Greetings,
Great day for Mom. I put her glasses on her face for
the first time this a.m. and she looked at me like "Well
finally!" I was holding her left hand and said "Now Mom,
squeeze my hand…" to ask if she could see better but she started squeezing
before I finished my question. I said "Hold on mom, I didn't ask the
question yet" and she just kept squeezing, then the left side of her mouth
curved up and she started making noises...of course laughing at me for trying
to get her to communicate something she was already communicating.
We laughed for awhile about that. She is now pointing
to the food she wants on the tray and turning food away that she doesn't like
(the mash potatoes suck...I'm sure she would use that word). With
assistance from the OT and PT, she sat on the edge of the bed and balanced
herself a bit, stood and then sat in a chair. After the therapists left,
I gave Mom the newspaper, and there she was, sitting in the chair wearing her
glasses and looking at the paper. After awhile she fell asleep in the
chair...everything is back to normal.
Dad brought in Mom’s cat that is soft and purrs when you
squeeze it; she has been petting it and such.
At least she doesn't have to clean out a litter box. The speech
therapist gave us a speech chart to use with Mom.
The chart has pictures of basic things she may want and then
a big Yes No ? in the middle to
point to in order to answer questions. As I was feeding her peaches for
lunch, Dad whipped out the chart and asked, "Peggy, do you want more
peaches?" She rolled her eyes (progress), took the chart from him,
shoved it under the table and pulled the peaches closer to her.
Then she laughed, we got a kick out of that. After lunch, she reached for
Dad's hand and pulled him closer to her. He went to kiss her on the lips
and she grabbed his baseball hat off his head. Just then the nurse came in
and we turned to look at her. When we looked back at Mom, she had the hat on
her head. She seems to be getting a little enjoyment out of this experience...at
our expense but we love it.
Once Mom is medically stable (maybe later this week), she
will either be moved to the 4th floor for intense physical therapy or moved to
another facility for more moderate therapy. We are pushing for the 4th
floor (but not the 5th...I think that may be the psych ward and they might not let
us out). Many of you have asked about sending cards. Feel free to
send them to the house and we can take them to her. Flowers would make
mom sneeze, just letting you know.
Mom has a phone in her room, but if we are not there, it
just rings and rings. If you feel the need to call, please call the house
and we can return your call when we get home. If you have been forwarded
this email and would like to be added to this list, please email me and I will
put you on it. Some people have asked about visiting. At this
point, I think Mom would enjoy receiving cards and good wishes rather than an
actual visit.
When she gets to the point that she can feed you, we'll be
sure to let you know!
Thanks for all the prayers and good thoughts, they seem to
be working!
Much Love,
Peggy Anne