Mom & Me Two Archive

    MPS did, indeed, enjoy the pleasure of my mother's company, this afternoon for a couple of hours and has this to report:

1. Mom was in excellent spirits and the two of them walkered with the therapist and a back up wheel chair (literally, a back up, it is wheeled behind her as she walkers) to the day room (quite a ways from her room) for their visit. Mom walkered without oxygen (that's it, no more cigarettes, I've decided; she's been without them for about a week and a half and the difference in her energy level is amazing), did well, didn't lose her strength, continues to need to be reminded to walk closer to the walker, yes, she is hunched over, critically to the right, but this doesn't seem to bother her and her energy doesn't flag. I'm especially pleased to hear this. It looks as though my plans to take her on an exploration of the SNF tomorrow are viable.
2. MPS brought her some crackers and cheese and she ate heartily. Once I heard this I realized this is why Mom sounded so groggy when I reached her by phone this evening (and, now I know why she didn't answer the couple of times I called this afternoon). I reached her at 1830 and she sounded like she'd been drugged. This worried me so much I called the nursing station immediately after talking to Mom to see if she'd been ordered a sleeping pill or a sedative. No she hadn't, the nurse confirmed (before I had a chance to talk to MPS), she'd had a very busy, full day, had "eaten well" and was probably half into sleep when I talked to her. Good, good, good. I'm so very pleased with her progress.
3. MPS mentioned to me that as she was leaving Mom finally put on her glasses and said, "You know, in this light, you almost look like MPS." We both roared over that one. MPS recently got her hair cut so short that when she arrived at the hospital last week, for a moment I didn't recognize her. There is a running, insider, sister joke that travels between the four of us regarding Mom's ability to phase in and out of recognizing people. That joke gained some mileage today.

    I'm satisfied and happy with the report. I know that therapy continues daily regardless of the day of the week. I also know that extra movement is encouraged (as long as the amount doesn't become detrimental, I imagine). When I talked with Mom this evening I asked her if her muscles were sore and stiff and she replied that they were not. Excellent.
    I'm especially pleased about her moving around without oxygen. Although I imagine that at this altitude she'll need some on occasion, perhaps she won't need as much as previously in as high quantity. For instance, maybe she won't need it at night or when she is doing on-her-butt stuff, like reading, crossword puzzling, etc. I don't think, though, that it's going to be as much of a problem to mobilize her as it was before all this happened. I'm definitely going to activate the prescription for out-patient physical therapy up here, as I think she could use the extra therapy to help her get used to moving in this altitude. However, MCS and I were discussing this and stumbled upon the point that, however thin the air is up here, it is quite a bit cleaner than Mesa's. It's entirely possible that the dirtiness of the air in the Valley balances out the thinness of the air up here. There are other aerobic considerations to living at an altitude of 6,000'-. We live higher than the town, thus everywhere we go we descend a good couple hundred feet or more. I believe Mom can adjust to all these considerations.
    I am, as I write, relaxing myself with some hot chocolate and guzzling a good 16 oz of bubble water in order to initiate an early sleep. I'm planning on rising at 0400 and getting out of here between 0500 and 0530. My body no longer aches. I'm feeling in tip top shape, having eaten 3 meals for the first time in weeks, today, and am looking forward to tomorrow's day with Mom, wishing that 0400 would come earlier.
    MPS and her family are planning on visiting again tomorrow so the day will be like Old Home Week, which is good. MPS and I ran through our planned visiting schedules and there will be, this week, some days when Mom will have no visitors. I consider this good. She will be able to experience her independence of spirit and continue to charm the staff with no competition from family.
    This health episode may be one of the best things that has happened to Mom lately. I'm glad I was so assertive about her treatment and so insistent that her problem not be considered or addressed like "just another one of those old age things" as the ER up here would have had me do. We won't be going back to that facility any time soon, even if an emergency arises, if I can help it. They not only were no help, they were downright dangerous. Thank the gods I gave up trying to find her a local physician. I'm sure there must be one or two good ones up here, but having to go through the hassle of finding them and trying to lure them into taking on yet another patient in this "seller's market" is something I'm no longer interested in doing. Until the medical community up here begins to change its attitude it is no friend of ours. As well, I looked up the ratings of the few SNFs/nursing homes up here today. They all fall far below the rating of the that is now treating her. Small mountain communities have their advantages but one of them is not medical care, which is just as well. I feel safer being a distance from medical care, considering what I have to go through to make sure non-alternative medicine doesn't harm her. The physical distance allows me the intellectual and observational distance to evaluate what is prescribed for her and whether it is necessary and/or harmful.
    Time to stop and sleep.
    Later, probably not until tomorrow evening or Tuesday morning.