Mom has had an exciting summer.
She went upstate to see Jean in his show and then went to her trailer.
She actually walked up the steps (with help) and into the trailer. She
hadn’t been there since the day she had the aneurysm and stroke. We were
all so emotional. We then went to Uncle Ray’s and Aunt Irene’s 45
wedding anniversary at the Brotherhood Winery. Mom remembered being at
the winery years ago. She did great.Mom has had many day trips over the
summer. She went with Con, Anthony, Dad, Anthony Michael, and Samantha
to Huntington Village and loved the “Olive Oil” store. Weeks later she
has been able to recall these events with minimal prompting.Mom no
longer gets speech, OT or PT. She still gets visits from
our cousin who is still working on speech with mom. Her speech therapist
did give us many worksheets and ideas to do with mom. I bought her a
divided folder with seven sections, one for each day. I placed
worksheets in each section so her home health aide, dad or whoever is
with mom can do work with her. I went to a speech session and she showed
me activities to do with playing cards. She has mom sort them by color
and then tells her to stop and has her sort them by suit. By stopping
her in the middle of an activity she works on switching from one
activity to another. She also has mom sort by red even, red odd, blue
even and blue odd and face cards. This is very challenging, but mom
needs little prompting.Friday night Kathy and I brought “sugar free, fat
free” ice cream to mom and dad (YUM! And taste free too). We sat under
the awning outside mom’s house. We watched TV on my laptop and talked.
Dad said it was a pleasant surprise. Anthony is still working with mom
on walking and if there are two people at the house then mom walks to
and from the bathroom. Mom does her hand and leg exercises every day and
reminds us that she must do them. Mom has complained that she is bored
and her days are long. We are trying to give dad ideas to do with mom.
Today, Samantha, Terry and I (and a friend of ours) took mom bowling. I
called ahead to see if it was handicapped accessible and if they had a
bowling ball ramp. The ramp is made of metal and you place it in front
of a person in a wheelchair and they push the ball. Mom had a good time
watching and participating She kept asking, “What is the purpose of this
game?” I would have her answer her own question and mom would say, “To
knock down the pins? Or to knock down the most pins?” Sometimes mom asks
a question that she already knows the answer to. I asked her what was
her favorite part of bowling and she said, “The pretzel!” That’s mom!
Peace,
Claudia
She went upstate to see Jean in his show and then went to her trailer.
She actually walked up the steps (with help) and into the trailer. She
hadn’t been there since the day she had the aneurysm and stroke. We were
all so emotional. We then went to Uncle Ray’s and Aunt Irene’s 45
wedding anniversary at the Brotherhood Winery. Mom remembered being at
the winery years ago. She did great.Mom has had many day trips over the
summer. She went with Con, Anthony, Dad, Anthony Michael, and Samantha
to Huntington Village and loved the “Olive Oil” store. Weeks later she
has been able to recall these events with minimal prompting.Mom no
longer gets speech, OT or PT. She still gets visits from
our cousin who is still working on speech with mom. Her speech therapist
did give us many worksheets and ideas to do with mom. I bought her a
divided folder with seven sections, one for each day. I placed
worksheets in each section so her home health aide, dad or whoever is
with mom can do work with her. I went to a speech session and she showed
me activities to do with playing cards. She has mom sort them by color
and then tells her to stop and has her sort them by suit. By stopping
her in the middle of an activity she works on switching from one
activity to another. She also has mom sort by red even, red odd, blue
even and blue odd and face cards. This is very challenging, but mom
needs little prompting.Friday night Kathy and I brought “sugar free, fat
free” ice cream to mom and dad (YUM! And taste free too). We sat under
the awning outside mom’s house. We watched TV on my laptop and talked.
Dad said it was a pleasant surprise. Anthony is still working with mom
on walking and if there are two people at the house then mom walks to
and from the bathroom. Mom does her hand and leg exercises every day and
reminds us that she must do them. Mom has complained that she is bored
and her days are long. We are trying to give dad ideas to do with mom.
Today, Samantha, Terry and I (and a friend of ours) took mom bowling. I
called ahead to see if it was handicapped accessible and if they had a
bowling ball ramp. The ramp is made of metal and you place it in front
of a person in a wheelchair and they push the ball. Mom had a good time
watching and participating She kept asking, “What is the purpose of this
game?” I would have her answer her own question and mom would say, “To
knock down the pins? Or to knock down the most pins?” Sometimes mom asks
a question that she already knows the answer to. I asked her what was
her favorite part of bowling and she said, “The pretzel!” That’s mom!
Peace,
Claudia
