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
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