Mom Update, August 11, 2011, Thursday

I began the day with mom. She was asleep and asked for “Five more minutes” over and over! Mom always did love her sleep and cat naps!! The speech therapist came in to give mom regular liquids with breakfast today. Mom drank regular (not thickened) milk and juice. We had already thickened her coffee though. Mom asked for “a cold glass of water” too. She drank them all and did great! Her breakfast was a plethora of different textures and orally, she did really well. I noticed that mom had a lot of secretions from the stoma (hole in her throat) this morning. She also had a lot of something bright yellow in her eyes before she opened them. I showed her nurse.
Mom is allowed to be in the wheelchair today since all her test results were fine yesterday. She is still being given the Keflex for cellulitis but mom’s nurse said there is no way mom has cellulitis based on her symptoms. Based on her symptoms, mom appears to have sprained or strained her ankle according to her nurse. Her nurse said she never once thought mom had either a blood clot or cellulitis.
Dad phoned mom during breakfast and they chatted in their unique way!! The speech therapist got a kick out of it! Mom talking too low and dad not able to hear well!! They could be a comedy routine. But it IS cute to watch---how they tolerate each other’s shortcomings with so much love after 54 years of marriage. It is, indeed, something rare to witness these days.
Mom talked on the phone today to my friend, Peggy. Peggy told her she is so thrilled that mom is recovering and healing the way she is and mom replied, “Well, some women just won’t ever shut up!!”
Mom’ s roommate was so pathetic today… It is sad to see what happens to people who are alone here. Every day, the roommate’s food tray is plopped on the bed table in front of her and she is not able to feed herself at all. The table is too high; and she is pushed way over to one side of the bed which is far from the tray. She spills the food all over herself and the bed and makes a huge mess and nothing gets in her mouth. I always call for help but rarely does any come. The shortage of staff is awful. We really do have such a crisis in the healthcare system. The roommate also tried to get out of bed many times as well. I don’t know if I mentioned it or not, but it’s a small world---the roommate worked for the same organization as Claudia and I. She retired in 1989 though. We even worked for the same personnel!!
When Anthony came to join mom and dad and I, we heard someone yelling and howling in the hallway. It was an old woman yelling, “You hurt my foot you big ___!!!” The person with the woman kept denying it and the woman kept saying, “Yes you did!!!”
Mom had a shower today and then Anthony and I reviewed the calendar with her. I asked mom the name of the month and she said August immediately! I asked her what day it was and she said “Oh don’t ask me THAT!” I showed her the calendar and asked her to look at it and figure out what day it is and she immediately said Thursday. I asked her the date and she said the 4th. Pretty good!! Anthony asked her what she had for breakfast and she couldn’t remember so we scaffolded the answers for her. She talked on the phone to Sammy next. Then, she left for OT.
Mom did well in OT. She practiced reaching for specific colored objects on a counter then grab the object with her left hand (reached) then transferred the object to her right hand and place it in a container. Mom also practiced wiping down and cleaning counters in the mock kitchen in OT. The last thing she did in OT today was push the wheelchair alone (she sits in the wheelchair and then moves the wheels independently). The OT commented on how cute mom and dad are as a couple and said that once they were found sound asleep holding hands when it was time for OT!! (Dad tells us he never sleeps when he is with mom!! hahaha! The OT blew his cover!!).
Anthony worked on having mom lift weights with her hands/arms…and move with them. At that point, I left. Dad said that mom did well in Speech and PT this afternoon…no other details there, just, “Good.” Dad said that mom reached down to take off her sneakers but couldn’t quite reach. Dad taught mom how to lift her leg and foot up straight outward and then lift her leg up at the knee. She does reps of 10 on each leg!! Dad also practices the oral motor exercises with mom where mom has to move her tongue up, down, side to side…
Claudia came to put mom to bed tonight. Mom’s roommate was sent to the hospital some time today but we don’t know why. Keep her in prayer please. Mom had a hamburger and fries, a salad and vanilla pudding for dinner. Claudia made mom clean the tray. They talked and mom spontaneously asked, “What’s the date that Ava is leaving for college?” They watched the movie “Julie and Julia” on the IPAD until mom fell asleep.
“When Jesus heard what had happened, he said… ‘Don’t be afraid. Just have faith, and she will be healed.’” Luke 8:49-50