Hi everyone,
Kathy, Terry and I are on vacation with our cousin JoAnn in Boston for the whole week. Con, Anthony, John, Jean, Lenny and dad are taking care of mom (as they usually do, just a heavier load). Mom started her day with Jean. If you remember, Jean is the one who walked in on mom in December when she was decanulated (very traumatic!), so a week of pleasant visits would be nice! I went with him before our trip to set him up and show him what to do. He stayed with mom all morning until day came in the early afternoon. He fed her breakfast. After the CNA came in to get her dressed she didn't have her glasses on. Jean said, "Nonny, put on your glasses so you can see your gorgeous grandson." Mom said, "I need my makeup." Jean said, "Why?" Mom said, "Because I'm gorgeous too!" I love when her sense of humor shines through! Jean played Wheel of Fortune with mom on the wii. He said at first she had difficulty with the rules. She would use the remote to spin the wheel and Jean would select the letters, but when she realized the what game it was she guessed a few answers (Palm trees blowing in the wind AND Kathleen Turner). Jean was surprised! He tried to explain the scoring to her - each spin is for a specific amount but if there are more than one of the letter you select then the amount multiplies. It took some time, but she understood it over time.
Dad came next and he fed her lunch. Mom went to PT, OT and Speech. She stood with the walker and shuffled her feet to walk. Dad did leg exercises with her in her wheel chair. He lifted her legs and mom lifted them by herself as well. She didn't want to rest her legs on the wheel chair foot rests, she wanted them to touch the floor. Dad said she shifted her weight in the wheel chair a few times by herself. He took her outside and they went for a walk around the perimeter. They then sat out front and watched people walk into the building. John came in the evening to put mom to sleep and he said it was one of the best nights he has had with her in a long while. Mom has a new roommate and she is a doozie! She was screaming for the nurse and asking John to do things for her. Never a dull moment! I feel like they are torturing us! I found out last week from one of mom's old roommates that when mom left her room she was given an annoying roommate and she complained and the roommate was told to move! Oh yeah, and did I forget to say that mom's old roommate is cognitively challenged, yet she figured a way to get the roommate out and not have to move herself! Good for her, how do we get that to happen? Unfortunately we have to start being a pain, but it isn't us, we aren't like that. John said mom was laughing at the situation but at 3am it isn't going to be funny. John visited and talked and said mom was very "with it" tonight. He fed her dinner (basically, what I mean by fed her a meal is that we cut up the food and turn the plate while she eats. She doesn't see things on the left side and will often leave half the left side of the plate filled with food. We also make sure she doesn't choke or cough and has a napkin when she needs it). They watched TV together. John tucked her in and left for the night.
Pray for an easy week for mom and peace with her new roommate,
~Claud
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