Claudia began the day with mom this morning and mom was out like a light!! The CNA came soon after Claudia arrived and gave mom her breakfast. Claudia said it was hard to keep mom awake as she ate, but the CNA later told me that mom ate all her food (Cheese omlette, roll, oatmeal, juice, coffee). The respiratory therapist who I spoke to yesterday about mom, told Claudia that mom would be put on the CPAP mode of the vent today!!!
When I arrived at 11, mom was on the CPAP mode of the vent!!! Yipppeeee!! This means that she is not getting vent support for breathing but she is getting air from the vent---it’s different than vent support. It is a good thing that mom is on the CPAP mode---it means that the next step is a trach collar and then no trach at all!! Comparatively, in relation to the event in December, mom is now about where she was last November again. Anthony arrived shortly after I did. Mom was moved to her chair and the occupational therapist came to help mom with her lunch (pork loin, roasted red potatoes, carrots, rice pudding and juice and a roll). Mom did OK with the feeding today…she feed herself about 7or 8 forkfuls of food (pierced/ scooped) alone! The OT was happy with this. The OT still wants mom to do more but it seems like mom is more awake and alert this week so maybe she will progress. When the OT left, mom’s CNA came to sit with us and mom as she ate, we began to tell mom and the CNA stories about when we were young and who mom was back then. We noticed that mom does better eating in a relaxed, calm atmosphere that isn’t appearing to pay attention to her eating. Mom laughed at the stories and filled in some of the blanks as well!!! Anthony asked her what the name of the man who owned the shoe store on Sunrise Highway was, and mom knew his name AND mouthed a funny story about the man and a nickname our grandma had for him. Mom remembered our childhood friend, Steven, and his parents and she also commented, “How nice of him” with respect to an old friend from childhood emailing me to say he was sorry to hear about mom and to tell mom he is praying for her. We talked about the Book Mobile that used to come to West Babylon---the CNA never heard of such a thing!!! Mom laughed again and again. It was a happy lunch. We told the CNA how mom used to pack the neighborhood into our family’s Volkswagon van to bring us all to the beach in the summer or the time mom drove through the garage doors once on her way to the store…or how mom used to read to us all as we laid on the beds in my room in the summer after we were all showered and in our pjs. She would read us Alfred Hitchcock stories (we loved them) and Moby Dick, and Two Years Before the Mast, Trumpet of the Swan, Charlotte’s Web, Cherry Ames Private Duty Nurse…to name a few. We also reminisced about a time when we were all playing pirates as kids and we were having sword fights with sticks. In the middle of the fight, Anthony accidentally backed Terry into a 3 or 4 foot ditch in the front of our house!! Terry wasn't hurt but mom scolded them both and told Terry she would have to wait to get out of the ditch until dad returned home from the Fire House (he's a volunteer firefighter these last 54 years!) and that Anthony would have to sit above Terry outside the ditch to keep her company until dad could rescue her!! (Dad grabbed a ladder and got Terry out shortly after she fell in the ditch!!). Mom laughed and laughed. Anthony left for work and I went to the eye doctor. When I came back, mom was asleep in her chair. I let her sleep a while. When she woke, we did some writing on the white board. Mom made some circular motions. Then I left for work. (As an aside, please say a prayer for dad, he is still in the midst of the Medicaid ordeal---gathering paperwork from the year of the flood…literally…it is enough to drive you crazy).
John spent some time with mom tonight. He said she was awake and alert but not the best he has seen her, also not the worst. She kissed him hello. He sang a lot to her tonight. He sang the songs from Guys and Dolls (John always played Nicely Nicely and mom played Adelaide years ago in the community theatre groups). John also sang the songs from Cinderella. Occasionally, John made up some of the words and mom laughed. Mom seemed to like this. He talked to her about baseball and mom listened intently and lifted her eyebrows a lot to listen. He teased her and put the Yankee game on but she didn’t really react, so he put the MET game on for her. Mom fell asleep eventually so John said a prayer and left.
"The Lord God is a sun and shield" Psalm 84:11
No comments:
Post a Comment