Sunday December 16 – Mom has been home for 2 weeks and I have been with her for 3 weeks. She won’t be seeing her doctors for at least 3 weeks but her home nurse, Viola, will continue to visit her 2 to 3 times a week. The home nurse, the physical therapist and the occupational therapist are all provided from Blessed Trinity Home Health through Medicare and they are the biggest and most unexpected treasure for me. Tomorrow a new routine begins for mom. For years I have wanted her to get involved in some kind of physical activity and now she has no choice! They will each work with her twice a week for one month providing movement, strengthening and balancing exercises. They will also assess her overall living situation for her safety and observe how she preforms daily activities around the house. This should help us determine if she will be able to continue living in her home. My hope is that she will enjoy the idea of having people come into her home and help her and want it to be an ongoing part of her life. The two therapists are sweethearts and it’s feels like mom will have a personal trainer for a month.
Thursday December 13 ♡ Cat Naps Mom keeps wondering why she is so tired and constantly feels a need to explain or figure out why she keeps falling asleep on the couch. I tell her she is just like a cat and remind her of how much they sleep. This afternoon after sleeping for a few hours this morning she finished her lunch and expressed how good she felt. Yes mom, just like a cat – they sleep and eat and are content. The afternoon project is to clean the celery and possibly make celery soup later. Now I need to look up the Betty Crocker recipe she keeps referring to. ☛ I just went back to the kitchen to check on mom and she has finished cleaning all of the celery and now she’s making applesauce. She’s clearly on a roll!
Back in the kitchen again ♥
This is what they looed like after she had been thawing them for 5 minutes.
Cold Hands – Warm Heart When we returned from the doctor yesterday mom said her hands were freezing and she had them bundled in her favorite heating pad. Her hands are always cold when she’s been outside but this was different and I was pretty shocked when she showed me her hands. Then in her unassuming brilliance she asked me if this new extreme reaction could be because she is now taking a blood thinner. I think she’s right but now I need to find a solution because yesterday was no where near as cold as it will be.
12-12-12. The doctor appointment went very well but there will be no immediate reduction in any of her medication. He is satisfied with her progress and wants to see her again in one month. She weighed in at 78 pounds and that’s up 4 pounds from her last visit. I took it to be good news but will continue with the Fatten Mom Mission. The best news is she is feeling and acting more like her old self!
Hats Off Day About a week after my arrival I woke up one morning and realized I could pause and take a deep breath of relief. Mom was home, the sun was out and I decided to just take off all the hats, both new and old, I’d been wearing. Just pause and declare it a Hats Off Day! Today is going to be another hats off day – well, most of the day. Mom is up and about and doing the laundry which is a perfect familiar activity for her and I get the benefit of having my wash done for me.
Tomorrow she has an appointment with her primary doctor and fortunately she really likes him. This will be her first hospital follow up and I hope he will be able to give us an idea of when she might be able to cut back on some of her medication. Every morning I “cheerfully” announce The Pharmacy is now open at which point she rolls her eyes in disappointment and begins to consume piles of pills with her breakfast. I don’t dare tell her that I can’t imagine how she can do it.
Mom sItting on the couch finishing her orange juice.
Monday December 10 – I’ve been here for 2 weeks. Mom is up and around with good energy this morning with a smile on her face. ☀ That’s a great way to start the week. The visiting nurse, Viola, came and checked her blood levels to make sure the medication is all on target. Everything checked out GREAT. This gives me such peace of mind because I really want to make sure I’m handling the prescriptions efficiently and that mom will respond to all of the “pill-taking” as quickly as possible so we can begin to cut back some of them.
I’m grateful for Viola coming here because it is 18 degrees and it would be a big deal to get her doctor to draw the blood.
Today she is making phone calls and wants to make applesauce this afternoon. I hope she is feeling ready to get back into her regular routine.
Resting in the kitchen after her friend Louis called from Texas. They have been friends since 1939.
Today is Saturday and mom has been home for one week now. I didn’t realize it was going to be so slow but I now see she is going to need a lot of time to get her strength back. She really doesn’t do too much but I am grateful she gets up and can get around on her own with the help of her walker. It’s easy to bring a smile to her face with light conversation and she is very determined. My motto to her is:
Eat – Drink and be Merry!
Which means I hover over her making her eat more than she wants, asking her to please drink more water and trying to always have something Merry to say.
Mom had the best day yet on Thursday. Friday was a little slow but still so much better than a few days ago. A Physical Therapist came for an analysis and she will have therapy for the next 2 next weeks to build some strength and work on her balance. I’m hoping this will give her some good energy. Also, next week an Occupational Therapist is scheduled to visit. Mom has some resistance to this but I know it is good for her recovery and will help her adjust to seeing people coming in and out of the house to do things for her. This is a must and the easier I can make it the better her future care will be.
When I woke up this morning I decided to take a walk and kind of get my ducks in a row. Mom seemed to feel more energetic and I wanted to sort out the events of the past few days. So, to my delight I came across a group of ducks! The perfect visual aid before my very eyes.
Out of the Hospital – Home
We’ve been home for 5 days now and each day has had surprises, progress and concern. It feels like we’re on the right track even though some of the time I’m not sure where we are going. Mom spends most of her time resting and processing all of the medicine she is taking. There’s not much activity. A lot of her usual around the house routines are different now but I think some of them will kick back in after a few weeks. I have set up a little lab in the kitchen for her pills and she is getting a little more use to taking them but it continues to be one of the most upsetting things for her to “have” do. She still gets up and fixes her breakfast every morning which is oatmeal with bananas and yogurt. The rest of the day she sort of sits around while I quietly watch her recovery before my very eyes. She has an in-home nurse who comes 2 times a week. She is not here long but this is a huge relief for me because she takes all of her vital information and assures me that I haven’t blow something in her care. We’ve only gone out once and that was to the doctor but maybe by next week she will have gained some strength and have some extra energy.
“Can’t see the forest from the Trees” just kept echoing in my head while I was in the hospital with mom. It doesn’t look so much like an obstacle course to me now that we are home.