She’s getting cranky. I take that as a good sign!
Elegante Mother had a seizure on Monday, June 23. She was in the hospital through Friday afternoon, June 27, and then she was moved to a nursing home. She’s less than fifteen minutes away from me, door to door, and I have been spending anywhere from two to eight hours a day with her. My siblings have been exceptional in carrying this burden, but as we finish her first week at the nursing home, it’s going to become more difficult to keep up the pace. Luckily, we have discovered that she really needs to rest in the afternoon, so we’re going to try morning and evening visits for a while.
EM has been receiving occupational therapy and physical therapy each day, and I believe the speech pathologist visits every day as well. EM is working incredibly hard to get home. We watched her PT session on Wednesday and it blew me away. She used one of those machines that let you move both your arms and legs while you sit, rather like seated cross-country skiing. She worked that machine for FIFTEEN MINUTES!! Then she stood, with a walker, to do kicking and stepping, and all sorts of leg exercises. She walked the length of the room, out the door, down the hallway, and back. And then it was time to go back to her room to bed. She was wiped out.
EM is very determined that she will not be staying in the nursing home long. We need to get her to eat and drink a bit more to sustain the muscles she is re-building, but she’s coming along well.
There are periods when she is clear as a bell about who we are, but following exercise, when she’s given her all, she’s a little fuzzy about names. I think she always knows that we are her children, and she seems to recognize the friends who have visited, but names elude her when she is tired.
I talked with my brother, who is not able to see EM every day, and he said that she has improved every time he has seen her. Even though I see her more frequently, I’d have to say the same. Sometimes you can’t see little improvements when you are with a person every day, but EM is making such great strides that we can all tell she is getting well.
As for the crankiness…..I’d be cranky, too, to have to be away from my home, and the comfort of my daily schedule. All we can do is continue the litany of “Keep working. Get well, and you’ll be going home!” I hope that she is reassured by that.
Daily Archives: July 4, 2008
Peter Rabbit
I have a bunny who thinks my herb garden is his private preserve. Peter is not just a daily visitor, he LIVES there. I first realized he was around when the spinach I had planted early in the spring began to disappear. I thought I’d find the time to put wire cages around the plants, to give them a chance to grow, but I forgot. I was in the garden several weeks ago and discovered that Peter had eaten them right to the ground. Maybe I’ll try for a fall spinach crop, complete with sirens and flashing lights and cages that slam down over the plants when something with a furry tail gets near.
I saw Peter checking out the basil one Sunday morning. I wonder if he has Italian heritage, or whether he just fancied a little pesto to wash down the spinach.
Yesterday, he was standing in the walkway near the oregano, calmly denuding what I think might have been an aster plant growing in the chat of the walk. He chewed it off halfway down so that he didn’t have to manage the entire plant.
When I complained to a friend about this bunny with the huge appetite, he said….”Think about what Farmer McGreggor would have done.” Yeah, right! Can you see me holding a gun??? Nah….but cayenne pepper water sprayed on some of my plants isn’t a bad idea! For those of you with similar problems, here’s a list of plants that are usually safe from bunnies. Dear Husband, when we first moved here suggested that I be prepared to share half my crops with visiting animals. I don’t mind a little sharing, but it ticks me off when they take it ALL!
I hope you’ve found ways to deal with the bunnies in your life.