Mom Update, November 30, 2010, Tuesday

Claudia began mom’s day early this morning. She did full physical therapy/ range of motion exercises. She said that mom imitated hands open, hands closed! Mom did 8 leg lifts with the 10 inch ball under her knee on the right leg and none for the left leg. Claudia had mom use the theraband and balloon and mom gave pressure against the band with her right leg (5 times) and with the left leg 4 times. Claudia and mom also used the orange pull tube to work on hand strength. Claudia told mom she loved her and mom said, “I love you too.”
Anthony came to see mom next and did physical therapy/range of motion on mom’s legs. They played cards and laughed a lot!! He said that mom even tried to shuffle the cards!! The physical therapist came midday and did physical therapy on mom’s legs and mom stood today for 6 MINUTES!!! Yipppeee!! Mom raised her right leg 10 times but only moved her left leg. Then she fell asleep. Dad visited with mom during the physical therapy session and sat with her while she slept. Then they talked and watched TV and looked at magazines.
Claudia came back late in the afternoon. They did more leg lifts – right leg raised 2 times and the left leg none but mom tried hard to move and lift it. They did the theraband again and gave pressure with the right leg 3 times and 2 times with the left. They used the orange tube again and Claudia had mom hold the tube, pull the tube apart, then move her arm away and across her body. Claudia did a lot of work on mom’s left side (arm, hand, and leg) today. They also did the dot to dot pictures. Even though Claudia modeled for mom, she began in the middle at number 11 and then moved to 12, 13, 14!!
This evening, Con, Sammy, Anthony Michael and Mikey came to see mom. They did more range of motion exercise. Mom talked a lot but they couldn’t understand her. Mom did the sewing cards and they all watched the tree lighting on TV. They said she was coughing a lot tonight. Sammy said that mom said, “I love you too” to her and Mikey and that mom winked at them too as they were leaving.
I came to mom late tonight. She was awake but anxious. She was in a bit of a cold sweat…she seemed to be overheated. She had ripped off her blankets and it also looked like she had begun to take her gown off at the shoulders too. She smiled when she saw me (something mom did all day to all her guests---great mood today!!). She reached for my hand and tweaked my nose twice and laughed! We sat quietly and enjoyed each other’s company, smiling. Mom fell asleep so I tucked her in and prayed over her.
“For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper and not harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Mom Update, November 29, 2010, Monday

Claudia began the day with mom and said that mom was smiley, and happy to see her. Claudia bought her a small piggy squeeze toy whose eyes bulge out when you squeeze it. She showed mom and mom laughed then mom tried it herself--when mom squeezed the piggy and its eyes bulged out mom laughed again and said, "Eyes pop out!" Claudia did mom's full physical therapy/range of motion exercise and then worked on getting mom to move her legs using the 10 inch ball under her knee. Mom lifted her right leg 8 times and her left leg 4 times. When Claudia left for work, mom said, "You're goin?" and when Claudia said yes, mom said, "Don't go." While this is great in one respect, it hurts in another. Claudia called Anthony and told him what mom said and he dropped what he was doing and came to spend time with her. He said that she wasn't in the mood to do any work---wouldn't do the pom poms and tweezers, the paper clips, the sewing card..but was in a really great mood and happy. She just watched him as he talked to her and skimmed through a magazine. I have been talking to mom about entering into God's rest---and about how busy she always was before this all happened to her and how this can be a time now to rest finally. To enter in God's perfect rest perhaps---spiritually, mentally and physically. Relax and rest and be still with God. Maybe she is starting to do this in some small way? The physical therapist came to see mom while Dad and Anthony were there and he lifted her up from her chair in a bear hug hold to stand her up---he said she wasn't really bearing too much, if any, weight on her feet but that is OK. He tried this twice. He assured the guys that mom will get there soon. He also had her stand using the harness and mom stood 5 minutes straight which is a record for her!!! Anthony said that mom lifted her right leg 4 times and her left one slightly once or twice. Dad stayed with mom until after dinner time and he said mom slept a lot after physical therapy. I came to see mom this evening and we talked and watched TV a bit and she grabbed my hand as soon as I arrived---really purposefully! I don't remember if I mentioned it or not yesterday but each time mom completed a task yesterday, she looked at me with a face of satisfaction with a slight smile as if to seek my approval and also show me what she did. We prayed for awhile before I left and I tucked her in for the night.

"Wait with hope for the LORD. Be strong, and let your heart be courageous. Yes, wait with hope for the LORD." Psalm 27:14

Mom Update, November 28, 2010, Sunday

I began mom’s day with her today. It seems that, since the day light savings time change, she is sleeping well into the morning and up later in the evening. She was out like a light when I arrived. She also fell fast asleep again after being dressed and put in her wheelchair. I woke her after being put in her wheelchair. We are trying hard to help her acquire a more typical sleep pattern (similar to what you’d do with an infant or young child) so that she will be more alert during the day when we and others work with her. I did her full physical therapy (range of motion exercise) first. As I worked on her arms and hands and fingers, I noticed that mom can now, not only express pain in her face at times (left side manipulation), but she is now also able to try to move my hand away from her left side as well!!! This is a primitive reflexive motion – one where a person tries to move away from pain or toward it to make it stop. I remember that, in the hospital, they tested this reflex many times, and mom was not able to do this then. Mom was also able to imitate (4 rotations each) the movements I did for her (hand over hand)—on her own after I finished manipulating her. I showed her a visual model of what to do, how to move, and then asked her to do the same thing and she did!! Not with the same proficiency, but she was able to follow the model!!! She did better on her right side but she was now also able to move her left side alone with only a visual prompt as well!!!!! She was able to open and close her fist 4 times, and move her wrist up and down once on the LEFT SIDE!!! She couldn’t do this a month ago!! Next, I had mom stretch both arms out in front of her and then pull them back in close to her body---with a visual model only---and she did it!!!! I also changed up the actions too---2 times arms in and out then 1 time fingers open and closed then back again—and she followed along!!! Mom also told me 2xs that she needed to “go to the bathroom.” This awareness is great too! I gave mom 2 cards I bought for her that have a pug on the front in the snow---one is wearing an elf’s hat and the other is sliding on the ice wearing a scarf and hat. Mom loved them!! She said, “So cute!” and I asked her who the picture was but she didn’t tell me Toby—which is my pug’s name. She looked at the cards over and over. Mom can read now so if anyone wants to send her a card or letter—please send one to me at: 221 Bayview Avenue East Patchogue New York 11772 and I will give them to her. Next, we worked on moving mom’s legs and ankles. She was able to wiggle her ankles on command and also with a visual model first—and on both sides!! Then, I held a ball out over mom’s right leg and asked her to kick it. She couldn’t do it at first and even began to move her hands and wrists instead of her ankles and legs but once I did a full manual prompt, mom was able to lift her leg and kick the ball 6 times on the right side. There were gaps in between kicks and a lot of visual and sometimes physical prompts, but she did it!! Nice and high too!! One of the nurses came to do mom’s trach care and said that mom is able to follow directions nicely and he couldn’t believe how well mom did while he manipulated her trach and the surrounding bandages in that she didn’t cough or choke at all while he did it!!! This is a huge improvement!! Mom is now able to tolerate manipulation of the trach much better now.
Anthony, Con, and the kids, and Lenny came to see mom too. When they arrived, Samantha told her she bought her a piggy and mom smiled. She called Anthony Michael, “My sweetheart” which is the nickname she gave him years ago as a baby! She also asked for her “Party Pig” which is a clay pig with a party hat. She also read Con’s sweatshirt, “Stamford New York an American Classic.”
We all sang and talked to her. Anthony made her laugh again too. We asked her to smile and she did and then asked us to smile too. I bought her another drawing board with letters and numbers and shape to trace. Mom traced some letters for a while.
Samantha wrote: After you and Lenny left us, we started PT. Mom and dad and everyone else are working on her arms. Mom is doing the exercises with her and Nonny is following what she does sometimes. Nonny is getting tired now, she is just chillin. Now we are doing here legs and while mom was doing it and counting, mommy asked Nonny to count with her and she started to count. Now we are trying to get her to lift her legs. Nonny did not lift her legs but she did wiggle her feet. Nonny was laughing sooooo much. Bc of daddy.
Kathy wrote: Dad said that he and mom just relaxed together when Anthony, Con and the kids left. Mom had fallen asleep a bit and then dad left when the CNA came to put mom to bed and undress her and put her into her pjs. When I came back around dinner time, mom was all snug in bed so I gave her the piggies and we chatted and watched a movie together. Mom was happy to see me and she smiled a lot and listened and looked at me whenever I talked to her. As Sammy said earlier, we were “chillin.”
“The joy of the Lord is your strength” Nehemiah 8:10

Mom Update, November 27, 2010, Saturday

I began mom's day with her and she was out like a light sleeping, so I decided to let her sleep. Her CNA gave her a shower and I left to go see Aunt Sophie with Claudia and Terry. Dad and Anthony visited with mom today and decorated her room for Christmas together. Aunt Sophie is recovering from her fall nicely and will be going back home on Thursday. When I called both dad and Anthony to find out the details of mom's day, I got the male version (no matter how hard I prompted for more) which was, "She did good. She had a good day." Oh well, good is better than bad I suppose!

"He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection." Psalm 91:4

Mom Update, November 25, 2010, Thursday, Thanksgiving Day

Early Thanksgiving Morning: Claudia just called to say that the CNA took a long time preparing mom today for Thanksgiving Day. She asked Claudia for make up and they primped mom and put make up on mom too. Everyone was running into mom’s room to see how she looked and to make sure that she was ready for the day. The Head Nurse came into mom’s room too to make sure that mom looked “beautiful for her family today,” she also oversaw the cleaning of the room that we are taking mom to today to celebrate. Claudia said that mom was tired afterwards and seemed to want to rest after she did her physical therapy. Later, when Claudia talked to Con, Con said that she had a dream last night that mom was sitting in her bed all made up and that mom said, “I’m back.”

Midday: We all gathered together with mom in the recreation room. We reserved the room for Thanksgiving. We all started the day in a circle, holding hands, saying a prayer. Lenny said the prayer. We had some sandwiches and snacks. We all sang while listening to the IPAD (Sound of Music, BJ Thomas, The Beatles, The Monkees…). While we were singing, mom said, “We’re all singing.” We played games (Hit or Miss, Scatergories, cards…). Mom sat with us at the table and was Claudia’s teammate. Mom was so alert and present the whole day. We all sat together and watched movies as we usually do (Moonstruck, one of mom’s favorites). Mom spent some time holding and reading a card from Laura and Barry and the kids (she actually read all the words inside and out). Later in the evening, a man with a guitar came to the room and had us sing as he played. We all laughed and played and sang together and had a great holiday.

This Thanksgiving, our family gives our heartfelt thanks to everyone who prayed for us these last months. We are grateful to all our friends and family whose steadfast love and prayers have seen us through this trying time in our lives. Mom is as healthy and functional as she is today because of what the Lord has done. We thank God that we were all together again this holiday and we pray for many more happy times to come. Know that all of you are in our prayers as well.

All Our Love Kathy, Lenny, Dad, Claudia, John, Ava, Jean, Anthony, Con, Anthony Michael, Samantha, Terry, and of course, Dotty

“Give thanks in every circumstance.” 2 Thessolonians 5:12

Mom Update, November 26, 2010, Friday

Mom was out like a light during the entire time that Claudia was with her and did her physical therapy. Claudia hung out with mom even though she was sleeping. As she waited, mom woke up in a good mood. She then talked to mom and shortly after, worked on helping mom move her legs. She put the ball under her leg, one at a time, and then worked on helping her lift her leg. A physical therapist came in to work with mom (one she doesn't usually work with--the regular physical therapist isn't in today). Mom lifted her right leg up 2 times while the therapist watched and then lifted her leg again 1 more time. They worked on her left leg next. She managed to lift it off the bed but not very high. The pictures of leg lifting that Claudia made seem to help her alot in processing. Claudia also left the social story, "Getting Better" for mom to read while she left. Claudia thought that mom looked a little frustrated by the fact that she couldn't move her left leg As Claudia left, she told mom, "Mom, you know I love you and only do this with you to get you better, right?" and mom answered, "I know." She asked mom to choose which activities she wanted and mom chose the Magna Doodle.

When I arrived to see mom today, she was sitting in her wheelchair looking at a magazine and she smiled at my greeting. She reached out her hand to shake mine without my initiating the action. Then, she removed a large piece of lint from the front of the black sweater I was wearing!! We played with the bubbles for a while. She practiced trying to blow but couldn’t produce enough breath to blow any bubbles. I blew them intermittently and she tracked them while I encouraged her to pop the ones that landed on her. Next, mom completed both the fish and vehicle wooden puzzles (one has 10 pieces and the other has 8). She was able to complete them using a lot of concentration for the task at hand and she put the pieces in with verbal and gestural prompts only! She completed the peg board next, placing all 25 pegs into the board independently!!! Next, she unsnapped all 12 snap-lock beads and then snapped 6 beads back together alone!!! I tried to do the wooden fruit pieces stringing them on a string but she had no interest. Anthony, Con, and Dad came to see mom next and we gave her the maze book and colored pencils. She seemed to enjoy writing in the book and tracing random pictures. Anthony was being goofy and trying to make mom laugh, as always, and she laughed and called him a “Stupid a..!” As dad was quietly, whispering to me about going to Cablevision this morning, mom looked over at us with a concerned look and said, “What’s the matter?” I told her everything was OK. Anthony looked at her as she was drawing with the colored pencils and said, “So…so…” and mom said, “So what?” Anthony and Con played cards with mom next, 31. Mom held the cards in her hand really well. Anthony and Con had to explain how to play all along, but she followed their lead. Anthony and Con and Dad worked on mom’s physical therapy later on and mom lifted her right leg 4 times and her left leg once with the ball under her knee. Later on, when I came back to see mom tonight, we talked and prayed and played catch and watched MASH and relaxed. I tucked mom in when I left and we said our prayers.

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31

Mom Update, November 24, 2010, Wednesday

Claudia began mom’s day with her. She did her full physical therapy/range of motion. She tried to get mom to lift her legs but no luck today. Claudia said that mom wasn’t in a good mood this morning. Cranky. When the head respiratory therapist came in to see mom, she ignored him and turned her head away from him. Claudia read her social story, “Getting Better” which outlines how mom needs to talk to people who talk to her. She set mom up for the day and left for work. Later in the day, one of the CNAs said that, when she walked into mom’s room this morning, after Claudia left, she found mom sitting in bed with her lap table doodling on the small doodle pad I bought for her. The CNA said that mom looked so alert and concentrated on what she was doing!! Dad came next. Mom tried to make a chain with the paper clips and was also putting them on the edge of the paper. She put the clothespins on the edge of a cup. She sewed with the sewing cards (she seems to love doing this). Mom used to do beautiful crewel and embroidery. Mom also drew on the wipe off board too. Dad said she made a picture of something that looked like a tree! When the physical therapist came, mom lifted her right leg a few times and didn’t lift the left one at all. But she stood for 4 minutes!! Dad said she does it so well---no look of distress, legs straight and bearing weight!! The respiratory therapist said that mom is doing so well on the vent that they are not going to raise the vent tonight!!! They are going to try to leave it on CPAP all night!! Say a prayer that she does well. When I arrived later this afternoon, mom was sitting beside dad and she was staring at him with such a look of love on her face as he watched TV and talked to her. It was a beautiful sight. I played with the IPAD with mom and she actually traced lower case manuscript letters using the stylus!!!! John and Claudia visited with mom tonight but she was tired. They worked on doing activities with mom’s left hand and she did well with some prompting. They tucked her in for bed when they left.
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:23

Mom Update, November 23, 2010, Tuesday

Claudia began the day with mom and she was bright eyed and wide awake and happy and smiling! As Claudia did mom's physical therapy, mom said, "Be Careful" when Claudia came to mom's left arm. Mom did 10 really great leg lifts for Claudia on the right side and 5 great lifts on the left! The physical therapist stopped in while mom was doing the lifts on the right side. Claudia set mom up for the day with her bed tray and a few activities (sewing card, magazine, nut and bolt...). Dad came next and found mom in a good mood as well. She continued her activities and then fell asleep. The physical therapist and dad woke her and mom wouldn't do any leg lifts for them, but stood for 2 minutes again today (and she had just woke up). She fell back to sleep when therapy was over and dad left for dinner. After dinner, Con, Anthony Michael and Sammy brought dad back to see mom. They said that she sewed her butterfly card, read magazines, and watched TV and talked. They did her full physical therapy and said that she was relaxed and not in the mood to do much else. I stopped in at the end of their visit and got mom ready for bed. We all said prayers with her together and kissed her good-bye.

"...but He will heal us..." Hosea 6:1

Mom Update, November 22, 2010, Monday

Today, when Claudia arrived at mom’s, she was wide awake and alert and smiling. Claudia did her physical therapy and talked to her. She set mom up for the morning, giving her some magazines and her bed table and then left for work. When I arrived at mom’s her dear friends, Flo and Maureen, were visiting with her. Mom was looking at them and smiling. Dad and Anthony came moments later! Of course, as soon as Anthony started to talk to her, she smiled and laughed. I left to do some homework since mom had so many visitors. Angelo, Madeline and JoAnn came to see mom just after I left her. She recognized Angelo and Madeline and greeted them with a smile. Angelo and Anthony had mom laughing hysterically. JoAnn told mom that, even if Anthony sang the ABCs, she’d laugh. So Anthony sang them and mom laughed really hard. She gave Angelo 2 thumbs up at once and, at one point, she began to joke with Angelo and laughed some more. JoAnn had mom work on cutting paper with the scissors, putting buttons through the slot into the container, sew buttons together, and sew her heart and butterfly sewing cards. Flo told us that mom had a piece of her vent line in her mouth when she arrived so we alerted the staff --- we all need to be mindful that she has begun to chew on things at times. Claudia and I are investigating whether some sort of nook toothbrush is applicable for mom to use perhaps. When everyone but dad and Anthony left, the physical therapist came and had mom do leg lifts in her chair. She lifted her right leg about 6-7 times really high and lifted her left leg once really high. Then the therapist had mom stand again. She stood for a minute then sat down. Then he had her stand again for about 3 minutes and she did well. Anthony and dad said she looks really good and not too nervous to stand. Very natural. Dad came back after dinner to visit with mom. I am here now watching TV and getting mom ready for bed. When I walked in tonight, she was thumbing through a magazine and watching TV. She also played with her stuffed, pink bear that looks like a pig. We have decided to spend Thanksgiving Day here with mom all day. There’s a lounge that looks like a living room and we hope to hang out there and play games and watch the typical holiday videos…! Dad is feeling melancholy so please pray for him.
“A friend loves at all times.” Proverbs 17:7

Mom Update, November 21, 2010, Sunday

Mom spent the first hour she was awake with one of her CNAs. They visited and looked at magazines. Then she fell asleep for 2 hours and we woke her up so that she would be awake during the day and asleep at night (so she would be alert for the physical therapist). Dad, Con, Anthony, Anthony Michael, Samantha and I visited with mom. We played the sound track from the Sound of Music and sang with her for a while. We played with the Nerf guns next and did target practice on the pictures on closet door. Donna came to visit mom today and when mom saw her, she said, “Oh my God!” Donna asked how she was, and mom said, “I’m OK.” Mom began to get trigger happy and was shooting at all of us!! Maybe it wasn’t accidental!! Haha! Her eye hand coordination with the Nerf gun was really good today! Anthony was pretending to throw a ball at mom and she said, “You’re gonna be in trouble.” Mom talked to us on and off making comments and she was laughing too. We also played with an air gun that shoots freezbee-like discs all over the room. Mom laughed. At one point, Mom said (out loud), “Donna didn’t like that.” Claudia wrote, “Give Donna the ball” and mom said, “That’s not fair!” When they showed her the words again and asked, mom said, “That’s mine.” Sammy asked mom to read the words, and mom said, “You have to learn to read” sort of like she was telling Sammy that she wouldn’t read it for her. Then, Anthony threw a ball of clay and mom asked, “Who did it?” Next, we asked her what each person’s name was, one at a time, while we held up the dry erase board with the person’s name on it. She read each person’s name. We asked her what Anthony Michael likes to eat and wrote it, but she said, “I don’t know” until she saw the answer in writing. When we wrote questions on the dry erase board, she answered in a full sentence. While mom was drawing, it looked like ½ of a big turkey---Claudia began to draw the other half…and it looked like a huge bird, mom smiled and said, “Big Bird” from Sesame Street---it did look like him! Anthony was being goofy to make mom laugh and mom chuckled and said, “You’re so stupid!!” Anthony asked her what she was drawing and dad said, “A mouse on a log” and mom laughed really hard. Dad bought mom flowers and she said, “They look so good.”
After everyone left and only dad and I were with mom, I put on her classical music and we did the large paper clips on the edge of some construction paper (mom placed 6 on the paper alone), then we did the clothespins on the edge of the cup (mom placed 10 of the 12 on the rim). We did the large, plastic buttons next and mom placed 22 buttons into the slot of a container. She did the nuts and bolts next and mom put 3 sets together alone. We tried the pom poms and the tweezers but mom seemed confused about what to do with this task—I prompted her to pick up 4-5 pom poms and place them into the holes of the container. Mom did some clipping coupons with the scissors next. We tried using some of the hand strengthening toys we brought from Canada next---one is a small hand grip that is cylindrical and you squeeze it to strengthen your hands—mom did it using both hands. Another toy is like an old fashioned pinwheel toy that you push a trigger to make spin---mom did this periodically too. Another is a squeeze ball and mom squeezed it.
Just as I was leaving, late in the afternoon, one of mom’s old CNAs came to visit her and she told us that she worked the late shift on Friday night so she spent some time with mom then. She said that, when she walked into the room, mom had 20/20 on and it was about 2 young 18 year old girls who fought over a boy and ended up committing murder. She said mom was engrossed and kept looking at her and shaking her head in pity! When this CNA came to see mom today, she said hi and mom asked her how she was.
Dad stayed with mom until dinner was ready and he said that she fell asleep for a while. She was moved back to bed again and woke just as dad was leaving for dinner. Mom’s vent is back on CPAP!!!! Yippeeee!!! Evidently, it has been on CPAP all along since Wednesday. They only move it up to the SMIV (middle) level when mom falls asleep. However, she did well on the CPAP level even when she slept today.
Claudia came to see mom this evening while dad, Lenny and I ate dinner. We went to say good night to mom after dinner. Claudia and mom were watching Mary Tyler Moore episodes on DVD. We said prayers and sat with mom a few minutes and then left Claudia and mom together.
"Lord, You establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished You have done for us." Isaiah 26:12

Mom Update, November 20, 2010, Saturday

Today was Ava’s 18th birthday. Mom’s vent level is still raised to the middle level (not the CPAP level which is the lowest setting) and is set on 10 since yesterday. I didn’t see any of the respiratory therapists in order to ask about why this was so. Mom had seemed to be doing so well on the CPAP level for 2 ½ days and then it was raised yesterday. I guess this will be a slow process. Sometimes when I am with mom, it is almost as if she is deaf because I can talk to her or call her, and she appears not to hear me at all. The same is true for her vision on and off. Sometimes she can talk a lot and sometimes she just sits silently too. The brain is a mysterious organ.
John and Ava started the day with mom. They did her physical therapy and talked to her. Mom said, “Happy Birthday” to Ava. Mom fell asleep. Claudia arrived and found mom asleep and was told that mom would be getting a shower soon, so Claudia left for a while and came back later. Dad, Anthony, Con, Anthony Michael, Samantha, Claudia and Terry all visited with mom throughout the day at various times. Dad said that mom laughed on and off at funny things that Anthony was doing and saying. Mom answered some questions dad asked her too. Claudia said mom was quiet while she visited with dad and fell asleep on and off. Mom fell asleep while Anthony and Con were visiting too. Anthony and Con did mom’s physical therapy too. Lenny and Ava came to see mom later in the afternoon. Dad said that mom enjoyed all the visitors and attention. When I arrived to see mom, only dad and Terry were left with her and mom fell asleep on and off a lot until about 7:30 p.m. Mom and I watched TV together (M.A.S.H.) while I did homework. She played with her piggies and a cloth I bought for her that has a sewn-in pathway with beans in it that you move through the path. She appeared to be wide awake from 7:30 onward until I left.
“Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing.” Isaiah 43:18-19

Mom Update, November 19, 2010, Friday

For the first time in 5 1/2 months, mom stood up today!! The physical therapist used a harness type of apparatus under mom's butt to help support her in a standing position and a type of podium for her to lean on in a way in order for her to stand. She stood, bearing weight on her feet, for about 1-1/12 minutes. This totally wore her out. When she sat back down, she fell asleep. As she slept, the respiratory therapists put her vent on the SMIV mode--which is the middle level that they are using for mom at night...when mom woke up, they were supposed to put it back down to the CPAP level...but they didn't. It could also be that today is Friday and they like to proceed with caution on the weekends. Anthony and Con were there with mom when she stood. Mom was asleep when Anthony and Con arrived at first. When she woke up, she was in a good mood and smiling and glad to see them. They did her full physical therapy, read magazines, talked, watched TV, and did the sewing card with mom.

The physical therapist came while they were there and, in addition to standing, mom lifted her right leg 3 times and moved her left leg but did not move it enough to lift high enough to reach Dan's hand as usual.

Dad, JoAnn and I all came to be with mom in the afternoon. For the majority of the afternoon, we spent our time with mom in the recreation room where there was a birthday celebration. There was live entertainment-- a man playing a guitar and singing and a woman singing with him. The residents/patients all loved the music. Mom even smiled a lot and mouthed some of the words to the songs. Dad left before it became dark (still not driving at night since his cataract surgery). JoAnn and I stayed until dinner time and set mom up in bed, then we left to see John's show and to visit Aunt Peggy in the hospital. Aunt Peg is doing well and was moved to a rehab center while we were visiting with her. Aunt Sophie is in a rehab center too. They both need help with walking. John's show ended late and we went for coffee afterwards so, since it was around midnight when I drove home, I didn't go back to tuck mom in tonight. I pray the Lord continues to heal her.

"Lord, You establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished You have done for us." Isaiah 26:12

Mom Update, November 18, 2010, Thursday

Claudia started the day with mom today. She was awake, smiling, wide eyed and ready to visit. Claudia did her lower body physical therapy. Claudia cleaned her hearing aids really well and her glasses too. They read the “Getting Better” social story about the things she needs to do to get better. Then she set up her lap desk on the bed and gave her 2 magazines, the sewing card, the dot to dot with the pencil (mom started it).
Dad came next and the physical therapist came and worked with mom. Dad said that mom only moved her right leg (lifted it to hit the therapist’s hand) 5 times and her left leg 1 time. The therapist said not to worry though and that he’d be back tomorrow. JoAnn came to join mom and dad next and worked with mom all afternoon. At one point, a therapist came into the room and was talking to mom but mom wasn’t responding so dad told mom to respond and he kept calling to her and mom turned to him and said, “WHAT?” in an annoyed way (so like the old mom we know and love!!) and the therapist commented, “Boy, you guys must be married a long time!” They all laughed! Later, JoAnn was working with mom and told her to do something and mom took off her glasses and used them as an extension of her own hand so that she could reach to swat JoAnn!!! They all laughed again!!! JoAnn had mom doing the sewing cards, read book, ripping paper, wooden puzzles, and the pom poms with the tweezers one at a time. Mom even sewing 3 of the sewing buttons together!! Mom even slid all the plastic buttons into the slot on the container as well.
John came to see mom later in the afternoon and evening and did a full physical therapy with her. They looked at a picture book together and did the sewing cards. Mom fell asleep while John was doing the physical therapy on her feet.
Lenny saw mom this evening and she was wide awake. They looked at TV and talked for a while together. Lenny said he talked and mom listened. He got her ready for bed tonight and tucked her in and prayed with her.
“Oh Lord, teach me knowledge and good judgement, for I believe in your commands.” Psalm 119:66

Mom Update, November 17, 2010, Wednesday

Claudia came to start the day with mom, but when she arrived, mom was soundly asleep. Even through her physical therapy, mom stayed asleep. Out like a light. Anthony came and spent a few hours with mom also later in the morning and early afternoon. She was awake when he first got there and they talked and looked through a magazine and mom began to do her sewing card. But very quickly, mom fell fast asleep and slept for an hour or more. When she woke up, dad and JoAnn and I came to see mom. She was asleep still so we let her sleep for a while. Now that mom is in the wheelchair, there’s a new set-up involved (how to and where to place her feet on the chair, the pillows, which pillows to use, how to position her feet…). Mom’s shoulders and elbows are to be in a natural posture position---square with arms on the sides of the chair. She didn’t look right when I arrived today so we ended up having an inservice training from the physical therapist. The therapist worked with mom once she woke up. The therapist explained how muscles are graded on a scale of 0-5…slight contraction 1…against gravity 3…mom fluctuates between 0-3 right now. Mom’s CO2 levels on the vent have been great today and yesterday!! Respiratory therapist said she is doing great on the vent on the CPAP setting! Mom was able to lift her right leg 6 times and her left leg 4 times for the physical therapist. She wasn’t in the mood to work today at all.
We did the IPAD for a while; the counting and tic tac toe games. Mom was not enthralled. We also played the piano on the IPAD while dad slept in the chair, and we played the alphabet and word games too---not interested. At one point, when the table was moved from in front of mom, she reached for her socks and shoe laces!! Fancy schmancy now that she has shoes!! Reaching all around! Good for her! Once when I left the room to talk to the nurse, mom pulled on her vent and actually yanked the entire line out at the neck connection and the line fell on the floor!!! JoAnn was there and was shocked at what mom did!! Dad was there too so he connected the line back to the vent/trach opening in her neck! Mom was sleepy when they put her back into bed shortly after that. When I got back to tuck mom in later in the evening, she was wide awake and watching TV while holding her stuffed piggies (they were all spread out around her too!). I tucked her in and said our prayers. Oh, I forgot to mention that the long awaited for neurologist appointment scheduled for Friday has been postponed to December 8th! So frustrating… Hopefully, today was a day of rejuvenation and healing for mom.

"Be anxious for nothing; God will take care of your tomorrow" Matthew 6:25

Mom Update, November 16, 2010, Tuesday

Kathy wrote: PRAISE THE LORD!!!!! Mom did so well during physical therapy today that the therapist decided that it is time for mom to move into a wheelchair and wear sneakers so that he can begin to work on having mom bear weight on her legs and stand and walk!!!!!!!! Also today, the respiratory therapist put mom’s vent down to CPAP level (the lowest level before no vent at all---it’s the level someone with sleep apnea uses)!!!! The prayers of family and friends and the work of the Lord made this happen!!! Thank you one and all for every prayer you utter for mom. Keep them coming!!
Claudia wrote: Today mom started her day with Claudia. Claudia was early today and started to stretch mom and do her PT before the Physical Therapist came in. Mom was awake when Claudia arrived. When the Physical Therapist walked in the room mom said, “The gangs all here!” She said it audibly and the Physical Therapist almost fainted. She was talking and answering the Physical Therapist as she worked. She lifted her right and left foot off the bed! She even tightened her right thigh and pushed her knee into the bed with her right leg. The Physical Therapist tripped going from one side of the bed to the other and mom said, “Be careful.” Everything she said was loud and clear this morning. The Physical Therapist and I were praising her for good work and she said, “I didn’t do nothing.” (Boy, she must have had a stroke and aneurysm because she would never say something that wasn’t grammatically correct!) The Physical Therapist told Claudia to bring in her sneakers so he can get her another type of chair (wheelchair) and eventually work on standing. Before she knew it, an aide came in with the new chair (A black wheelchair that reclines!). Claudia was asked to leave because the Physical Therapist was going to show the staff how she should be placed in the chair. Claudia met Kathy later in the day and handed off mom’s sneakers. Jo Ann, Kathy and Rosie came to see mom. Anthony had to take dad back to the eye doctor today. Mom asks for him and misses him.
Kathy wrote: Dad had his cataract surgery in one of his eyes yesterday. All went well and he is allowed to drive as soon as he feels able to (which will probably be tomorrow). JoAnn and Rosie (our cousins) visited mom today while I went with Lenny to get his CAT Scan of his jaw. The oral surgeon said that it looks 99.9% non-malignant---Praise God again! We get the exact results from the radiologist on either Friday or Monday. It could either be a hole in his jaw from a possible former injury that bruised then healed, or a cyst or a non-malignant tumor. The spot in question is in his jaw bone and may need to be removed regardless since it may be detrimental to the position of his jaw bones and teeth if it grows.
When I arrived to mom’s Rosie and JoAnn were in mom’s room and the recreation therapists had just moved mom into the recreation room to do “drums.” I went in with mom to play the drums---she played them at first but then I played them hand over hand with her and then she did it on and off alone with coaxing. I left mom in the drum room after an hour of drums to go to work.
Claudia wrote: Claudia came back after school and did PT with mom. She used the 10 inch ball and placed it under her right leg like the Physical Therapist does and mom was able to lift her right leg off the bed. Mom was also able to lift her left leg, but she only did it once. Claudia tried to use the balloon under her leg to get her to push her leg into the bed, but mom could do it. Mom was able to bend both feet at the ankle. Claudia also worked with the theraband (it is a large flat rubber band – yellow, which is the weakest strength) and had mom hold it and push her feet down against the theraband. Claudia was able to take pictures of all of these exercises so others can practice this with mom and know where to place the ball and theraband. Mom fell asleep twice when Claudia was there, but was fresh as a daisy when she woke!
JoAnn came to be with mom tonight and Lenny joined her after school. JoAnn (our newest family therapist) used the pegboard and pegs with mom (mom stacked them up 5 high rather then put them into the board). Mom also did her sewing card too. JoAnn did the color cards and had mom try to match colors as well (we might just hire JoAnn permanently!!). When Lenny arrived, he tried to get mom to talk. He would show her objects and then as she showed an interest in them, he would tell her to say what the object was and then give it to her. At one point, there was a bottle of ice tea on her window sill and when Lenny handed it to mom, she tried to open it (she knew what it was and what to do with it). Next, Lenny gave mom his cell phone and mom tried to dial it!! Lenny told her to dial her home number and she said, “I don’t know” so he told her what numbers to press and sometimes she pressed the correct number! Then mom put the phone to her ear but heard nothing so she looked at it and put it to her ear again. When Lenny took the phone to put it away, mom said, “Give me the phone!” Lenny also worked on letters and numbers and tic tac toe on the IPAD with mom. When I arrived, I played the soundtrack from the Sound of Music for mom and she seemed to like it. She was very alert today. She tried to talk to me a lot. When we left, she blew kisses and told us she loved us (she told me, “I love you too sweetie”). We set her up for bed and prayed with her and left.

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!" Philippians 4:4

Mom Update, November 15, 2010, Monday

The physical therapist worked with mom this morning without Claudia---she had to work early. The therapist told us later that he was very excited because mom had her best day yet!!! SHE LIFTED NOT ONLY HER RIGHT LEG TODAY (as usual) BUT HER LEFT LEG AS WELL!!! The therapist said that as of Friday, mom had plateaued again so it sounded like physical therapy was going to get canceled once again. Thank God she made this progress today---it probably bought her another 2-3 weeks of therapy.
Claudia came to wake mom up this morning after the therapist came. She did mom’s physical therapy. She also tried the therapy ball under mom’s leg and mom lifted her right leg off the bed while on the ball 10 times and even held her leg in the air for about 10 times and bounced it up and down in the air!! Mom talked a lot today!!! She told Claudia that it wasn’t a good idea that Claudia was there today!
Jo Ann came to be with mom today! Mom was sleeping when she got there but woke up immediately after that. They did the wooden vehicle puzzle with sounds almost totally independently! Mom also did her sewing cards. The respiratory therapist came while JoAnn was there and he asked her to wiggle her toes and mom did! The respiratory therapist said that movement and walking will make CO2 levels and breathing go to normal. Go figure. Tell the physical therapists that!! The respiratory therapist lowered mom’s vent down to 8! So far all her breathing levels are good and she is breathing on her own/above the vent! Two of the nurses commented on how much progress mom has made in the last few months!! Mom smiled and said, “Good bye” to one of the aides when the aide left the room. Mom also did cutting with the scissors with JoAnn and drawing with the pencil on the paper. They did the IPAD for a while after that and played the alphabet game—mom did it all alone!! Mom asked Jo Ann, at one point, “Do I go to PT?” JoAnn did the pom poms with tweezers next.
Mom and I tried the nuts and bolts and mom connected 4 sets of nuts and bolts but wouldn’t take them apart. We did the wooden shape sorter box next with the wooden shapes and mom did about 1/3 of the shapes alone. Next, we did the clothespins on the cup rim but mom wouldn’t do the task hardly at all today. Mom and I did the large, plastic buttons in the slot in the container next and then put them in the bag. We drew on the dry erase board for a while next. Mom colored in the lines of her name.
The next 2 hours or more, Claudia, JoAnn and I sang with mom…we played song after song (The Monkees, Steve Tyrell, Louie Armstrong, The Carpenters, John Denver, BJ Thomas, Dione Warwick…) on the IPOD on her IPAD and sang with her and danced. We had such a great time. Mom mouthed some of the words at points too!!!
Mom kept asking me, “Where’s dad?” a few times after Claudia and JoAnn left. I told her he couldn’t come since he went to the eye doctor today…but she would ask again anyway. I called dad and asked him to write mom a note so that Con and Sammy could bring it to mom later and he did.
Sammy wrote this part: Mommy and I came to see Nonny. It was the early evening. When we first got in she was sleeping. Then mommy said wake up. Nonny opened her eyes and she smiled at me and mommy. Mommy did full PT on her. Mommy, Nonny, and I are just hanging out watching TV. We are watching Paula Dean. Mommy went to get a nurse to go suction Nonny, when she walked back in the room Mommy asked what was wrong and Nonny mouthed nothing. Mommy told Nonny to kiss the piggy and Nonny took the piggy and kissed it on its head. Nonny is sewing now. She is sewing the butterfly. We are watching TV now. Oh and the note that poppy gave Nonny, she never stopped looking at it. I read it to her and she was staring at it over and over.
When I came to tuck mom in tonight at 9:00, she was laying in bed comfortably with the TV on the Food Channel but she was sleeping---or her eyes were closed. As I prepared her room for the night and her too, she opened her eyes and looked at me. We prayed together and I shut the lights and she went back to sleep.
“I thank God upon every remembrance of you” Philippians 1:3

Mom Update, November 14, 2010, Sunday

When Anthony, Con and Sam arrived to get mom ready for the day, it was still dark in the room and mom was asleep. As they stood by the bed, mom opened her eyes and said, “What’s wrong?” with a worried look. She did it again when she saw Con. While we were sitting with mom and goofing around, Anthony did something, and mom mouthed, “Tell him to behave!” I told her to comb her hair and gave her the comb and mom told Sammy to comb her hair instead. Then she combed her hair and dad’s and Anthony’s. Mom read the whole, “All about Me” book that Claudia made her, including the silly lines she and I wrote together the other day. Mom talked a lot today!!! Mouthed sentences, phrases… responses. Anthony played with the thera-putty with mom and she laughed hysterically throughout the whole time. Anthony said he was making perogies and mom laughed. Then he said he was making “strombony bread” and I said, “Nice one—you combined trombone and Stromboli---and mom laughed so hard. Mom said, “I have to go to the bathroom” and Anthony said, “OK go…I’ll turn around” and mom went hysterical again. When mom said it again, Anthony told her to go walk to the bathroom and mom laughed again. At one point, Anthony was trying to get mom to use her left hand and she was holding and grabbing her stuffed bear comfy---anthony said, “Ma believe me the bear can’t do anything for you!” and mom laughed so hard!!
We did the paper clips with mom too…she spent a lot of time connecting them into a chain and also sticking them into the theraputty. Anthony pushed the table accidentally that was in front of mom while he was asking her if she was OK and then he said, “Oh sure, you’re much better now that the table is shoved into you! You look great while your eyes bulge out like that!” Mom laughed so hard!!!!

Sammy took these notes for us this afternoon while I went to Jean's show at Five Towns College:
Con sang to Nonny “The Hills are alive at the sound of music” Anthony said “Mom when the doctors come in you should put both thumbs up and smile and Sam said no you should say how you doing like Joey on friends, with her fingers up. Anthony said one more time what? Then he said one more time ok. Nonny was laughing so hard she made the alarm on her vent go off.
After we had fun laughing and hanging around Nonny started to get tired. She fell asleep playing a game with Claudia but, now she is up. Dad, Claudia, Con, Ant, and Sam are just talking to her and playing hang man. Now we are trying to find what the word is and Mom is holding the IPad like a book. She does that a lot. Claudia was telling Nonny to make a pointer finger and she did and she picked the letter. Anthony started to sing and Nonny looked at him and just started to laugh. We were in the middle of playing hang man with Nonny and Poppy fell asleep and Nonny looked at him and just started laughing. Con and Anthony made funny faces around him and Nonny laughed more. Claudia said I have to go to work and nonny said "what time" so Claudia said "now."

Kathy picked it up from here:
Lenny came to see mom next and they continued to play hang man and then mom got tired so they just sat and watched TV with her for a while. When Lenny left, he told mom he loved her and she said, "I love you too Lenny."

JoAnn (our cousin from Alabama/New Jersey) came with me to see mom this evening but she was sleeping so we took dad to dinner. After dinner, JoAnn and I went back to see mom and when she saw JoAnn she made a surprised and happy face!!!!!! We talked to her and laughed a bit and then we told her it was time for bed and she seemed to be sad...we said prayers and she wiped a tear from her eye then we dimmed the lights and put the TV timer on and left.

"A happy heart makes the face cheerful" Proverbs 15:13

Mom Update, November 13, 2010, Saturday

This morning, when I got to mom, she was sound asleep. I got everything ready to start the day and one of the respiratory people came in. I asked how mom’s CO2 levels were last night and she said they were good. Thank God. The respiratory person did her work with mom reading the charts and vent and then she suctioned mom while mom was asleep. What a rude awakening! The respiratory person said that mom wasn’t breathing over the vent last night at times---this means she had periods of sleep apnea (which she had before all this happened any way) and that is never a good thing. They are monitoring her for periods of sleep apnea at night in order to wean her from the vent. I guess they will start her on the lower vent setting during the day and resume the raised setting at night on Monday as planned. The pulmonologist had said yesterday that he felt a vent setting that was not at a fixed ratio (staying the same number all the time) was better for mom so that she wouldn’t rely on the vent to breath for her and she would begin to remember to breath on her own. This would also exercise her lungs which is good for her too. Hopefully, this will all start on Monday. I did her physical therapy and put her hearing aids in and gave her a manicure. Then mom and I read her, “All About Me” book. We decided to write some funny captions for the pictures—mom smiled a little when we did this. I guess my comedic attempts don’t hold a candle to Anthony! Hahaha! The CNA came to give mom a shower so I left until she was done.

Dad and Terry visited with mom today, so did Dad's cousin, Bobby, and Barbara and Danny. Dad said they had a nice visit. Barbara brought mom some really nice new magazines to look at and mom likes them. Dad said mom was in a good mood today and read and sewed on her sewing cards (and he couldn't remember what else!).

I saw mom later tonight to tuck her in and say prayers...she was sound asleep.

"Love one another as I have loved you." John 13:34

Mom Update, November 12, 2010, Friday

When Claudia got to mom this morning, she was out like a light, so she did mom's physical therapy with her. She couldn't wake her up, she was in a deep sleep. When the physical therapist got there, he said he would come back later when mom was awake and would try her like around 9. Claudia said that mom had the wrong diaper on again this morning as well.

When Anthony went to see mom today, she was looking at a magazine while sitting in her chair. When Anthony tried to talk to her, she wouldn't look at him but he kept on talking and then she fell asleep. He let her sleep and she didn't sleep long and was happy when she woke up. They started playing with the clothespins on the cup together and mom placed them on the edge of the cup. They talked as she did this and she laughed when Anthony put them on his nose, ears...he left for a minute and when he came back, she was laughing because she tried to put one on her nose too. They looked at magazines and laughed at the pictures. Then the 2 respiratory people came in and Anthony had a clothespin on his nose, not realizing they were in the room. Mom laughed at this initially, but when she saw that they were coming to her, she wouldn't do anything. One of them asked her to say, "Hi" to him but mom wouldn't do it and averted her eyes. Anthony said, "Mom look at me, they want to help you so you have to do what they say." Then, much to the amazement of the 2 therapists, mom said, "Hi." Anthony made a snowflake from the paper and scissors while they were cutting and told mom to say that she did it when the next batch of therapists came in and she laughed and laughed. While the respiratory people were in the room assessing mom, one therapist said to lower the vent during the day and raise it during the night. He said this would be a major step in the right direction with mom. The head respiratory guy said no at first but the other guy tried to convince him to do it and then they agreed it would be a good thing to do. When the therapists were ready to leave, one asked her to grab his hand and mom wouldn't do it at first. Then Anthony said to do it because they want to help her and she did it again. The therapists were very impressed by her cognitive ability. Anthony said he needed to go to work soon and would have to leave soon and mom said, "What time?" Anthony left mom with the clothespins and the cup. He asked her if she wanted more magazines and she said, "OK."

When Claudia came back to see mom later in the afternoon, dad was there and mom was in a mood. They put her back to bed and when Claudia and dad came into the room she was happy. Claudia made her laugh a lot! she tried to get mom to lift her leg for dad but she wouldn't do it. Mom laughed as dad modeled lifting his leg. They did paper clips on a piece of paper. They did dot to dots. Mom is very hap hazard with drawing lines out of order. Then they did the IPAD. They did the game that shows you words with the letters out of order and they tell you what to spell. She tried very hard to move the letters into place. She has a hard time isolating her pointer finger but was independent for a few letters. One of the words was "help" and Claudia said, "help! My daughter is making me spell!" She cracked up so much she turned red! It held her attention for a long time. She played memory on the IPAD and was independent. She didn't use any type of logic to find the matches but this also held her attention. She also tried very hard to write the numbers in the math game. The IPAD ran out of battery so they switched to something else. They then read the "All about Me" book. She turned the pages independently. They also put the buttons through the slit in the container. She then fell asleep for a while. When she woke up Claudia read "Olivia" to her. She chose the book over her magazine. When Claudia left mom, she said that mom still wanted her bed table and the magazines---she made a face and motioned by putting her arm over the table when Claudia tried to put it away.

Lenny and I went to put mom to bed tonight. We stayed and watched TV with her for a while and talked too. She kept putting her left pointer finger to her lips to tell me to be quiet many times! She also raised her right arm way up high over her head at one point too. She answered some yes/no questions. When it was time for bed, we put the bed table away and I had given mom a Reader's Digest abbreviated book earlier and she held it tightly now. We gave her some stuffed piggies, the book, and a warm blanket. We tucked her in and said prayers and she told us she loved us and waved good-bye!

"I will put my trust in him." Hebrews 2:13

Mom Update, November 11, 2010, Thursday

Mom was sleeping when Claudia came to see her. The physical therapist came in and saw she was sleeping so he came back later. She did not have the right undergarment on and it was not closed. Claudia went to the head nurse and showed him. There was a whole bag of undergarments on the chair in her room so there was no excuse. An aide came in and washed her, dressed her and put the correct garment on her. She was placed in a chair and the physical therapist (PT) came in to work with her. The PT had her lifting her right leg high up to touch the PT's hand. She had to use her thigh muscle to do this. She even moved both feet at the ankles. Ava came at the end of her PT. When the PT left, Ava split up the thera-putty and modeled rolling the putty into balls to create a caterpillar. We started to do the “sounds around the house” CD with the photos that were taken of her items in her house when John and Jean came. Jean wore a mask and stayed back (wasn’t feeling good yesterday). We showed mom a picture of Jean as the Genie in Aladin. He was painted all in blue! Mom said “What for?” so we told her the show Aladin. John then started to toss the ball back and forth with mom. She is getting good at catching but still having difficulties (neuro-motor) with releasing items. Anyone who comes to visit can hand her things and ask her to drop them in your hand (release). She smiled when she saw Ava, John and Jean. Claudia still can’t get a smile!

Dad and Aunt Carol came to see mom this afternoon early and stayed until the evening. Aunt Carol said that mom was very quiet. Mom was cutting with the scissors and sewing with the sewing card while they were there.

Then John and Ava came back to see mom, they played with the therapy putty for a while again. She was sewing with her sewing cards and became bored so Ava told her to sew through the holes in the afghan that was on her and she did!! When they left mom, she blew a kiss to them both and told them that she loved them.

When I went to tuck mom in tonight, she was awake and the TV was on. She was looking down at her hands and fiddling with her sewing card and glasses. I gave her a big kiss and hug and held her in my arms for a long while. We prayed together like this and then I held her some more. I shut the lights and put her glasses away and took her hearing aids out and tucked her in.

"God has said, "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you" Hebrews 13:5-6

Mom Update, November 10, 2010 Wednesday

Lenny began the day with mom. He and the physical therapist did her physical therapy. She lifted her right leg off the bed many times for them but was not yet able to lift her left leg. Anthony came to see mom in the middle of the morning. She was about to be showered but he said that she was really happy today---one of her old day CNAs was with her today and this made her day and lifted her spirits a lot. I can’t get over the difference in her affect since her room was changed. It isn’t so much the physical room or atmosphere because the room is neat and clean, freshly painted and the floors were stripped and rewaxed too. All the staff are different. The staff she had before celebrated her accomplishments with her…they had a history with her…they knew her when she was first there in a coma. They came to visit her and chat with her. These new people don’t know her, nor do they seem to care to know her either. It’s just a shame. As if life isn’t hard enough for her, they change the people who she is most comfortable with and most private with---all new people changing her and dressing her and bathing her. Her whole affect is flat now. It’s like she lost her drive and determination in the move and it is hard, for me anyway, to motivate her to get it back…it is frustrating to see her like this. Some may say that it’s just a room change, no big deal. But I feel that the room she was in was her home for now…a place that was created with and in love for her…surrounded by people who really loved and cared for her. When a family is in a situation like this with a loved one, you feel vulnerable…lost almost. You just lost a family member you love very much and are close to, and then that family member gets to a facility that is supposed to care about healing them and rehabilitating them…but you find out that therapy isn’t available for the most part because your family member doesn’t meet the minimum requirements for personhood. The family member doesn’t count because she can’t communicate verbally and typically…so she gets no help. Our family grouped together and came up with our own plan to help heal mom through reading, researching, asking, investigating…and we accepted that she would receive no help and took the task of helping her heal into our own hands but then, at every turn there is aggravation and frustration over things like keeping bed rails up and not down, getting the right size diaper, making sure the diaper is closed properly and put on properly, getting her off all the medications she was on…and every issue takes so much perseverance and energy along with weeks of advocating in order to effect a change. I suppose I am saying that there is so much that is out of our control---so much that we can’t do anything about---so when you change a room and all the staff that you worked so hard to get on the same page with you and the same team with you, it strips you of the little bit of control and semblance of normalcy that you tried so hard to create. You are left in the hands of the beaurocracy that dictates which room a person is eligible to be in based on the funds the facility receives for that patient… The family is left to feel so out of control, so vulnerable, so helpless. And you have to start all over again…for the 3rd time for us. Then to watch all the hard work you did go down the drain before your eyes…to see mom so depressed and with such a flat affect…it is discouraging and infuriating and depressing to say the least. And to boot, mom turned her face from me when I arrived today and said hello. She wouldn’t look at me when I talked to her either. Mom’s breathing was effected by all this too…her vent went from an 8 back to a 10 last night. It just seems like she just isn’t trying this past week. Whatever. I suppose that it is what it is. Life goes on and so do we.
Back to the mom update. Thanks for allowing me to vent. Ok, so Anthony said that after mom’s shower, she was in the chair and smiling and happy to see him. A first all week. She had her old CNA. He said that they talked and laughed a lot too. And that she linked and unlinked the oversized paperclips for about an hour and a half. She didn’t want to stop. After a while, Anthony showed her the clay Claudia bought in Canada and they both squeezed it and Anthony made things with it that made mom laugh. They talked about the kids and mom smiled at what Anthony was saying. Anthony and dad said that her CNA came in to say good-bye at the end of the day and that mom smiled at her and threw her a kiss!!
Flo and Maureen, mom’s close friends, came to see her in the afternoon today as well. Dad said that she smiled a lot while they were there. She held their hands and looked at them and said yes and no to their questions. It seems like it was a nice visit.
Dad and I visited with mom in the middle of the afternoon. Mom ignored me when I first arrived. She was looking through some magazines and watching the FOOD Channel with dad. Dad had mom putting pegs in and out of the pegboard for a while before her new night CNA came to put her back into bed. When dad and I returned to mom, she was napping so we let her rest for 30 minutes and I did her physical therapy when she woke up. I gave her the scissors and some construction paper next and she cut on the straight lines lickety split!! She even took 2 pieces of paper and cut them at once!! Perfectly too. She took the small squares she cut and layered them and cut them into triangles next. She cut a circle next and did really well. Then I gave her verbal directions to cut the circle into a heart (I drew some lines on it) and she did it! I had her give it to dad! Before we left for dinner, I had mom try the small doubled cloth with lines sewn in it and beans in between the lines. You squeeze and push the beans along the sewn trail. She did it for a few seconds. We put on her classical music and left her with some magazines and the 2 soft, felt balls I bought for her in Canada. We each kissed her and told her we loved her and she told us she loved us too. When dad and I returned, mom was asleep, snuggled in bed. We sat with her a while. She held my hand and slept. Then we tucked her in, prayed over her and set the timer on the TV. We no sooner left the room when we realized we forgot to bring her hearing aids to the nurse to be locked up for the night, so we went back into the room to get them...tip toeing the whole way...and as I glanced at mom laying in bed, one eye was open and looking around!!! She is a character!!! We kissed her again and left.

"For the Lord your God is the one who goes before you...to give you victory." Deuteronomy 20:3-4

Mom Update, November 9, 2010, Tuesday

Mom started the day with Claudia. She was asleep when Claudia arrived so Claudia took advantage of the opportunity to slowly do mom’s physical therapy and really stretch all her muscles well. Then, Claudia and Dan woke her and tried hard to get her in a good mood. Dan worked on mom moving her left and right legs. Mom was able to lift her right leg off of the bed and touch Dan’s hand 10x. Dan then moved over to her left side and kept asking mom to move her left leg. This is her non-dominant side. Mom said, “Tell him I don’t want to.” Dan saw her move her lips but couldn’t understand what she said and asked Claudia what she said. Claudia told him and he laughed and said she’s a pip. The head respiratory person came in to check on mom while Claudia was there and Claudia asked him questions about the vent. She asked if it is OK to remain steady at a certain number for weeks at a time without varying the vent levels on a mixed ratio. He said that you only vary the levels when a person has a history of lung or pulmonary dysfunction and that since mom’s lungs were and are fine, this is not necessary to do.
Claudia and Ava came back in the afternoon and went to “yoga” and “relaxation” with the recreation therapists. They played soft music and did some simple movements and breathing. Mom took a few deep breaths and Claudia and Ava each moved her arms to the music. After that they all went back to the room. Ava took the therapy ball and softly tossed it to mom. She caught it by trapping the ball with her right hand against her body. Claudia prompted her left hand to help in catching and after a few tosses she started to catch the ball unassisted. Ava asked her to let go of the ball so it would roll down her legs and Ava would catch it but mom has a hard time with releasing things. Claudia wrote the words, “Let go” on the wipe off board to cue mom what she needed to do. When Ava was leaving, mom threw the ball and it rolled out the door! (Of course on her terms!) Claudia also worked on having her pick up pom poms with her left hand and placing them in a container. This was not easy because it takes a lot of concentration for mom to coordinate her left hand to pick up something small and then lift her arm up to place it in the container. Mom placed 10 pom poms in the container. Claudia also worked with mom by placing a push toy in her left hand (the kind that lights up when you push with your thumb – it spins and makes sparks). Mom was able to push independently with her left thumb. She did this over and over and looked puzzle as the toy spun. It kept her interest for a while.
When I came to see mom this afternoon, we did the wooden, vehicle puzzle together. Of the 8 pieces in the puzzle, mom placed 6 in independently. She needed hand over hand help with the remaining 2. Mom and I also used the wooden barbecue set with the wooden food pieces (you have to place pieces of food on the skewers). Mom did some of the pieces but needed a lot of coaxing. Mom looked very down while I was with her. She appeared to be dazed and depressed. She has been this way since her room was changed. She also doesn’t work at her tasks with the same intensity and comfort level either since the move. I left mom with some magazines, a book, her sewing card and I put on some Classical music for her to listen to.
Con, Anthony Michael, Sammy, Rie, Gina and Michael came to see mom just after dinner. She was asleep at first but woke up when they arrived. They did her physical therapy, watched TV, and talked with mom. She smiled at Rie and looked at a Paula Deen magazine. She licked her finger each time she turned the pages. Sam read a story to her and said the wrong word at one point (Coozeen instead of Calzone) and mom laughed. They said she smiled and laughed a few times but was otherwise very quiet and mellow still. Gina sang to mom too!!
Dad and Anthony came to see mom later in the evening. They came straight from New Jersey where they had been all day. Aunt Sophie fell in the basement of her home and had spent the night on the floor of her basement until her neighbors found her there. She was bruised and confused, but otherwise OK thank God. She will be 94 in January. She is in the hospital in Flemington and will remain there on IVs for another 2-3 days. Please keep her in prayer. Our dear Aunt Peggy (also soon to be 94 in December) fell yesterday too in her home. She has a fractured shoulder and many bruises as well and is in the hospital down here on Long Island. Please pray for her as well. My dear friend and mentor and teacher, Sister Miriam, fell yesterday too and had to have stitches in her head---keep her in prayer as well.
Mom continues to heal and for this we are thankful.
“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!” 1 Chronicles 16:34

Mom Update, November 8, 2010, Monday

Claudia began mom's day with her this morning. Claudia and the physical therapist woke mom together. Mom was very happy when she first woke up, but got serious looking and maybe frustrated when the physical therapist began to give her commands. Mom wouldn't work for the therapist at first and then Claudia told her that he is her friend and that she should work for him... After that, mom moved her leg off the bed 10 times while on the exercise ball in front of the physical therapist!!!!



He said that there is definitely a stubborn personality at work underneath it all based on how we told him about mom doing things as soon as he leaves or before he arrives (we recognize that this could also be delayed processing due to the head injury as well). He asked her to reach and she did it once but no more and Claudia told him that mom knows when things are purposeful or not and gave mom the remote as an example of what she was saying and mom reached across her body for it! The therapist wanted her to move her ankles but she wouldn't do it for him though she was doing it spontaneously before he came.



She has no temp this morning - 98.7! PTL Let's hope it stays that way.



Dad called this morning to say that the neurologist's office called him to say that mom's EEG looks good!! Favorable brain activity and no signs of seizures!



Dad stayed with mom for most of the day today. He said that the head of respiratory came in today, Dad questioned him about mom’s vent and the respiratory person lowered it to 8 from 10!! He told mom, “We’re going to keep a close eye on you” and mom replied softly but audibly, “Why? What for?”!!!!!!! He almost fell over and asked dad, “What did she just say to me?” Dad repeated it!!! Dad said he and mom watched the Food Channel and also looked at magazines. He said he had her screw and unscrew the large nuts and bolts as well.

When I came in, mom was just put back into bed and I put her lap desk in front of her and had her snip some coupons with the scissors…she snipped well but didn’t know where to cut---couldn’t distinguish the lines at all at first but after several attempts and I marked the lines with a dark marker, she was able to cut on the lines again. Mom cut 2 coupons pretty precisely when all was said and done! Next, she and I did the wooden farm puzzle. Mom seemed to forget how to do it so I did hand over hand prompting for 2 of the 8 pieces, verbal and gestural cuing for 4 of the 8, and mom did 2 independently with no cues at all!!! Mom tried to put 2 pieces in using her left hand also. After this, I had her squeeze the clothespins open and put them on the side of the cup. She did well with this – 12 in all.

When I came back tonight to tuck mom in and say our prayers, she was wide awake, flipping through a magazine and watching TV. She looked very content and comfortable.

"Fervent in spirit, serving the Lord" Romans 12:11

Mom Update, November 7, 2010, Sunday

Claudia, Dad, Anthony, Con, Samantha, and Anthony Michael all went to start mom's day with her. She was being washed and dressed when they arrived. When mom was finally ready, they said there was a strong smell of huron in the room but they thought nothing of it. It wasn't until they began mom's physical therapy that dad realized mom had no diaper on...the bed and mom were soaking wet. Needless to say, no one was happy about this. Dad became very upset and so did Con and Anthony and Claudia...Samantha began to cry, "They can't treat my Nonny like this!" They saw the head nurse who assured them that our family needs "family counseling" and that many patients have their diapers left open!!! Somehow they ended up talking about mom's progress (or seemingly lack thereof) on the vent. The nurse told Claudia that the current research she was quoting didn't apply to our mom because the theorists and researchers don't know our mom. Claudia told her that's how research is done and applied in the medical field...by using a small sample group and then applying the results to the population at large. She brought up Hypocrites and Nostradamus and how many of their principles still apply today... She turned to ask a nurse if he washed his hands before seeing patients...to which he replied yes he did--someone then asked him if he knew Nostradamus or if Nostradamus knew him since he was still applying a concept Nostradamus discovered many years ago. Whatever.

Dad and I visited with mom this afternoon. Mom was very tired. She even frequently slumped over to her left side. She slept and woke and slept and woke and kept this pattern throughout the afternoon. At 3:30, an aide took her temperature and it was 100.3. She may not feel well and that’s why she is so tired. I gave mom some more of the items Claudia and I bought for her at the conference. I bought her 2 small felt/velour balls that are about 7 inches in diameter. There are craters on the balls; one has large craters and the other has small…they squeeze easily too. Mom held them, one in each hand, with her fingers placed in one of the holes. She also held tightly to her piggies too. She couldn’t focus enough to complete any tasks. She was out of it---even though her eyes were open on and off. She seemed sort of spacey. This is probably due to the low grade temp. I decided to keep things low key and put on some videos for mom to watch…MASH. Right around 5:00, a young, kind woman from the place I work (who is doing an internship in the recreation department) came to read some poetry to mom…she read from the book, “Chicken Soup for the Survivor’s Soul.” She talked about how she wanted to do one-to-one visits to people in the vent wing. As she listened to the short stories, mom snuggled up to the pillow dad and I wedged on her left side…she looked so comfy. And suddenly, it occurred to me that mom hasn’t leaned on a pillow at the side of her head in 5 months. She is always kept in a flat on the back (but inclined) position, with the back of her head leaning on the bed. She looked so comfortable. After the young lady left, dad did mom’s physical therapy. I sat in the front corner of mom’s room and caught up on my schoolwork as she slept.

Sometime in the early evening, an emergency occurred in the wing. The person in the room next to mom passed away. The strange thing is that the spouse of this person is someone mom and dad knew from their allergist’s office. Dad and the spouse often stood at the front door of the facility and encouraged each other. When I saw the outburst of the emergency, I went to the door to see what was happening and saw a woman at the end of the hallway crying…I went to comfort her and pray with her and then I realized it was mom and dad’s friend’s spouse who had passed. I offered some comfort and a prayer and when she went to her family, I told dad. These are the kind of parents I have---when dad heard of his friend’s emergency and loss, he immediately went through the crowd to his friend…to comfort his friend at the bedside of the lost spouse. I can’t imagine how hard that was for dad to do; I only know how upsetting and terribly hard that was for me to witness…how close to home it all was. I later hugged dad’s friend and offered to take her and her family to the hospital because they didn’t know how to get there but another family member arrived soon after and he knew where the hospital was. I came back into mom’s room and hugged her tightly and held her in my arms for a while. When dad returned, he was teary eyed. He sat back down in the chair beside mom’s bed and held her hand as she slept.

When dad became hungry, we went to my house for dinner. Ava was there working on a project for school with Lenny so she drove home with dad. Anthony offered to check in on dad at home and possibly sleep over with him too.

Claudia and I went to a wake tonight and went to see mom after the wake to tuck her in. Her temp went down to 99.2. Thank the Lord. She was asleep at first but woke as we were praying over her. She gave a small smile at us but still seemed out of it a bit.

"The sleep of a laboring man is sweet..." Ecclesiastes 5:12

Mom Update, November 6, 2010, Saturday

Lenny began mom’s day today and got her ready for the day. He washed her face and eyes, put her hearing aids in and her glasses on. When Lenny was doing mom’s physical therapy, mom began to shake the arm he was working on with her. Lenny asked her, “What Nonny?” and she replied, “Don’t push it!” she kept fixating on her piggies and then asked Lenny to “Push it” meaning its head because it squeaks when you do. Then Lenny said, “What is this?” and she kept saying, “I don’t know” but in a sarcastic and funny way---like she was playing with Lenny. Then he turned on the TV to the cooking channel. Someone was cooking a veggie in a frying pan and Lenny said, “What is that they’re cooking Nonny?” and she said, “Zucchini” and he said, “Yeah! Good job!” and then she gave him a “thumbs up.”
Anthony, Con, Anthony Michael, Sammy, Terry and Dad said that mom basically just relaxed today. They did her full physical therapy several times during the day and sat and talked and watched TV. They said she was quiet and didn’t do any work or reading, but she sewed a little with the sewing cards. Uncle Ray and Aunt Irene came to see mom today. She tried to talk to Aunt Irene a few times. Uncle Ray sang to mom and they all enjoyed a wonderful visit with mom.
Claudia and I brought back many whistles and sensory toys for mom’s therapy. The Autism Symposium in Canada was fabulous!! Very interesting. My presentation went well too. We learned a lot and were reinforced in many ways too. Dad called me in Toronto on Wednesday to make phone calls to the Building Administrator about them moving mom’s room. I called him, the Admissions person, the social worker. The saga continued into Thursday with our involvement from Canada too. They moved mom’s room but the guys had them paint the room and polish the floors before the move. Also, while we were away, Lenny called on Thursday after a visit to the oral surgeon (wisdom teeth to be pulled in the near future) to say that the oral surgeon spotted a lump in his jaw while x-raying his teeth that needs to be CAT Scanned. He goes for the CAT Scan on November 16. Please pray for him…that all will be well. The surgeon said that it has to be removed.
John and Claudia played catch with mom with a large 12” exercise ball. We were all together this evening…the whole family with mom. We all talked and laughed and John managed to get mom to belly laugh a few times. But basically, mom was very, very quiet and didn’t have much to say. She watched us all but didn’t even smile.
After everyone went home, Lenny and I stayed with mom and watched TV for a while—she looked a little more awake and alive at that point. Then, we tucked her in, dimmed the lights, set the TV timer, and prayed together.
“If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me, you can do nothing.” John 15:5

Mom Update, November 2, 2010, Tuesday

On Tue, Nov 2, 2010 at 11:12 PM, Kgranelli wrote:



Aunt claud and my mom are away in toronto so aunt con and i will be taking over the updates for the next couple of days ( please excuse any grammitical errors i might have). Today Aunt Claudia came in the morning and did physical therapy with nonny. She was out like a light so Aunt Claudia got to do more physical therapy then she would have if she would have been awake. A little later Anthony Michael went outside Nonnys window when she was more awake and she looked over at him. After that Aunt Claud played with the ipad with her doing the game where you make letters, she really liked that she smiled and even pointed on her own to the screen. When Uncle Ant, Anthony Michael, and Sam went they said she was sad. They did more physical therapy and played with the nerf gun with her shooting it at the window. She also drew circles on the board alot ( she loves to write and trace things on the board). Eventually she cheered up and played with the nerf gun with the nurses who said they had alot of fun with her doing that. When I came to put her to bed she was out like a light sleeping peacefully. Nonny is deffinelty coming around I just feel bad when she is feeling down.

"no one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse. show me your ways, o lord, teach me your paths;"
Psalms 25:3-4

Mom Update, November 5, 2010, Friday

Subject: Mom's Update Friday November 5th, 2010
Sent: Nov 5, 2010 9:12 PM

Hi Everyone,

Anthony went to see Mom this morning and Ava was there hanging out with
her. Ava worked on Mom's legs and Anthony worked on her arms. They did
her full pt. Mom was in a very sad mood. Maybe because Mom moved to
another room yesterday. Ava had to leave. Dad showed up and they watched
TV together. Mom was not interested in doing anything. Anthony tried
showing her magazines and some therapy games. Dad and Anthony just sat
and talked to her. Anthony left and Dad said that Mom was a little bit
more awake.

Mr. Fieldings (The Director of the Facility) apoligize to Dad regarding
the eprupt move. In the evening Mom was more awake and she and Dad were
watching TV. One of the doctors on staff visited Mom and he said that
Mom is doing very well. Eash day she is getting better. Mom of course
heard it and Dad said that Mom's perked up. Dad tucked Mom in for the
night and kiss her good night.


No matter how steep the mountain - the Lord is going to climb
it with you.

- Helen Steiner Rice


Love,
Con

Mom Update, November 3, 2010, Wednesday

Mom's Update Wednesday November 3rd, 2010

Hi Everyone,

Kathy and Claudia are in Toronto. Today Mom had a good day. Anthony went
to see Mom. Mom was wide awake and happy to see him. They worked on her
hands and fingers and also worked on clasping her hands and raising her
arms. Anthony also did full pt. They talked and laughed a few times. Mom
worked with the snap lock beads and put them together and pulling them
apart. Did some sewing cards too. Dad came in the afternoon and Anthony,
Dad and Mom went to the Recreational Room and they played a trivia game,
but Anthony had to leave before it started.

While Dad was with Mom in the recreational room the social worker wanted
to talk with Dad. She mentioned to him that "they" have to move mom to
another room. A room that was certified. I believe because of medicare.
Of course Dad called Claudia and Kathy and Kathy put a call into the
head of the facilty. So far, he has not retunrned her call yet. Claudia
called John and he went to the facilty to find out what is going on
regarding Mom moving to another room. John, Dad and Lenny went to talk
to the head of the facilty. As of now they are not moving Mom until they
look into this. Debbie (Claudia very close friend from childhood) went
to visist with Mom too.

Anthony Michael, Samantha and I went to see Mom in the evening. She was
glad to see us.I did her full pt. She said Hi to us. Sam asked her what
does it say on my sweatshirt. It reads " Fight Like a Girl" for (breast
cancer) Mom said it. Sam was so happy that she read it. As one point Mom
and I were watching TV and Paula Dean was on and of course I asked Mom
who's on TV and Mom answer "Paula". Sam wrote on the eraser board "I
have 4 kids". Mom said I have 4 children. "well excuse me" LOL.

While Lenny and Dad where there tonitght a male nurse came in and asked
Mom if she was "OK" and she responded "OK". They took her glasses off,
took out her hearing aids, set the timer for the TV and kiss her good
night.


I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

- Philippians 4:13


Con

Mom Update, November 4, 2010, Thursday

today the inevitable happened and nonny was moved with maybe 30 seconds notice after we were promised a days notice. This just shows we gotta continue to do everything on our own the only people we can rely on are the nurses and a few therapists but whatever ( i think we do better with the small group we have anyhow lol). Besides all of the hecticness today nonny was very sleepy didnt say much of anything and for the most part sewed and drew on her board in the little time she was up. The room is much bigger however and they put new paint on the walls and she also has the same room mate. Her new room number is 163 by the way. Her sleeping pretty much means the brain is rewiring itself like a computer rebooting so it was a beneficial day even though it doesnt seem like it.

"Do not be discouraged for the lord your god will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:6-9

Mom Update, November 1, 2010, Monday

Claudia and I will see mom tomorrow morning but then we leave for Toronto in the afternoon. Anyone who'd like to go see mom and do some activities with her is welcome to come. We return on Saturday. We don't want her to regress after all the progress she has made. Her room # is 165.

Claudia started mom’s day with her, but as Claudia was arriving, so was one of the physical therapists. Claudia was behind him so she let him get to mom’s room and listened to the beginning of the session from outside mom’s door. She said he was talking very nicely to mom. Mom had been asleep when he arrived so Claudia came in and woke her up by washing her face and cleaning her eyes. The therapist gave us some activities to do with mom. These are Claudia's notes:

Mom’s Leg exercises

1. 10 inch ball under her leg and ask her to lift her leg

2. Ask her to move her foot and ankle

3. Put your arm under her knee and on her other leg (over opposite
knee). Now ask her to push her knee down on your arm.

4. Place your hand on her foot and push her leg into her belly (like our
PT) and ask her to straighten her leg (down)

5. Lift her knee and her foot. Ask her to keep her leg out straight.

Later in the afternoon, Dad came to see mom. He and mom were doing a puzzle when I arrived. He said she wasn’t cooperating for him, but she cooperated for me. She completed all 3 wooden puzzles with only gestural and verbal prompts to do so. I would tell her and point to where the pieces went. Mom concentrated really hard on the pieces and you could see her trying to figure out how to turn them in order to fit in. Of the 26 or so pieces in all 3 puzzles combined, she managed to turn about 5 pieces when needed in order to make them fit. She slid the other pieces into place. Mom was very talkative today. When her CNA came into the room, she said his first and last name by reading his name tag!! He was thrilled!! Then, when he asked how she was, mom said, “Pretty good” and she also said, “Hi” and “OK” in response to things he said to her. She read from the dry erase board, “Mom needs to listen to me” “My name is Dotty Gilman” and “Dotty.” She tried to do some connect the dots pictures but didn’t follow the order of the numbers—she only connected random dots in a section. She followed my directions during both connect the dots picture drawing and with the puzzles. Mom enjoyed tracing words and making circles and random shapes on the dry erase board too. At one point, mom said out loud, "Push it, push it" as she motioned to the table in front of her. She wanted me to move the table closer to her.At one point, I asked mom to touch every finger on her right hand, one at a time on her thumb and she did it....but on the left hand, she only touched the thumb and pointer. She also laced her fingers together and then moved her held hands up and down 4 times!!!! Just with me modeling!!! I wrote on the board, "My daughter is Katherine Louise Gilman," but she read, "My name is" instead. When I left, I kissed mom good-bye and said, "Alright good bye mom I love you" and mom said, "Love me too" and shook her head yes...as though she knew I would ask her, "Do you love me?" She was already responding.

Dad came back to see mom tonight and said she was awake and alert and talked a bit and looked at magazines. She also looked at TV with him while she drew circles on the dry erase board with the markers. A nurse who hadn't seen her in a long time came in and was shocked to see her progress!!

I came to tuck mom in and pray around 9 p.m. and she was asleep so I set up her room for the night, shut the lights, turned down the TV, set the timer on the TV and prayed over her.

I am so thankful for mom's recovery and restoration. I miss her so much though lately.

"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:38