Where to begin??!! It's been a while. I am attaching a video of mom walking with the walker, along with some pictures!! (friends and family can facebook me for pictures and video)
We have all been enjoying mom so much. everyone took mom to Palm Sunday mass and mom sat with the choir and sang with them again!!! Lenny and I were upstate that day but I bet there wasn't a dry eye!! Anthony, Con, Sammy and Ava came to mom's on Good Friday to make Easter bunny bread like mom usually does. They had a great time!
Mom had her stoma surgery and all went well. She is doing outpatient physical, occupational, and soon speech (for memory) therapy 3 times a week for the next 10 weeks at least!! Their goals are to have mom walk independently and consistently with the walker and to have her be able to dress and bath herself.
The aide who comes 6 days a week is wonderful with mom and mom is very comfortable with her. Dad frequently brings mom outside and she watches him while he works in the yard---one day, he even gave her some clippers and had her do some pruning in the flowerbeds!!!
Anthony and Con have her stand at the sink and wash dishes sometimes---to which mom asks, "Hey, wait a minute...whose idea was this?" Anthony continues to consistently work with her teaching her to walk-----he is amazing!!!! She wouldn't be standing or taking steps without him...he does better than the physical therapists who worked with mom!! He is very patient and persistent and he basically thinks about which muscles are used for what positions, he looks at where his feet would be placed for certain activities like walking and standing and then he models for her and teaches her how to stand, walk...it is just beautiful. She responds well to him. Terry and dad are with her the most. Claudia comes a lot too to work on cognitive skills and bath her sometimes. Anthony Michael and Sammy come to visit and sit with mom a lot and Ava, Jean, John and Lenny and I all come when we can. I usually get there once or twice a week.
Dad and mom have settled into a routine. The other day, I went with them to the neurologist (who, by the way, is amazed with her progress each time he sees her) and dad and mom have getting into and out of the car down to a science!!! She holds around his neck and then stands, but before she stands, he reminds her, "Put your arms around me, hon" and then they both break into song, "Put Your Arms Around Me Baby, Hold me Tight!!" Don't get me wrong...there are plenty of frustrating times and days too--but the love and comic relief in between helps!
So, is mom back to normal? Well...the day before Easter, after I went to NJ to pick up Aunt Sophie, mom, Aunt Sophie and I sat at the dining room table to make French Toast Casserole for breakfast the next day. As I broke the 2 dozen eggs into a large mixing bowl one after the other, mom commented, "Oh you're taking a big risk there missy! How do you know one of those eggs isn't bad and then you'd ruin the whole bowlful. You should be cracking them one at a time first into a small cup." She continued to critique my cooking skills the rest of the time!!!
So is she back to normal....? Sometimes, she is amazingly so...probably about 92% there. At other times, she is far from the same. Most of the time, she is there and OK though. She still can't remember that she is home and often talks about going home soon---she thinks she lives in Brooklyn at one or two places she lived as a young child and young adult. She forgets a lot of short term memory things as well. I have noticed that she will frequently ask the same question over and over again....at these times, I answer the question the first 3-4 times and then from then on, I ask her what the answer is and most of the times she remembers with a phonemic prompt or none at all. She still has "no agenda" for the day---wherever you place her in the wheelchair, that's where she is content to be. She doesn't make plans -- not even to go to another room or do an activity. But then again, she is happy (thank God) and content and for the first time in 65 years, her blood pressure is normal!! She doesn't even take any blood pressure meds anymore!!!
I did mom's nails and cut her hair for Easter. She loves to be primped. Claudia showered her and did her hair on Easter Sunday morning.
On Easter Sunday, it was a bit like the book, "Stone Soup" which is a story about some soldiers who come to a strange town hungry and begging for food. Thought the townsfolk said there was none, the soldiers decided to concoct a pot of stone soup---placing 4 large stones into a pot of boiling water. Little by little, each town person came to add "just a little something" to the soup like a carrot, celery....soon they all shared a luscious soup!!! Well, Easter Sunday was like that. Typically, for as long as we all can remember, mom and dad host a HUGE Easter Sunday breakfast for family and friends. Mom makes all kinds of delicacies....but she couldn't do that this year. Dad said we'd have a simple bagel and butter breakfast so that we'd still all be together.... Well....though we all are so busy... Anthony, Con and the kids and Ava came to make the Easter bunny bread, I made Easter Pie (Pizza Rustica), and Stuffed French Toast Casserole, Claudia brought lox and bagels and made a huge quiche, Terry made horseradish and beets and brought fruit, Rie even made mom and grammy's cheese blintzes recipe!!!!... We begin that morning, all together again, as Ava said when she was young, just like "the good old days" and Lenny lead us all in prayer to begin our day...we are so truly blessed indeed.
You have all wisdom and do great and mighty miracles." Jeremiah 32:19
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