Mom had a great day today! When I arrived this morning, she was doing speech therapy with the speech therapist. She showed mom the picture of dad and mom smiled and tenderly touched the picture.The speech therapist was trying to work on helping mom remember what to do with everyday items---at one point, she showed mom a cup---mom didn't model or seem to know what to do with it, so the therapist then put water in the cup and handed it to mom---mom grabbed the cup and brought it to her lips to drink--3 xs!! She wasn't allowed to drink the water due to her trach but she knew what to do with it. Then she tried a toothbrush and mom didn't do anything with it until she put toothpaste on it. Then mom brought it to her mouth and touched her lips with the paste---3xs again. She licked the paste. The first taste of anything in 4 months. When the therapist left, I took out mom's bag of combs and began to comb her hair and cut the back now that her head is away from the pillow. Mom took a comb and began to comb her hair!!!!! Really comb it!!! Then she looked at me with a smile as if to say, "Look what I can do!"
Dad and Aunt Sophie came while I was there. She smiled at them when they arrived. While dad and I did her physical therapy, mom said, "Ow" several times and also "What are you doing to me?" once. She shook her head yes when a nurse asked her a question and also said, "What" several times. I asked her to say, "Sophie" and she said, "I don't want to" 3 xs...but then she said, "Sophie" and then, "Aunt Sophie" --this made Aunt Sophie's day!!! She also said, "Jean" when dad asked her to say his name.
Claudia and Ava visited with her this afternoon and mom was in the Recreation Room. They held hands and sang songs and then mom let go of Ava's hand and tickled her stomach and laughed...so Ava laughed too. Mom did that twice.
When Dad, Aunt Carol and Aunt Sophie returned tonight, mom was holding her "Love Notes for Dotty" book and thumbing through the pages, looking like she was reading.
I found her watching the baseball game tonight when I came to tuck her in. I visited with her until 10 because she was so awake. I tried doing some speech with her and also her physical therapy. I asked her if Ava and Claudia visited her today and she looked at Ava's picture on the wall and said, "Ava." We drew on the dry erase board and mom's writing is more refined then last week. She began weeks ago by making small dots on the board, then dashes, then a string of circles, and today she made a large 2 inch circle that she traced over and over---twice. We said prayers, and I tucked her in for the night.
Tomorrow morning, mom goes to the neurologist with dad and Claudia for a check up. She is going by ambulance to his office. I tried to explain all that to her tonight. I hope she understands and doesn't get afraid.
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:...a time to laugh...a time to dance" Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4
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