MOM IS TALKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PTL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAHHOOOOOOO!!!!!!
When I arrived there early this morning, mom was being washed and dressed for the day. Her door was closed but I could hear the nurses gathered around mom and talking to her. One of the nurses came outside her room and said, "Oh boy, your mom is doing soooo good today!! I came into the room and said, 'Hi Mrs. Gilman, how are you?' and she told me, "GOOD!" She is doing soooo good all because of you and your family. All because of what you are doing for her. Keep doing it. She will be talking very soon, I just know it."
I was thrilled and went outside to call everyone and tell them. When I came back in, mom was ready to see me...so I walked into her room and she was "bright eyed and bushy tailed" and I said, "Hi mom. Hi mommy. It's me, It's Kathy, your daughter" she was staring right in my eyes and smiling at me. I stroked her face and hair as I always do and I said, "I'm Kathy" and she said, "I know." WOW!!! So I grabbed her hand and kissed it and said, "Oh I love you!!!!" and she said, "I love you too" Then I talked to her some more and she looked at me and asked, "How old are you?" and I told her, "51" and this seemed to surprise her. I held her hand in mine and she began to study my face, then she touched my eyes and then her eyes over and over. I said, "I have make up on my eyes. Do you want your make up too?" and she said, "Noooo" in a disgusted way. Then it hit me!!!!!! "Oh....do you want your eye glasses???" I asked. And she said, "Yes." I ran to tell everyone that she was talking and then John, Claudia and Ava arrived. Shortly after, Anthony, Con and Sammy arrived (Anthony Michael was camping with the Boy Scouts at Valley Forge). Dad and then Terry came too. She then proceeded to talk to us all. Some of what she said was, "What do you want?" "What?" "Yes" "Proud of you" and then, at one point, we all lined up and leaned our cheeks, one at a time, in to her mouth and she kissed each one of us and said, "I love you" to each one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were crying tears of joy. I still am.
We played with the IPAD with her---she loves it!!! It talks for her and to her, we play matching games, shape, letter, color, number, item recognition games, we play the piano on it, music on it, movies...there is so much to use it for that helps with her speech and cognitive skill development. We did her physical therapy, though it was hard to do something like that when she was talking to us now---but all of that is still so vitally important for her in her recovery.
Florence and Karen visited her in the afternoon but she was tired by then and didn't really talk to them. Though dad said her eyes were open the whole time.
Dad came to my house for dinner and then went home. Claudia and Ava went back to visit mom in the early evening and played IPAD games with her and Sounds at Home audio CD with matching picture cards---when the CD played the sound of ice cubes falling in a glass, mom took the ice cube picture and put it to her mouth and touched her tongue with her finger --- Claudia and Ava felt so badly---they told her, "Sorry mom, but you can't have anything to eat or drink yet."
When Lenny and I went back later to tuck her in and pray over and with her, the nurse came to take her blood pressure and woke her out of a sound sleep. The nurse said, "You are some family. She is well because of all of you. Dotty, you raised great kids. You are a lucky woman, but I think you know that already." I said, "Thanks,we try." She said, "Yeah, you tried, but you DID it!!! You all succeeded."
It isn't over yet by far...she has a long way to go. She has to learn how to chew and swallow and walk and talk and everything else all over again. I am off from work on Tuesdays and Fridays...so good days to visit mom are Mondays, Wednesdays and especially Thursdays late afternoon or midday or mornings. We are looking for a place to keep the IPAD at the center so we all can use it with mom for cognitive and speech therapy. We don't know where to keep it yet though and are waiting for the social worker to get back to me.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!!!!
"For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise" 1 Chronicles 16:25
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