Mom Update, September 20, 2011, Tuesday

Mom Update, September 19, 2011, Tuesday

Mom’s update Tuesday, September 20, 2011

I started the day with mom. She did not want to get up today. Her CNA helped me fix her in the bed. I set up her breakfast. I had to speak to the head of therapy to see if I could get her therapy moved to the morning today because mom’s friend Flo and her daughter Karen came to see mom today in the afternoon. I also had to have her shower changed to very early so she could get to therapy.I ran around so much trying to get her therapy changed that I didn't spend any time with mom this morning. Mom had to have PT today with a different therapist because I had to change the time. Mom’s biggest worry…who would comb her hair after her shower so she looked good for Flo and Karen! I set her up with a fine motor task, the phone and her remote and left to go to work.

Dad came to see mom when Flo and Karen came. Karen was reminiscing about when she and I were kids. At first mom didn’t recognize her and then she started to tell mom stories about when she would sleep over or come over to play (Karen and I were friends growing up). At one point Karen mentioned her dog, Snowball, and mom’s eyes lit up and she said, “Oh yeah, Snowball!” and Karen said, “Sure, you remember my dog but you don’t remember me!” They all started to kid around how Karen was Snowball’s sister and mom laughed. Mom was kidding around with them. The last time Karen went to see mom she saw a rainbow as she left the facility and she told her mom about it. Today, Karen brought up the rainbow to Flo and said, “See, the rainbow must have meant something!” Growing up I had a thing for rainbows (Karen doesn’t know this – I don’t know how many people DO know this). I brought it up recently to my daughter. You see my dad bought Ava a lamp for her dorm room and it had kittens on it because Ava has a new kitten and he thought she would like it. I told her that my mom bought me a lamp when I went away to school. It was a rainbow! I loved the beauty of the rainbow but I especially loved the meaning behind the rainbow…a promise from God.

Dad stayed with mom when they left. She was doing a crossword puzzle. She read it and then wrote something down, but dad wasn’t sure if she had the correct answer. Mom read the paper and did the jumble. She was able to get two words. Kathy spoke to the PT and he told her that mom is doing well. Mom can pull herself up on the parallel bars and walk independently holding onto the bars. She is also able to pull herself up using the walker and then two people are on each side and one in front. The front person is there because she pushes the walker too far in front. The people on each side use to hold her up but they are now there to steady her (they are no longer holding her up). For the most part she is walking (shuffling at times) with the walker. Her feet are very close together and they need to remind her to walk with them farther apart. She does correct with verbal prompting.

Dad left when Con, Anthony Michael, Sam, Gina, and Michael arrived. She was very surprised to see them. They sat with mom and talked and watched TV. They brought pictures from their trip to Philly and mom loved looking at the pictures. She asked a lot of questions. Con told mom that tomorrow is her father’s birthday and mom said is he still alive and Con said, “no both my parents died when I was young” and mom seemed confused. Mom was very tired. Once mom was in bed she kept closing her eyes. Mom told Con she was tired and she should go home. Con stayed awhile longer and then they set mom up for bed, removed her hearing aids, put the timer on the TV and lowered the bed.



Genesis 9:12-13

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

~Claud