Today was Claudia’s birthday. She began the day with mom. She told mom, “Hey, it’s my birthday!” and mom mouthed, “It’s my birthday too” –this is a joke from the ‘I Love Lucy’ show that we often say to each other. She also wrote, "Happy Birthday Claudia" on the white board but mom wouldn't read it. Claudia worked for a while with mom. She did mom’s physical therapy/range of motion exercises and said that mom had a lot of muscle shaking. Claudia kept putting mom's left hand on the balls stretched out and her hand would come off the ball so Claudia had to keep repositioning it. She noted that mom's left hand was very crunched up. Then, they did the pop-lock beads hand over hand; mom couldn’t do them alone (before the incident, mom could snap them together and pull them apart independently). They tried the scissors next but mom couldn’t do any cutting and couldn’t manipulate the scissors independently either, so Claudia did them hand over hand too. She noted that mom didn't even know where her fingers go in the right holes. As Claudia did hand over hand with the scissors, she did "Open Close" 10 times and said it at the same time too. Claudia tried to do some lacing/sewing but mom pushed it away so Claudia said, "Ok, not today. That's alright." Mom loved doing the pom poms today...she enjoyed picking them up and she was even able to put 2 into the holes in the container. Claudia had to help mom do the rest..put the rest in the holes hand over hand. They did the mega-blocks together next. Claudia asked mom if she wanted to do them and she said, “Yes.” Claudia asked mom to lift her arm and mom mouthed, “How?” They also tried to put the blocks in the bucket. They used the mega blocks and Claudia told mom to place them into the bucket and Claudia said, “This is hard.” Mom turned her head and snapped at Claudia saying, “It IS hard!”in an aggravated manner. Claudia put the blocks on the table then and asked mom if she wanted to play with them and she mouthed yes...so Claudia put a 4 post block on the table and then she gave mom another 4 post block and mom lined it up and stacked it on the other 4 post block. Then, mom put a 1 post block on top of it independently. Claudia said that she only made mom do 3 of every task pretty much because it took mom a long time to complete any given task. Claudia gave mom the oversized plastic tweezer next...though mom held the tweezer, mom laid the tweezer on the table then mom put the pom pom into the tweezer but couldn't squeeze the tweezer to pick up the pom pom. This is how mom originally approached this task months ago when it was first introduced to her...then she progressed to doing it on her own correctly.
Anthony, Con, Anthony Michael, and Samantha came next. Anthony did mom’s physical therapy exercises twice while he was there. Anthony also continued to work on mom’s feet and legs. I think Anthony has another career as a physical therapist!!! He does a fantastic job with mom's legs and feet. Mom moved both feet a lot and tried to lift her right leg. They joked and laughed alot!! They all played with the Nerf guns today too. Mom squeezed the trigger independently a few times. She even shot a picture of Lenny!! Bulls eye!! Mom's left hand hurt alot today. They looked at magazines with mom and talked and laughed. Sammy wrote mom a beautiful letter in the “Love Notes to Dotty” book (we showed it to mom later and mom started to cry a little):
Dear Nonny,
You are doing great. Every single day you are getting better and better. So many people love and miss you so much. Also I can’t believe you are eating a little food now. You have come so far through this journey. I am so proud of you. Ooh…and you should be proud of yourself. I also have to tell you some good news. I passed my confirmation test and I picked my name. My name I picked is Dorothy after you. The reason I picked you is because you are so strong and you are so kind to everyone. Nonny, you are my inspiration. I love you sooooo much.
Love Always, Samantha
Dad and Terry came next and they said that mom did a lot of talking/mouthing words, answers and sentences. She was very alert. She had a bit of a problem breathing but it turned out to be a filter problem. Once the filter was changed by the respiratory therapist, she was fine. They looked at family pictures with mom and also the "All About Me" book. She stared and stared at the picture of mom and dad's living room. Dad also began to read to mom. Terry said that mom tried to turn the pages and wanted to hold the book herself. Mom fell asleep on and off during their visit. Terry said that yesterday, mom put her arm around dad.
We took dad out to dinner in Port Jefferson for a fish dinner tonight. He’s been craving it all week! Lenny, Dad, and I came to visit mom after dinner. When Lenny came in, he said, “Hi Nonny!” and mom mouthed, “Hi Sweetie! How are you doing?” Lenny said, "I'm doing good. How are you?" then mom mouthed, "I'm doing good too." Then Lenny asked mom to read his jacket and she did (it said 'NEW YORK'). Dad and Lenny started to talk about her sneezing and Lenny said, "Well you know what the head respiratory person is going to say!" and mom mouthed, "What?" Lenny read the OLOG bulletin from mom's church with mom, but mainly, mom read it alone without help!! Lenny worked on her arms using the orange, scrunchy tube. He also used the tube like a telephone---he put one end to her ear and spoke and then asked her to talk back to him (she mouthed a few words when it was her turn). Lenny told her all about college and his classes and how he is doing. When Lenny left, he said, "Bye Nonny, I love you" and mom mouthed, "I love you too sweetie."
Lenny prayed with mom (she mouthed the entire 'Our Father' with him) while I set up the TV on the timer, then we left.
"Great is His faithfulness..." Lamentations 3:22
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