Update on Mother

Mother is having her ups and downs. The last you heard was that she was doing well in physical therapy. Well, she got sick again and did not make any progress. So, her last day of physical therapy was last Friday. She is now in restorative therapy. Most of her therapy will now be done in her room and if she can walk, the therapist will help.

The way I understand it is that if she progresses to a certain point in restorative therapy, they’ll start her up again in Physical therapy.

Anyway, we showed up Saturday and apparently, they’re going to have her walk a bit on the weekends too. They’re getting her to walk in her room and sit in her chair for dinner.

They are also getting her up for both lunch and dinner during the week. She sits in her chair. Let me tell you, she’s a picky eater. So, some times, she’ll eat quite a bit, sometimes a little, and other times, not at all. She was not doing well Sunday morning. I thought maybe it’s because she’s didn’t eat much for lunch and dinner on Saturday. It’s unusual for her to not like anything provided two meals in a row. I know that when I don’t eat properly, I don’t feel well either.

Dan and I got her a tater from Jason’s deli for lunch on Sunday. I was surprised. She ate pretty much the whole thing! She looked and felt better soon afterward. She did real well walking in her room before dinner and sat in her chair for a bit. My brother and his wife took her a sandwich that night for dinner and she ate all that too! I am hoping her appetite is returning because she didn’t want to eat much of anything before – even the stuff from home or from one of her favorite restaurants.

She had a good day Monday -- walked a little. But, today was a bad day. She couldn’t walk much. She got weak and dizzy all of a sudden (while up walking) and felt like throwing up. We have no clue to what’s going on with her. My brother has been trying to get her in to see a cardiologist and see if there is anything he (or she) can do for her. But, as of right now, there is nothing more we can do.

So anyway, I guess she’s going to have good days and bad days. I just hope that she’ll have more good days and less bad days in the near future because I’m still clinging to hope that she’ll return back home.

Mother likes having me there with her in her room. She wants me there most of the day as she hates being left all alone. My brother and/or his wife visit her practically every night. It’s not like she’s there alone all the time. She has people checking up on her. But, I don’t mind because there isn’t much for me to do here anyway. It just concerns me because she doesn’t like me to go anywhere at any time.

I can see that she’s treated well by most everyone at the place she’s in. She’s developed a rapport with a few of the caretakers and even talked to one of them about me “behind my back” while I was there! The way Mom does this is by covering her mouth so that I can’t read her lips. I KNEW they were talking about me and I exclaimed, “are you guys talking about me?!?!?” They were both laughing and having a good time. Angie (the caretaker) refused to look at me but she nodded her head. Mom looked at me and said “nothing, never mind!” Sheesh!

Anyway, I’ll be here the rest of this week and will return home with Dan on Sunday.