Elegante Mother is definitely the Comeback Kid! After seven days in a hospital bed or a nursing home bed, she woke up yesterday to smile at Dear Husband and me, and eat a bowl of applesauce! I’d just about counted her out, and here she is, acting as though nothing had happened.
\nOf course, she can’t remember the past fifty years, and doesn’t know who her children are, but she recognized a picture of herself from about 35 years ago.
\nDear Husband drove me to the nursing home yesterday because we had had an overnight snow and the roads were just awful. We arrived around 10:45 or so, and as we rounded the curtain to her bed, EM looked up and smiled, apparently happy to have visitors. She seemed to have remembered DH, and repeated his name when I said it. I wasn’t sure she knew who I was, but when my oldest sister talked with her today, she talked about going home, and mentioned my name. She may recognize me by name, but I don’t think she realized that I am her daughter. She is very firmly mired in the past, and we think that past is now b.c. (before children).
\nI was astonished that she let me feed her the applesauce, and when I asked if she had eaten any breakfast, she muttered that she would when they gave her something she liked. They’d offered oatmeal and scrambled eggs. I could have told them she wouldn’t eat that. But…she eats chocolate chip cookies now, after a lifetime of disliking them.
\nI was relieved to learn that My-Sister-The-Nurse found Elegante Mother sitting in the dining room this morning. She had allowed the aides to dress her and get her into her chair, and take her out of her room. I see that as a major step in her care.
\nThe weather is going to be daunting this week. We’ve had easily 6-8 inches of snow in two days and we are expected to have more during the week. Our high on Thursday is supposed to be -2F. I had planned to visit EM several times a week, but I may be waylaid by the weather. I hope she continues to make progress, even if I can’t be there to watch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Elegante Mother is definitely the Comeback Kid! After seven days in a hospital bed or a nursing home bed, she woke up yesterday to smile at Dear Husband and me, and eat a bowl of applesauce! I’d just about counted … Continue reading