"She's very sick"

I'm so tired of hearing those words about my mother. People, I can see for myself that she's very sick. The thing is, as my sister points out on her blog, she's not ready to die (as in, pulling the plug on the dialysis).

For months now it has really disturbed, to say the least, me that there is really no place for my mom. If she were wealthy, we could afford quality care for her as she teeters on the brink.

Likewise if she were poor. MassHealth would provide for her care and there would  be little, if any, problems.

Sadly for us, my parents are solidly middle class folk. That means that  Michigan Blue Cross will pay for "rehab" but not nursing home "maintenance" care. Many people, I read, end up dying because they can no longer afford to live.

Even 20 or so years ago, she probably would have been allowed to slip away last January, when the renal failure was diagnosed. And don't even get me started on the cause of the renal failure. Just don't get me started.

None of us plans to ever be in his position ourselves. But who knows what our reality will be?