Claudia began the day with mom and said that she did her physical therapy and washed her up, turned on the lights, opened the blinds...she said that mom was wide awake. When she left mom, she left her with the small bedsized computer table over her lap and a new puzzle and a few nuts and bolts to play with.
I arrived at mom's at 1:15ish. She was in her chair with her eyes closed tightly!!! Squinting. I said hello and she squinted them tighter!! She didn't want to see me today. We read a story I bought for her about a dashchund who adopts a piglet --- mom loves pigs! She looked at the pictures and the sentences but wouldn't read any of it aloud or mouth any of the words. I tried coloring in some coloring books with thick crayons but she wasn't interested. Alternately, she would close her eyes or look away from me or even fold her hands with her fingers laced together over her chest! I bought her a wooden barbecue set that looks like a grill, charcoal, tongs, skewers and wooden pieces of tomato, peppers, onions, shrimp, and beef. She liked playing with that (though she didn't show it on her face)...she spent a long time putting the skewer into the holes in the food and placing pieces of food on the skewers. She put 4-5 pieces of food on the skewers independently. We used the wooden farm animal puzzle next...hand over hand for some of the pieces. She wasn't able to match any pieces independently but she was able to place some pieces into their spots independently once I showed her where they went. One of her nurses said that she played it with mom too earlier and that mom matched the cow in its spot and placed it there. Next, we played with another wooden fish puzzle that had a fishing pole (magnetic). She put 5 of the 10 pieces into the puzzle alone. I began to coax her by calling her the "puzzle master" and she smiled and laughed a bit. (She needed MUCH coaxing and pep talks and reality talks about listening and participating for her own good). I asked her if she remembered what Anthony said about having a few more to do and showing her the pillow case and she laughed so hard!!!! She shook!!! We looked at a Toy Story book next and she was really interested at first and read the title "The Great Toy Escape" but then it was as though she caught herself and became silent for the remainder of the story...but she turned the pages one at a time with no problem and obviously silently read the words. (Anthony said that last week she licked her finger each time she turned the pages of a magazine they were reading!!). We did the pom poms in the container game that Claudia made for her---she did some with the tweezers (about 6) and others with her fingers (about 3). She tried the new shape sorter box I bought her --- finally after closing her eyes at the sight of it the first 3 times!!!. She couldn't match any of the shapes independently but could place them into the holes (some with minimal assistance). She put 3 shapes into the holes all on her own---star, oval, square. At one point, mom hit me with her elbow accidentally and she said, "Oooooo sorry!!!"
Con, dad, Anthony Michael and Sammy came to visit tonight. Dad had some more pre-op testing before his cataract surgery in November so he couldn't drive today...Anthony brought him to the appointment. Con said that while they visited mom tonight the facility doctor came in to see her and he asked her to raise her right arm, then left, then right leg, then left then wiggle her toes---mom did all in an instant as told except for her left leg!!!! Then Con asked her to clap hands for the doctor and mom did it with only a verbal cue!!! No modeling!!
We sort of received some results from the neurologist last week but not really... The doctor called dad to say that he received the CAT Scan results and that it all looked great. He said that the site where the aneurysm was looks good, no problems there. But, I asked dad if he asked the doctor about structural damage and he said no he didn't ask. So I don't know what all this means exactly. Mom goes for the EEG on Thursday in the morning. I have to work so I can't go. We get all the feedback from all the tests and records from the facility and the hospital on November 19, that's the follow-up visit date.
Claudia made a book for mom. I am attaching it! Feel free to send mom e-mails and I will copy them and bring them to her...or you could make her a book too!!!
"We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thessalonians 1:3
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