Me Days Are Good Days, Too – Saturday, July 22, 2017

Cyndie Lou here. I’ll be with my mom and contributing to the blog for the next week while Kim, Chad and Samantha catch up on some much needed rest and family time.

Yesterday was a really great day. When I arrived she was just finishing her breakfast (I’ve been calling them her Hungry Man meals which she finds pretty funny) and we headed directly to physical and occupational therapy afterward. She worked on her walking which was particularly exciting for me as it was the first time I was able to see it in person – with help she walked 60 feet! R came to visit for the afternoon so of course there was a lot of laughing. It’s only been two and a half weeks since I was last here and she never fails to impress me with the great strides she makes when I’m gone. Her eating is getting better, her walking is getting better and her articulation is getting better. Except when she tries to tell a joke. She laughs so hard and tries to explain said joke and I have NO clue what she’s saying but she’s so happy while she’s trying to explain that it makes me laugh anyway.

Today, however, was a bit slower. When I arrived this morning she was in the middle of therapy. She was experiencing some pain in her shoulder during a task and had to sit down and, while she was resting, she was telling her therapist how mad at herself she was for not being able to do the exercise. She’s really hard on herself sometimes and it seems like the only time she really believes how well she’s progressing is when she is told. She doesn’t see that the speed of her progress is so impressive. So after a bit of a pep talk by H, she got right back up. Her walking today was much shorter, 17 feet, but the point was to focus on the quality of her steps as opposed to the quantity. She worked so hard but she really was tired today. She also didn’t feel like doing any social activities and seemed a bit more insular. She kind of looked to me as if to say, “Is that bad that I don’t want to do any of those things?” I told her that we all often don’t want to socialize with other people and just want some alone time and that that’s completely okay. I felt like I had to say that to assure her that she’s not retreating to a sad place and that it is completely normal and fine and that when she’s ready to say hi to others she will. But those that visit her she’s very happy to spend time with…comfortable silences are happy silences. I think it’s just that she won’t feel like those silences with other residents she doesn’t know very well would be comfortable so who can really blame her?

After dinner I was surprised to hear her say that she wanted us to go out for a walk. It was hot as blazes out today but it was still good to get out. We returned to the building, my mom cool as a cucumber and me drenched in sweat because I didn’t realize when you loop back it’s all uphill (I felt like John Candy on the long hot horseback ride in The Great Outdoors. Probably no one will know this reference but I’m leaving this in anyway). I hope she’s sleeping now. She’s worked so hard this week on walking that she really needs to allow herself to recover. Tomorrow is a rest day so fingers crossed she’s feeling better..