Last night, John and Ava brought mom inside and then they went in the lounge to eat. Mom fed herself and John fed her the soup but mom ate all else. John told mom he would teach her an old trick from the Navy and mom said, “You were in the Navy?” Mom made Ava sing Annie; Ava used to sit on the swings in mom and dad’s yard when she was little and sing Annie as she swung on the swings. John walked mom all over the second floor and sang in her ear. Mom loved it and mouthed along. They went back outside and sang some more. Mom was put in bed and they lowered the bed and Ava laid on the bed with mom next to her and mom loved it. They watched baseball. Mom was calm. John put her gloves on and had the nurses check the gloves. Putting the mitts on was not the last thing they did so it kept mom calm. Mom wanted Ava to sleep over. The roommate was a horror with screaming and asking John and Ava to do things for her. Disturbing mom too. The aide came in then and talked with mom. The Godfather was on in the lounge when they left. Mom was very calm.
When I arrived at 7:30 this morning, mom was awake and looking all around. I said good morning and asked how she was. Mom said that she didn’t sleep well at all last night. her room was unkempt and a mess so I straightened it up. I pulled mom up in the bed so she could be ready to eat breakfast. I turned for a second or two and when I turned back, mom had the G-tube in her hand and was getting ready to pull it out!! Thank God I caught her. Breakfast came late today and though mom and I ordered cottage cheese, pancakes and syrup came!! I sent it back and got the cottage cheese and fruit instead. Mom made a face and complained in a funny, joking way! We laughed about it. There was orange juice, coffee, vanilla milk and farina on the tray. I mixed the vanilla milk into mom’s coffee and farina---she made a face and stuck out her tongue joking with me…but she loved both!! The cottage cheese came up with fruit and mom said, “Wow! This is good!! Actually, I like this very much.” Mom feeds herself very well. No problems at all. Hardly any spilling at all too! Mom strategically sets up her food trays so that most of the items are to her right—which is her stronger and dominant side. Mom told me again this morning that her left hand hurts badly and she wonders why she can’t move it. I keep reminding mom to tuck her chin to her chest when she eats but she still is only about 40% accurate. Mom was much quicker with eating this morning and more efficient too compared to yesterday. We joked as mom ate her farina and I sang the HO Farina song from the 60s commercial and told her we all would call her Willamina like in the commercial!!She laughed. She ate her entire meal. Mom called dad and talked on the phone with him and then we called Aunt Carol and mom had a normal conversation with her AND mom remembered everything Aunt Carol told her after the conversation was over. After breakfast, I had mom use the tweezers and the pompoms and the container with the holes on top. Mom has to use the tweezers to pick up the pompoms and drop them into any one of 3 holes on top of a container. Mom was able to do 13 with her right hand. We began to use the left hand and mom kept saying she couldn’t do it but she did try for a while. Mom asked for the bed pan today!! This is progress too. Just before I left for a meeting at work, mom blew her nose and then jokingly asked me, “Did you write that down for the email too?” and she laughed!!!
Anthony, Anthony Michael, and Sammy came to see mom next. They talked and laughed and chillaxed as Sam says. Sam said mom went to OT too. The OT told them that mom put her shirt on and took it off independently (not sure again if this means arms in holes too or not). Mom also pushed the wheelchair on her own too again today. The OT said that mom tried to pull out the G-tube during OT. The OT caught her doing it just in time. Mom ate lunch after OT. She did great and ate all the food…she had pork loin, brussel sprouts, potato (I think potato) and juice and coffee. After lunch, mom went to PT. In PT, mom does leg lifts with 5 lb weights no sweat now!! She also did the stationary bike all alone yesterday for the whole time in PT!!!!!!! No help!! She follows all commands!! Today, she also tried to do a bridge…you lay on your back and bend your knees and then lift your butt up---they are working on strength training now. She stood but is still afraid to walk because she doesn’t trust that the PT people will hold her. The PT said that once she is strengthened more, she will feel more confident about walking. I watched mom push the wheelchair all over the hall today alone!!
Mom’s nurse said that they will use a hoyer pad (the pad that hooks onto the lift that lifts mom) that can be used on the commode!! So mom will be able to use the commode finally. Mom is doing great with bladder training (you have to relearn how to use a toilet).
The WWF wrestlers came to the facility today!! Mom was at speech when they performed though. No word on changing mom’s roommate to another room yet. We will talk to the daughter tonight again.
Dad and I spoke to mom’s doctor at the facility about:
G-Tube/Peg/Feeding Tube: This will be removed within a month at the most. The doctor wants to be sure that mom is steadily eating and able to keep up nourishment so that the tube doesn’t come in and out and in and out.
Haldol: This is being DISCONTINUED and removed from her file. The doctor agreed that this drug is over the top. The doctor is going to recommend Adavan or Zanax as needed for agitation.
Sleep Apnea Study: The doctor said to wait until the stoma (hole in the throat) is closed and in view of all that mom has been through so far, the doctor recommends that we wait.
Everyone at the facility knows mom and us!! Everyone!! Wherever we go, people comment about mom being the ‘facility miracle!’ We saw mom’s old night shift aides today. They all miss mom and our family and we miss them too!
At speech, mom did great! The speech therapist said to work on some swallow exercises which involve saying certain words and enunciating certain sounds like a hard ‘G’ or ‘K’ sound at the end of the word. The speech person also gave us some oral motor exercises to do too (but we do all these already!!).
We sat outside for a few hours and mom called her friend, Florence, and then Donna. She had rather lengthy conversations with them both. Mom kept commenting on my bracelet and necklace all day today and marveling at how well they both matched my shirt! She is too funny. While we sat outside, I brought 2 lacing cards and mom laced them as we sat outside and talked to people. She did a really good job (not perfect but really good!!). It began to rain so we went back inside and began to do some crossword puzzles. Mom wanted to read the clues herself and she wanted a pen to write the clues in with too! She couldn’t write the words in the right place though nor could she make some of the letters. But mom knew that the letters go in the boxes. She guessed the clue: Hairstylist Shop (Salon) and Nobelist Wiesel (Elie). Then we stopped to make more phone calls. Mom called Claudia and her friend, Maureen. Mom read several books about pigs next. She enjoyed the pictures a lot and read the stories too. Mom had a French Dip roast beef on a hot dog roll for dinner with cole slaw. She practically licked the plate!! Hahaha! She had vanilla milk, thickened coffee and some peaches for dessert but didn’t like them much (ate ¾ ). I made mom have 2 containers of juice this afternoon…I am worried that she won’t drink enough and want to avoid another UTI.
Con and Sammy came to be with mom tonight. Sammy said that “Nonny was really with it and sooooo good tonight!” Con was making mom laugh and the 3 of them laughed so much that Sammy said it was a lot of fun!!! It was so funny how much mom laughed. They talked a lot and then they went on the IPAD and looked at family pictures. Sammy said mom laughed a lot at the pictures---the hairdos… Mom also was able to name everyone in the pictures but she confused Terry which is funny because, during dinner, mom commented that she hoped she had food at home for Terry to eat. This is a first reference to Terry and caring for her. They played games on the IPAD too. Then mom was put to bed. They watched TV with mom and sat with her and tucked her in and said prayers together. After they kissed mom good bye, they looked back at mom from the door and mom was watching them and waved good-bye. Sammy said, “It was sooo cute!
Mom goes to the neurologist tomorrow.
"He will once again fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy." Job 8:21
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