John and I started the day with mom. We
brought her breakfast, but she already had a great breakfast, so we just
gave her what the facility provided. Mom was sleeping when we walked
into the room. I opened the blinds and began to get her ready for her
day. She woke up and she was so surprised to see John. Since the
hurricane, John has been working 6 days a week with overtime every day.
We sat with mom and gave her breakfast. I had to remind her to tuck her
chin down. She had a whole week of eating mush (pureed food) so she
needed a little help. She ate most of her breakfast. We have been
noticing that since she has lost so much weight her appetite is not the
same. That’s OK though, since she isn’t overeating.
Dad, Con, and Kathy all called this morning to see how mom was doing. Mom made a joke when John was talking to Con and we all laughed. She spoke to dad, but I had
to relay messages from mom since he really can’t hear her. She asked relevant questions and was really having a conversation with him. I am glad that this infection and the little bit of anesthesia that she had the other day didn’t affect her cognitive ability.
After breakfast I gave mom the Sunday paper and held back her coffee from breakfast. It was so cozy hanging out together on a Sunday morning drinking coffee and reading the paper for a little while. Mom asked questions about things she was reading in the paper. I then took out the ipad and showed John how she can play the word jumble game. He also likes word games so they played together. Mom gets a word that is all jumbled and using a stylus she has to take each letter and place them in the correct order. This game also works on fine motor and gross motor skills. Mom has to reach forward and then stretch her forearm to place the letters in the right spot. Mom and John played this game for a while. There were times that mom unscrambled the word before John and I! A few times I asked her if she wanted to play something else and she said no.
Once she started to show disinterest I changed to the memory game. Mom was able to play with minimal prompting. John couldn’t believe how she was able to remember where the cards were. Mom was dressed and washed and put back to bed. We need to wait until tomorrow to put her back in her wheel chair. She needs to be cleared by the PT. This makes sense I guess. She hasn’t been using those muscles all week and we don’t want her to be unsafe.
Con, Anthony, Anthony Michael and Sam came. We were back in the room by then playing a multiplication math game. Mom really wants to know how to play each game. She doesn’t like it if I change a setting or advance to the next screen without explaining what I am doing.
Mom’s roommate called the police while we were there. She called more than once (3 times). Anthony went to get a nurse and the nurse got on the phone with the police. John and I left after a while and Con and Anthony and the kids stayed. Con said she was in a good mood. They talked. Lunch came and she didn’t like what she was given so they sent down for something else and she ate it. They asked her what she wanted to do and she asked them to put the TV on. The lady in the next bed was screaming for the nurses. Mom started to look tired from all the noise.
~Claud
Kathy: When I came to see mom this evening, dad and Terry were there. They were all watching “Pearl Harbor.” Mom asked me if I had ever seen that movie and, when I said no, mom said, “Oh it’s soooo good.” Mom’s dinner came and dad left to go home. Mom had a quiche and mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables for dinner. But—they had her back on thickened liquids for some reason???!!!!! We were told that we need to get new clearance for regular liquids again.....We will straighten things out tomorrow. Mom also wasn’t in the wheelchair all day. She had to stay in bed all day for some reason. Mom looked tired and washed out when I saw her. I finished hanging a few pictures and posters while mom watched TV and drank ice water and read the newspaper. We talked too.
Mom’s roommate was screaming for the aides and nurses the whole time I was there. No one came fast enough for the roommate so the yelling continued. It upset mom and was so loud it interrupted even the TV. Finally, I went around the curtain—stuck my head on the roommate’s side and told her to stop yelling and to ring the call bell instead. The next thing I knew, the roommate was calling the aides and saying that I threatened her!! Oh brother. Two nurses then two more nurses came in to take a statement from the roommate and then one from me. I would think that, after the false calls to the police department today by the roommate, no one would even take the roommate seriously. This is also the roommate who accused our family of stealing her things and her money... Whatever. God knows I didn’t threaten her. Mom and I prayed for the roommate and then just read the newspaper together.
I got mom ready for bed---it was 8:30 and she was still in her clothes. Her CNA came in to get her ready for bed so mom and I said our good-byes and I love yous. Just as I was leaving, mom called to me. Ever the joker that she is, she said, “Hey Kathy, next time you come, don’t make so much trouble around here!!” and laughed. She always has a way of putting things into perspective.
The weird thing is that, as I drove home and thought about calling someone to tell the events of the night to, I thought, “Hey, I think I’ll call mom and tell her about this”….what can I say? I miss her.
“The truth shall set you free.” John 8:32
No comments:
Post a Comment