Mom’s update, Monday, October 17, 2011
I started the day with mom. She was sleeping when I arrived and I noticed there were Nursing supervisors on the floor. I thought they might be short handed and after a few questions, I was correct. I started to open the blinds and take out mom’s hearing aids and she woke up. She woke up in a good mood. I put her hearing aids in and she complained she still couldn’t hear. I checked them again and they were fine so I cleaned mom’s ear a second time and placed them in again. She ended up complaining all day that she couldn’t make out what other people were saying. Brain recovery is so weird! One day things are great and all of a sudden one of her senses is all messed up. I set up her breakfast and filled her pitcher with ice water as well as her insulated cup. She loves ice water. I had to prompt her to drink her prune juice. They actually brought her the wrong breakfast so I had to get protein. When it finally came it was three hard boiled eggs! Feast or famine! No in between. Obviously I didn’t give her all three. She did shell the egg by herself.
After breakfast we did the calendar and then wrote down what we ate for breakfast. Dad called and mom spoke to him. Mom’s CNA from downstairs came to visit mom. Mom was so happy to see her. They talked and kidded around and then she gave her a kiss and told her she loved her. Her CNA came in and pretended to be jealous so mom gave her a kiss and told her, “You’re my best girl!” She started crying. She wants to go home so bad. I set up her tray with things for her to do. I noticed that if you give her two of the same sort of thing (worksheet and crossword – both papers that she has to read and answer) she starts to combine the two. She will read the crossword and then pick up the worksheet and try to record the answer on that paper. I left her the tissues, phone and a magazine. I told her I would see her tomorrow and she started to cry. I stayed a little longer and then had to go.
Dad came next and went to PT with mom. He said that she walked 15 steps with the walker with the PT and one other person beside her. They don’t touch her or help her they are there for support. Dad also said she didn’t stand up straight. She is making progress. I had a chance to take a quarter of a day and go back to see mom. I was hoping to see PT but they took her early. I did see the head of therapy and asked how mom was doing. He said she is being told she is making progress – walking longer, less support on each side, etc. He said, “You waited so long for this moment, let’s not rush her. Right now she is at a 50%. Let’s get her to a 20 – 10% before she goes home. At a 20-10% her family can pick up the slack.”
When I came back her two CNA’s from downstairs came to see mom. Mom remembered one of the girls (she always thinks they are sisters because they look alike). They laughed and talked and then mom started to get upset and said she wanted to go home! She shook her fists and rocked in the chair. They told her she is so close. She did finally calm down.
Dad and I sat with mom. I brought a logic game with me. It has colored chips and you need to follow the cues in order to put the chips in the correct order. Ex: The purple chip is not on an end. The white chip is directly to the right of the purple. So the line would be – yellow, purple, white. We did the first two together and then I had her repeat the first two by herself. She did the third one by herself and told dad an I, “Hey, I’m finished!” She was correct! I then took out her Ipad and reminded dad that he had the combination to the safe on his phone and I showed him where. I told him to sit with mom and play.
John came to put mom to bed. The Ipad was away when he arrived. They played with the logic chips. John liked them and mom was able to do them with prompting although, she wouldn’t put the chips in the hole on the sheet. She just lined them up on the tray. John made a good observation. When mom was doing the logic puzzle she doesn’t do it as a whole. She sets up one part and then takes apart what she did and then does the next piece. She still gets the right answer but goes about it in a weird way. They get progressively harder as you go along. John said she was very unsettled. She was very uncomfortable. John had mom write what she had for dinner and she wrote all the food and then John said what else? John said, “The company of you favorite son-in-law!” She laughed and wrote it down. Once mom was in bed she started to cry very badly. John had her call dad and talk to him and this worked for only a few moments. He then called me and I reminded mom of when I had my adenoids out and how I called her form the hospital crying and she said, “I was just thinking about then when John said he was calling you!” How cool that she remembered so far back! Maybe her hearing is not clear today, but other things are sharp. John stayed with her and calmed her down. He said a prayer with her tonight and kissed her and left.
Peace and be well,
~Claud
No comments:
Post a Comment