through the rain to the elevator and go to the first floor.
14.  Take the elevator to the ground floor.
15.  Walk through the rain to the South Clinic.
16.  Take the elevator to the third floor.
17.  Take the walkway across the street to the North Clinic.
18.  Take the elevator down to the lobby.
19.  Walk to the lobby of the hospital and find my mother.
20.  Wheel her to the hospital elevators.
21.  Take the elevator to the third floor.
22.  Wheel her down the hall to the Wound Clinic.
23.  Good appointment, doctor charming as always.
24.  Schedule next appointment.
25.  Wheel her back to elevator.
26.  Take elevator to first floor of the hospital.
27.  Wheel her to lobby.
28.  Go back to North Clinic elevators and go to third floor.
29.  Take walkway back to south clinic.
30.  Stop in a bathroom because my bladder is bursting by this point.
31.  Take elevator down to first floor.
32.  Walk through rain to parking garage.
33.  Take elevator to third level.
34.  Exit garage and pay $1.50.
35.  Drive back to the hospital.
36.  Find a spot in the drop off area.
37.  Go get my mother in the lobby and wheel her to the car.
38.  Get her in the car and bring wheelchair back to lobby.
39.  Go back to car and squeeze out of traffic jam in pick up area and wait at the traffic light.
40.  Drive home.
41.  Pull up to the front porch.
42.  Go get walker from front porch.
43.  Help my mother up the steps in the rain.
44.  Get her into her chair in kitchen.
45.  Write the next appointments on her calendar.
46.  Tell her "sorry, but I need to take off."

Actually, writing that out it doesn’t look as bad as it felt.  Suffice to say it can be somewhat exhausting.  One thing I did think of on the way home:  perhaps having kids later in life is a good idea…because Leo and Owen will be pretty young and still have energy when they need to take care of us!!!!