Our first full day at TIRR and things took off quickly. After a very good night, we woke my mom up at 8:45 to get her changed into clothes and ready for her first therapy session at 9. Patients wear their own clothes here, and not only did we love seeing my mom in a dress today, but we think she liked it very much, as well. Her first session this morning was a very simple evaluation to see if she could swallow - my mom aced this test. In fact, she will likely be having a more elaborate test next week to see how well she can start tolerating real food. This couldn't come at a better time, as she told us this evening that she wants to start eating food. After her short swallow evaluation, when we told my mom to say goodbye to the therapist, she said, "I feel like nothing was done." Little did she know, there was much more to come today. She made it clear all day long that she wants to get better, and we are thrilled about her motivation for action.
My mom's next speech therapy session at 10:30 knocked our socks off. My mom answered every question she was asked correctly, except for today's date. She knew her full name, which hospital she was in, her birthday… She knew how to finish common phrases that were started for her (like, "not up but" … "DOWN"; "not hot but" … "COLD"), and she scored a 100% on several quizzes she was given about stories that the therapist told her. My mom was amazing, and at one point, she told the therapist, "I can do more." She wasn't lying.
There were a few other visits today from physical and occupational therapists. We learned that my mom will be receiving a minimum of 3 hours of therapy per day. One of the therapists put her up in a wheelchair and we wheeled her around the hospital floor for a while. The therapist also took a lot of measurements and ordered a custom wheelchair to fit my mom's specific needs. This new chair was made for her within hours. Awesome. As you all know, my mom is quick to take care of others, and she has already offered to take care of her occupational therapist. When she told him that she needed to be able to do math, he told her that he was terrible at math. So my dad said, "Donna, will you teach him how to do math?" and she quickly said, "I'll try!"
We had a rare evening tonight when we all left the hospital to eat dinner together. When we got back to the hospital, my mom was dozing, but soon woke up for us. She had one of the longest and most aware periods I've seen from her yet. Now I know I only arrived here yesterday, but the changes in my mom during this short amount time have been drastic. During the time that she was very awake this evening, she said and did so many things with clear purpose. I can't possibly describe it all. She asked us how she was doing, she asked us to tell her if she was getting better or worse each day, she asked us what she did today and to tell her about it, she asked us how our afternoon was and listened attentively with many expressions about our dinner out…
Before I left the hospital tonight (my dad is staying with her), my dad told my mom the date today. Then he asked her if she knew what today was. She hadn't responded to this question yet today, but this evening, she responded by saying that it was my birthday. Correct! Then, when we asked her who else's birthday it was today, she said "George's" (my dad's dad). Right again! That may have been the best birthday gift she gave my grandpa, but believe it or not, it wasn't the best birthday gift she gave me today. She proceeded to ask us to let her know when it was time for her to sleep. So I responded by telling her that it was time for me to go home and go to sleep. Before I left the room, I said to her, "Mom. I love you." For the first time in 7 weeks, she looked up at me and said, "I love you too." I walked away bawling like a baby… the same way she brought me into this world :-)
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