The Cookie Sheet

I'm Still Here!!!!

2008-07-22T08:21:45-04:00

I'm still here but I have a new blog address! http://cookiesunshine.blogspot.com/

Elizabeth's Good News - Thank You

2008-07-16T21:43:35-04:00

Dear Friends, Thank you for helping Elizabeth today.

At 5:30 this afternoon I received a call from Sheila Hay, one of the directors at Arbor Hospice.

Arbor Hospice IS going to honor the promises that were made last week. Elizabeth DOES have a room and will be moving into their facility this Friday. They would have moved her tomorrow if Riverview could have had her ready in time.

We are very, very thankful. I appreciate the notes that you sent and I appreciate your support and kindness. We are excited to know that Elizabeth will finally be able to move to her new home and get settled.

Thank You from the bottom of my heart.

Love and Hugs,

Donna "Cookie" Gotlib

Elizabeth Needs Email Support

2008-07-16T11:03:35-04:00

IMAGE: Elizabeth, 2006

Dear Friends, Elizabeth needs your support. We are still in the middle of a crisis with her nursing home.

As you may remember, the residents of her nursing home have to be out by August 16th!

We found a place for her nine miles out of town and made a reservation on Monday, July 8th.

Then, on July 9th we were even more fortunate when we met with a nurse named Rebecca from Arbor Hospice who told us that she would place Mother on the waiting list for a room at Arbor Hospice. Obviously, Logan and I were concerned about being on a waiting list. You know, a bird in the hand vs two in the bush. But Rebecca assured us repeatedly after calling and talking with someone on the phone that she was positive that there would be a place for Mother by August 16th which was 5 weeks away at that time. Please understand that I have a reputation for flogging dead horses. I asked repeatedly to make sure that she knew what she was talking about and I made sure that she knew we were giving up a space at another nursing home. We also discussed that 72 other people were being displaced and that this would make it virtually impossible for Mother to find something agreeable if she was wrong.

Rebecca asked us if we would like to go ahead and sign Mother up for hospice care at the nursing home during the meantime while she was waiting for her room at Arbor Hospice. We decided this would be a good idea and this is what we did.

There were many reasons why this was the best decision but I am not going to take up your time listing them all here today.

Two days ago, a case worker named Pat Bower met with Mother, Logan and myself for a long while. I found it strange that the first thing she asked when she came into my Mother's room was about the neighborhood where I live. Why did she need to know about my neighborhood when she was visiting at my Mother's nursing home? Was she interested in my socio-economic status? That is what it felt like to me.

After our visit she invited me down the hall saying to my Mother that what she needed to talk with me about was private and probably something that we shouldn't talk about in front of her. I didn't care for the fact that she actually made a resident move and that she turned the television down so that we could have our conversation. The room is rather large and there was only one resident in the room. We could have chosen another place to sit instead of inconveniencing the resident.

At that point she proceeded to tell me that Mother was not going to have a room at Arbor Hospice and that the rooms at Arbor Hospice are not "used for her particular type of needs". All the while she was smiling! I heard myself say "why are you smiling" She said "I'm wasn't aware I was smiling" as she continued to smile! Excuse me? She qualified for your program, your organization is receiving funds to care for her needs, but you suddenly don't want to provide what was promised?

Understandably, I was quite taken aback by her comments and the suggestion that Arbor Hospice might not honor their original commitment to Elizabeth. I was shocked. But then I realized that this had to be a huge mistake!

The past two days I have been very busy talking with everyone I can and doing everything in my power to get this situation back on track. This morning I spoke with Sheila Hay who is one of the Directors at Arbor Hospice. She is working diligently to straighten this out. While I imagine that Ms. Bower was trying to do her job, she and I did not connect.

Mother does not know what is going on, but she does know something is up because there is so much activity with everyone being moved from Riverview. I was told by the Ombudsman on Sunday that the resident population was already down to 32. Yesterday I was told that the population is not that low and is still around 40 residents. I'm not sure of the exact number but people are being moved at a rate of two or three a day. Employees are finding new jobs and leaving as they need to go. Imagine trying to work in this environment and worry about your job security at the same time! Things are rapidly changing. Elizabeth feels the tension.

Logan and I are exhausted. We are eager to see Elizabeth settled once again and as I said earlier, I hope that this is all just a simple misunderstanding and that Rebecca's promise to us will be honored. We are looking forward to having Mother transferred to Arbor Hospice no later than August 16th. My sister Ann will be coming for a visit on or around August 14th and is looking forward to seeing Mother in her new room.

You've all been such wonderful friends to Elizabeth these past seven months with your cards and emails.

I have a request and I hope that you will do this.

Here's what I'm asking you to do for Elizabeth.

Will you please send an email to Arbor Hospice, thanking them for helping Elizabeth, letting them know that you would like to see Elizabeth settled as soon as possible. And, will you please ask others to do the same.

Thanking you all in advance. The address for Arbor Hospice is below as well as a sample email that you can copy and paste if you like.

Hugs and Love,
Donna "Cookie" Gotlib

info@arborhospice.org

Dear Arbor Hospice:

I am a friend of Elizabeth Childree and am very concerned about the current situation surrounding her living arrangements. Please honor the commitments that your RN Rebecca made to Logan Hopper and Donna "Cookie" Gotlib last Tuesday, July 8th and move Elizabeth to a room at Arbor Hospice before August 16, 2008.
I look forward to reading in Cookie's blog that Elizabeth is safe and sound in her room at Arbor Hospice.

A Change of Address

2008-07-03T22:15:09-04:00

I've been thinking things over for quite a while, and I've decided that it's time to make a move with my blog. The Cookie Sheet began at Blogger, and I've decided to go back to Blogger.Please make a note that you can now find The Cookie Sheet here. http://www.cookiesunshine.blogspot.com

Congratulations to Our Winners!!!!

2008-07-01T15:31:47-04:00

Thank you to everyone who participated in our contest! To find our who won, please watch the video! If you are a winner, contact me with your mailing address! Hugs and Thanks!!! Cookie

The Red Shoes

2008-06-30T21:47:26-04:00

IMAGE: The Red Shoes, Cookie Sunshine, Donna Childree Gotlib

We're getting close to the end of our Mary Jane contest. You have until midnight eastern time tonight to enter the drawing.

Sometime tomorrow, my nephew, Mike Hopper and I will share the winner with you.

To see who's playing click on "they're showing off the red shoes" and follow the links!

Thanks to everyone who has celebrated my 5000th visitor. This has been fun. I'll be keeping your links up in the side bar!

Show and Tell Friday - A Surprise at Our Door

2008-06-27T00:47:56-04:00

We could hardly believe our eyes. The fairies were visiting. We could see their little scooter, the fairie dust, and the key they used to get into the house. I've always believed that this is a magical house. Now I know it for sure!

It's show and tell at Kelli's House today. This is my entry. I hope you will join us.

Hugs,

ps...if you are interested in Fairy Door info...ours was an Etsy find from the Fairy Door Company

One Week Away - Are You Playing For the Shoes?

2008-06-24T19:38:43-04:00

IMAGE: The Shoe Series

I'm so excited because my Mary Jane Shoe Series Giveaway is only one week away! And here they are for the first time all together. Aren't they so sweet. I really can't decide which pair I like the best.

Little shoes like to roam

Little Shoes need a home

Little shoes like to prance

Little shoes love to dance

Little shoes like to run

Little shoes must have fun!

It all began on June 4th when I had a dream about shoes. Why was I dreaming of shoes? I really didn't understand why I was dreaming about shoes at first! What I did realize was that I needed to draw my dream so that I could figure out what I was thinking about. That's how I work through things sometimes.

AND while I was drawing I thought about all of the people who have come through my blog in such a short period of time. I recently noticed that I had missed my 5000th vistor to The Cookie Sheet and didn't even realize because I was so busy. So, this brought me to the realization that I should celebrate and that shoes should play a part in my celebration.

What I drew was a pair of Mary Janes. Little Red Shoes is part of a series of six Mary Jane prints, and each print is limited to an edition of six. I'm going to give the number three set to my winner! The reason I decided on six for my series instead of five is because I was hoping that I would reach my 6000th visitor before the end of the contest.

We are one week away from the end of the contest. You still have time to play.

READ THE RULES CAREFULLY!!! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment here by the June 30th, 2008 deadline letting me know that you have put a post on your blog letting your readers know about my drawing, with a picture of the little red shoes and a link back to the Cookie Sheet.

On July 1 I'll put names in a bowl and do a video drawing to see who our winner is. Then we will post the video on my blog and on YouTube. Again, the winner will receive six prints, from the limited edition Mary Jane series. Each one will be hand signed by me and will be number 3/6. These little prints each measure 4" x 6" and are each hand signed and numbered by me. And I will add a tiny extra embellishment on each one to make them extra special. They will look darling matted, famed and hung together as a group.

You'll also receive the poem I've written that accompanies each little shoe drawing.

To see the list of everyone who is playing be sure to click on the link at in the sidebar that says "They're showing off the RED shoes".

Thanks for participating!

Hugs!

A Very Good Day

2008-06-22T11:00:15-04:00

IMAGE - Elizabeth, by Donna Childree Gotlib, Cookie Sunshine

This photo was taken about two years ago before my Mother moved to the nursing home. I know it's not a great photo technically, but I love it because she is so happy in this picture, and it really does convey how I'm feeling today. I love seeing her this happy.

Yesterday when Steven and I went by to visit with her we were very, very surprised. Mother was dressed in a pink turtleneck, one of her little cardigan sweaters, and wearing a pair of her blue jeans. She was laying flat on her back in her bed with her feet partially off the bed. She did not have a nasal cannula and there was no IV! Twenty four hours earlier the picture had been quite different. She was wearing a hospital gown.

She looked up at us and said "can you help me sit up? I want to go in there", then she pointed towards her bathroom. I was shocked. I had been talking with her doctor about hospice services earlier in the week. She hadn't even walked since her hip surgery that I was aware of. I didn't think she was even capable of standing up. She had not been making sense for over two weeks. She's had pneumonia for two weeks and has been in the ER twice in two weeks.

I looked at my husband and I didn't know what to think. Steven is a physician so I felt comfortable with his assessment of the situation. He is not a small man (6'4"). He said "Elizabeth, let's see if we can get you up". The next thing I knew, not only was my Mother was standing up, but Steven and I were gently helping her walk towards her bathroom.

My Mother is a very tiny person, so I stood with her while he went to get one of the aides who quickly came and helped her into her bathroom. After that she was really exhausted. She sat in a wheelchair and we rolled her into the activities room where she sat quietly with one of her friends. This is something I thought that I would never see again.

Prayer, antibiotics, will?

All of the above? We have much to be thankful for today.

I realize that Alzheimer's can't be reversed and I know that she is very ill. But I am so thankful that she is better now. Her nursing home has a good physical therapy department. Hopefully she will continue to improve and we will see her using her little four prong cane once again. This really feels like a miracle to me.

By the way, her room is filled with the gorgeous ATC's and cards that have been sent to her in recent weeks. I am going to try to take photos this week and post them so that you can see just how beautiful they are. You are all so dear. I'm so far behind on my email (about 275 behind). Please know that I do not mean to be disrepectful. I deeply appreciate your kindness more than I can express, and she does too.

Hugs,