Mom’s update Sunday, July 31, 2011
Last night was a little crazy and I didn’t get a chance to write all that happened because it was so late when I got home. When mom was given the shot to help with her agitation the syringe broke, not the needle, but the plastic syringe part that holds the needle. It wasn’t the staff’s fault; it was a faulty needle. We both wondered if she even received the full dose of medicine. Mom continued to be agitated for the next hour. I asked a nurse about the fact that she was given meds and an hour later and is still highly agitated. They said they would call the nursing supervisor and the doctor to see what to do. The problem was that I also didn’t want to over medicate her and then she would be a zombie in the morning. I waited as long as I could for an answer but it was already late so I left.
This morning mom was in the hallway by the nurse’s station with other residences. They were getting ready to set up the dining area for a Christian service. I wheeled mom in and waited for the service to begin. We stayed for over an hour and listened to the beautiful music and the readings and the sermon. It was great and mom even mouthed the words to Amazing Grace. A story was told about a man, Horatio Sprattford (I hope I remembered the name correctly). He was waiting for his family to arrive on a ship (wife, four daughters and a son) when the ship was struck by another boat and his children drowned leaving only his wife. He later returned by boat to the place where his children drowned and had come to peace with what happened. He wrote a song at the rail of the boat…”It is well with my soul.” This story touched me. He had such faith in the face of such a tragedy to know that he trusted the Lord and I think this will be my new prayer…”It is well with my soul.” What a “deep” saying. To me, when you love, forgive or accept something in your soul it is truly deep, truly a part of your being.
Mom spoke to Kathy, Dad, Anthony, Con, Samantha and Anthony Michael on the phone. She told them that she went to church this morning. She was very lucid and had a conversation with all of them, asking and answering questions. I brought the Sunday Newsday, mom’s favorite. She read the Fanfare section. We went downstairs in the lobby and did the crossword puzzle from the paper. She was able to get many of the answers. While we were there a couple form Our Lady of Grace Church walked by and stopped to say hi to mom. Mom said, “Oh, they are from Our Lady of Grace.” The nurses called down to the lobby to say mom had to go back up to get meds so we went back to her room. We continued to do crosswords and the woman next to mom thought I was asking her questions and asked me what was up with all the questions? Then at one point she said, “You’re just guessing!”
Terry came and brought her laptop and some movies. I set them up in the lounge because I didn’t think they would be able to watch the movies with her roommate talking and yelling out things. They watched Abbott and Costello and Dick Van Dyke show. When I came back in the evening, mom was in bed already and they were watching shows on Terry’s laptop. Terry left and mom and I had a nice time together. She was a little calmer tonight. There were a few times where she said she wanted to go home or get out of bed to go to the bathroom but all in all it wasn’t so bad. I asked her a lot of social questions, her birthday, the kids’ birthdays, dad’s birthday and her address. She did great. I was amazed at how many dates she remembered. Then we started to sing. I played “Rain Drops are Fallin’ on my Head” and I showed her the lyrics. We both sang! I then sang a song that she and I use to sing when I was little. I sang one song and she sang another that was sung at t he same time (You’re Just in Love by Irving Berlin). Mom sang my part with me and sang some of the words to her part but when we sang together she sang my part. She was also actually singing, not just mouthing the words! We then took out her ipad and sang songs from Godspell at her request. At one point I asked her the names of the seven dwarfs and she started out with “Happy” and then made up a funny name and laughed. We then both came up with 6 out of the seven and couldn’t think of the last one. We called Jean, the expert of the “Dorfs” as he used to call them! He couldn’t believe she was asking him on the phone. He started to name them and she said, “Wait, wait, slow down” and then repeated each one for me. Mom then told him the silly name she made up for the Dwarf and laughed. After the phone call we continued to sing until Kathy and Dad arrived. She was so happy to see dad. She told him she missed him last night. He bought her a stuffed black bear with a raccoon hat. She laughed and tucked it under her arm. Dad told her all about upstate. When it was time to leave the nurse happened to be in the room and I told her that mom was fine tonight but to please keep an eye on her and if she became agitated to please give her something. I then put her mitts on and explained to the nurse that she gets agitated after the mitts so we would stay for a few minutes to see how she was. Mom was great tonight. She told dad and I to go home and go to sleep. We said a prayer and kissed her and left.
Peace and Love,
“It is well with my soul!”
Claudia
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