We had a meeting with the director of agency that cares for Katie this past weekend.  She's a good woman.  She's spent her life trying to improve the lives of disabled people.  The agency she started is not for profit and they agreed to take Katie when nobody else would because they believed they could make her life better.  And they have.

But this weekend we found out that Katie will probably have to move.  The agency is giving up care of Katie's roommate because of an issue with the roommate's public guardian.  The public guardian is insisting on changes in the home that the agency feels are unsafe and I agree with the agency.  But what do we know? 

So our options were to keep Katie where she is and find a new agency to take over care with all new caregivers, or to move Katie to a new home with new roommates and the same caregivers.  Pretty much a no brainer.  I can't stress enough how wonderful the people who care for Katie are. 

So a move.  Katie hates change.  She will have to move to a new home and have a new roommate.  It will work out;  it did last time but it will take time and work. Her new roommate will be an older woman and maybe that will work better.  Katie and the roommate that she has now are around the same age and fight like young woman do.  Her new home will be half of a duplex with more disabled people living in the other half, so no pissed off neighbors complaining about wheelchairs or banging on the walls. 

The big thing is that the caregivers will remain the same.  I'm deeply thankful for that.

Yesterday when we picked Katie up, her caregiver pointed out to me that Katie has bruises on her right breast.  I asked her what happened and she mimed pinching her breast and crying.  I asked her if it hurt and she cried.  I don't know if she was pinching her breast because it was sore or irritated, or if the pinching was just another form of self abuse and was now sore.  And Katie can't tell me. 

So I guess it'll get better or it won't.  We'll see what happens.

Yesterday I bought her a balloon and Smarties and that made her smile.  Sometimes, that's enough.