Since my last visit, my mom has become far more mobile and aware. I was there the day we moved her to TIRR, and the nurses were talking about how she wouldn't be in her bed much. I remember thinking, "Then where is she going to be?? She can't DO anything but lay down." But as soon as I arrived yesterday, I started being taught how to move my mom all over the place. My dad stated that he would teach me how to transfer my mom in and out of her chair, and before I even knew what was happening, she was reaching up, grabbing me around my neck, and pulling herself up...which pulled me right over. She blindsided me with her strength and ability!
Today, my dad had to take care of a few things, so he was gone for a big chunk of the day and my mom was in my hands. She thanked me multiple times for spending the day with her, so I guess I caught on to things well enough. My mom has a very busy schedule at TIRR during the week, and it definitely wore me out! Although we've been told that my mom has advanced out of her current memory class, she was still in the lower level class for today. Apparently my mom has never made it through the full hour, and she usually gets so bored that they end up taking her back to her room in the middle of the session. When my dad dropped my mom off to class today, he said, "Now Donna - What are we going to try to have today?" "Patience" she replied. Well...when I arrived at the end of the hour to pick her up, I could hear the group therapist applauding her for lasting the entire class period. I echoed the praise as I rolled my mom out of the room. Not 2 steps down the hall, however, she started saying VERY LOUDLY how BORING that class is. Attempts to quiet her until we got to the elevator were hardly successful :-)
After memory class, we decided to sit outside together for a little while. We talked for a bit about how slow she feels her progress is, but how much her therapists are helping her to regain her skills. There was a man walking near us with a walker and with a therapist helping him. I pointed and said to my mom "you see that man? That's going to be you soon - starting to walk with a walker." Three hours later, in physical therapy, I was sitting there watching her therapist stretch her right arm. This is very important, yes, but I was starting to feel like my mom was getting off a little easy today. Towards the end of the session, Laura, her therapist, pulled out a walker and told my mom it was time to stand up! I was so excited and started snapping pictures for my dad. When we told him later about her walking, my mom said, "It wasn't pretty, but I did it." I can agree with that. It took a lot of help, but she walked a very impressive distance for her first time, and that day of independent walking is within sight.
My dad, my brother and I were all hanging out with my mom tonight, and she was just visiting with us, showing us more and more of her personality. She makes jokes and facial expressions that just make us smile hugely, because it's my mom in every way. It can be hard to see my mom's deficits and to watch her get frustrated with them. She made it very clear today that, not very long ago, she was able to do all of the things that she is working so hard to do again now, and she wishes this was a nightmare. I think we can all understand that feeling very much. These comments from her are another example of her increasing awareness about what's happened. Tonight we learned a lot of horrific details about another patient's situation and the struggles that their family is coping with. It literally brought me to tears when I heard about their situation, and it sheds a whole new light on what our family is going through. Seeing the pain of others makes our pain so much more bearable.
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