Elegante Mother Update

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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.

6 thoughts on “Elegante Mother Update”

  2. I am so glead that EM is doing better. She seems very motivated, which is a good thing because hard work at PT is the only way to make good progress.

  3. It IS good news, bod. I’m very pleased that EM is trying so hard.
    Bogie, you’re right. EM has great motivation. She want’s to be HOME! We purposely stay away from PT and OT sessions because we discovered that she works harder when we are not around. She’s tempted to cry off if she thinks we will take pity on her. *S* But if we are not around, she figures she has to work her way out of the nursing home. I don’t care what her motivation is, I’m glad to see her improve!

  4. Good news indeed.
    She is so lucky to live in America not the UK. There is no way an older person here would get that level of care and therapy.
    Do hope she’s soon well enough to get home.

  5. Hi, BW. It’s scary to think about this happening to Mother in most of the rest of the world, actually. My siblings and I would have seen she got therapy if it wasn’t covered by Medicare, but it’s a relief that we have not had to deal with that problem. I’m also glad there was no wait to start her care. She’s making daily improvement, and I’m confident that she will be returning home, I just don’t know how long that will take.
    Thanks for stopping by. btw…I was fascinated by all the ways to repair a watering can that appeared in the comments on your blog. I need to make notes! *G*

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