Moms’ Update, November 13th, 2011
I can’t imagine what it will be like not driving a half hour (or more) to see mom in the morning. I will still help in the morning, but mom is 4 minutes down the road from me. We will have a new routine I’m sure. My mom is and always will be a “Worry wart.” One of her favorite sayings would be, “Oh now I have something else to worry about!” In a way, she has passed this down to all of us. I should be excited to have her come home and instead I am worried that it won’t really happen. I am afraid to be excited. We have been so close to major breakthroughs before and then something happens; urinary tract infections, fluid on the brain, decanulation. My husband reminds me all the time that I tend to be negative. He means well and tries to have me see the positive side of situations. This is why I love him so much! It makes for a healthy mix of positives and negatives!
Today I started the day as usual. I said my usual, “Good Morning Morning Glory!” I fixed mom in the bed, put hearing aids in, cleaned her glasses and put them on, etc. I brought mom her Sunday morning special breakfast of a ham and cheese omelet and home fries. Of course she told me that I spoil her! Just then her old CNA came into the room and mom’s eyes lit up. “I thought you moved to another floor and weren’t coming back?” she said. She remembered! Her memory is so weird. She will ask me a million times what I brought her for breakfast or where I bought it but then she remembers that her CNA left.
After breakfast, mom had to use the bathroom. She was so adamant about getting out of bed that I started the process as we waited for the CNA. I put her shoes and socks on and removed the side bumper. She grabbed onto the side rail and swung her leg off the bed. I had all to do to call for the CNA and keep her from getting out of the bed by herself. I positioned the wheelchair and the nurse came in and helped me with the rest. Mom did great. When she was all done with the bathroom, washing her own face and brushing her teeth (I supervised but she did it by herself), she came out to start her day.
I told mom that I brought new worksheet and she rolled her eyes (to get a reaction) so I asked her if she wanted to work and she became serious and said yes. She likes to tease me. I borrowed some Life Skills workbooks from a friend of mine. They are as follows:
Publisher: Remedia Publications
Titles: Labels and Packages, The Newspaper, Survival Words, and Math at Home
Skills: Analyze information, apply information, classify information, follow directions, find relevant facts, make inferences, understand and use reference source, understand consumer information, use context clues, Use logic to solve problems (just to name a few)
We started with the labels and packages and she did very well. The hardest part of the worksheets is her organizational skills involved in learning (Executive Functions). She will read a question over and over and not move on to the next question or place the answer in the wrong spot. She did well with the questions but it did take thought. It wasn’t as easy as I thought it was going to be. Next we did The Newspaper worksheet. This was easy for her. Some of the questions were in regard to an index. It had a newspaper index and asked you where to find specific information. An example of one of the questions was, “Where would you look if you were planning a vacation?” The answer was the travel section on page 20. You needed to know that a vacation and travel go together. She knew every answer. We then moved on to the Math at Home worksheets. She had a very difficult time. We eventually had to give up and change to another activity. Here is a sample question that mom found extremely difficult:
To make six pancakes you need 1 cup of pancake mix and ¾ cup of water. How much will you need to make 12 pancakes?
___________________ cups of pancake mix ________________ cups of water
The whole concept of doubling the recipe was familiar but then actually doing it was impossible. She kept saying 12 cups of mix and had no idea how to double ¾ cup of water. She kept at it for a long time. I even took out the wipe off board and visually showed her, but she was very confused. I tried to get her to go on to another activity but she insisted on trying to understand. Finally she said let’s do something else. We went back to The Newspaper workbook. She read a fake article and answered questions. She did much better with specific “literal questions” that didn’t involve math.
I gave her a break and she wrote in her journal. She wrote what she had for breakfast and then about her morning. She wrote – “Claudia came early and she made me go through workbook questions and I felt very insecure because I didn’t get all the answers. I have to go to the potty now and Claudia is going for some assistance. I’ll be so happy when I can do this by myself. ___ is my aide and she’s a pest but a lovable pest.” When talking about writing a book she told her aide that she wants her name to be “Tanisha” and then laughed. She wrote in her journal, “Tanisha is her name.”
I put The Mary Tyler Moore show on for mom on DVD. She was laughing and having a good time. She said, “That was a REAL show, not like now.”
Anthony, Con and Anthony Michael came and we all watched Mary Tyler Moore and laughed. Anthony read her journal and said, “Write something about me.” Mom wrote, “Something about Anthony” in her journal and laughed! Then she wrote, “Anthony is so good looking all the nurse’s (like him)” She cracks me up!
Mom’s lunch came and she had – sweet potato, ham and pineapple and Brussels sprouts. Con said to mom, “What did Ava call these?” (Brussels sprouts) Mom said, “Broccoli balls!” Con cut up mom’s food and prepared the lunch for her. Con, Anthony, and Anthony Michael stayed with mom for the afternoon. They spoke about taking mom outside. I am sure Anthony worked on mom’s legs.
Terry came later in the afternoon to stay with mom. She always brings great DVD movies and her nook color to work with mom. Terry stayed with mom until dad arrived. Dad and Kathy went upstate last night and into today to shut off the water before it freezes up there. They almost hit a bear last night. When I told mom the story she said, “Oh dad and Kathy exaggerate!”
Peace and Be Well,
~Claud
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