I began the morning with mom today. Breakfast had come late which was good because so was I. One of mom’s CNAs lost her husband to an unexpected early death. Please keep her in prayer. I believe she had 6 children.
Anyway, mom ate all her breakfast but with some coaxing from me. She had scrambled eggs, turkey slices, Fiber One cereal, applesauce, OJ and milk. As I coaxed mom along, I told her that, after all, I AM the family pest. Mom said, “Yes, you are but you are a nice pest.” I was chewing gum and mom said I chew like a cow! But, she said I make the gum look so good! She told me I better not chew gum, especially like that, at work! I assured her that I don’t.
We talked and laughed and then we did “phone call speech therapy!” We called Lenny, Con, Dad, Samantha, Anthony Michael, Rie, cousin Laura, mom’s brothers, Ray and Michael, cousins Donna, Stevie, Barbara and Danny. She told Stevie that he’d “have to forgive her for not remembering” that he and Donna visited her in the summer. Mom told each person she spoke to that she is doing “OK, not great because I can’t walk yet by myself.” I wish she could know how much progress she has made.
Mom was dressed and washed next. Her physical therapist came in to help mom get on the serita lift. The PT said that mom is now able to walk with the walker for 15 to 20 feet!!!!!! She did this with only minimal assistance from the PT (only 1 person!!!) and minimal assistance from a person who stands in front of the walker and prompts mom verbally and physically to keep her legs apart when she walks!!!! They use the prompt words, “UNDER” to push her feet back before standing (we used the word, “BACK”) and the word, “SEPARATE” to keep her feet apart (we used the word, “APART”). Now that we know the terms they use, we will use the same terms. The PT said that we can come watch a session next week or the one after.
I groomed mom --- did her nails. As I clipped them, mom asked, “Wait a minute. Is this clipper mine?” I told her I took it from the community nail clipper place down the hall to tease her. Anthony came to see her next and we both talked to the physical therapist, then I put mom’s make up on. Anthony and I walked mom outside for a while. Then I left. Mom and Anthony stayed outside until lunchtime.
Dad and Terry came to see mom next. Mom wanted to read today. She told Terry and Dad she didn’t want to work. She only wanted to thumb through catalogs all afternoon and watch TV. Mom called Angelo, Madeline, and Aunt Lucy this afternoon. Mom also talked to JoAnn too. I cut mom’s hair when I came back to see her late in the afternoon. I helped mom pick the food she wants to eat next week on the menu. Then dad and I went out to dinner. Mom’s nurse stopped us on the way out to say that the new doctor read her chart and prescribed cipro (an antibiotic) for a UTI mom showed as having….here we go again. Round and round the mountain. The doctor never read her chart deeply or talked to us even though we are always there and just prescribed the drug without consult or knowledge of the fact that mom doesn’t get medication for the UTI unless she becomes symptomatic. Perhaps the old doctor never bothered to note that on her charts?? Who knows. Now mom has to stay on this drug for 10 days because they can’t stop it once they start it.
Terry stayed with mom tonight and put mom to bed.
“Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of?” Deuteronomy 4:32
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