As I mentioned last week, mom had a very busy week scheduled. She did great – didn’t really complain much although I know there were times that she was pretty tired. The way that appointments and visitors worked out, it just wasn’t possible for her to take her mid-day rest like she used to. I say “used to” because it’s probably been AT LEAST two weeks since she’s rested during the day consistently. Even though she rarely slept (probably only a handful of times since she’s been here) the rest time is very good for her.
Mom had a nice visit today from her friend, G. G is that one that had taken mom on some nice adventures in the past. Skyline Drive was one of mom’s favorites. I recently saw a couple of her pictures and she still talks about it. It’s always nice for her friends to come see her. It helps to remind her that she’s not forgotten and alone. But she knows that she’s pretty far away from her old friends and that it’s not easy for them to come see her. One of these days we’ll figure out when/where she can come out. Unless where she’s going is handicapped-accessible, it’s really not possible at this time.
I got her to do some walking this weekend. Although she didn’t walk as far as she had with me before all of those leg troubles, she did walk basically unassisted. I was there to help her when she got a bit wobbly and queued her when she started to lose her rhythm. She did fantastic! Tonight we tried something new… I had her STAND at the sink to brush her teeth!! It did require a lot of help to make sure she maintained her balance but she did it! Remember that the one hand she uses to stabilize herself on the counter was busy being the brusher. So not only did she NOT have a hand to steady herself, she had to contend with all that wiggly jiggly that happens when you brush. It ended up being pretty good therapy since I had to do some quarter squats to lower herself enough to spit into the sink. I was pleasantly surprised at how well she did. We’re going to start doing this once a day. Most likely after dinner when I’m here. It’s too risky for her caregivers to do. They aren’t supposed to do anything that looks remotely like PT in any way, so for everyone’s safety she’ll just do it with me. For now I am limiting her to once a day since those squats can quickly burn out her quads. I think that is mainly what got her last time (too many squats). We’ll ease into this and if she continues to do well and remains pain-free, we’ll increase it.
She has just this week at home with us and then she’s headed to Sunrise for her respite stay. We have a lot to do before we drop her off there. I have two meetings with them scheduled for the week to go over paperwork and I need to make sure I pack appropriately for her stay.
Tomorrow she has a follow up with her cardiologist. I’m not expecting anything remarkable, other than him possibly giving us a hard time because we chose not to follow up on that sleep study test. We may revisit it later, but for now we’re good. I don’t want to throw too many changes her way. Although she’s been here for almost 4 months, we are still figuring out our routine.
I’ll post another update this week (if I remember!). If anyone is interested in visiting her next week at Sunrise, I’m sure she’d welcome the company. Feel free to reach out and I can get you the info.