Mixed emotions!

Mom had a great birthday with balloons and cake, but we had our meeting that kind of killed the spirit for me. They all said she was doing wonderfully and all the therapists want to keep seeing her, but Medicare is done after 100 days. Part B will pay for more therapy, but we will have to pay for room and board and medicines. When you work hard all your life, save your money, have a house and land and investments, then you get punished when it comes to long term care.  The therapists( and we) think that she could benefit from a few more months of 5 day a week therapy. Our cost would be about $5000 per month and they said semi-private room. My brother and I both bristled at that and said absolutely not. We are going to try to see the CEO tomorrow and negotiate a deal. The night nurse told us deals could be made. We don't mind paying, but not for a semi-private room. Even if Mom passed all her assets to us now, that still wouldn't help because they have to be out of her hands for 5 years. I believe they will make every effort to get her a private room because they want our business. If not, then I guess I will live with her and learn how to do things for her....and get some sitters for home. It wouldn't cost anymore than the nursing home, but Home Health only allows for therapy a couple of times a week. My back hurts, my brain hurts and I'm tired!

Big day tomorrow!

Tomorrow is Mom's 86th birthday and my brother and I have a meeting with all the therapists and the social worker to discuss what's next after her 100 days of therapy are up on March 5th.

Today after they put her down for her nap, I was telling her that my brother would not be back this afternoon because he had to go made his cake for the men's cake auction at his church. She looked at me and said so that I knew exactly what she said, "I always enjoyed going to that"......then she started to cry. Oh, no. I can't take that, so I told her that I would take her if she wanted to go. She did! I went back to get her this evening and my brother met us at the church. She got to attend the evening worship and see all her church friends and go to the cake sale. Those people were so very happy to see her and I was so very happy that I took her. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of some of the cakes , but it was a great fund raiser. .

crap

I wrote a whole blog entry using google docs, which I always use, but when I went to publish, the "post to blog" option was gone....gone...gone...whole post....gone and I don't feel like doing ti again.

Stop the insane spending!

WooHoo!

Brother is back from vacation a day early. I get to go to lunch with my pals tomorrow like we do every Thursday. It's an outlet that I desperately need. Now that he is back, we have to get in gear and figure out our next step. He will be calling a group of church men soon who have a service of building ramps for people who need them. Potatoes were actually supposed to be planted on Monday....that is not happening anytime soon. Maybe not at all if we don't get going on the garden. I suspect Brother will be on the tractor tomorrow breaking up the garden. Time to get to work!

Mom walking

What next?

My brother was with Mom at noon today so I could go have lunch with our Mardi Gras krewe's Queen and see the decorations for the ball. It is tonight and the first one I have missed since moving to Louisiana 5 years ago. The ball room was just beautiful and I got a little teary eyed thinking about not getting to go this year. While my brother was there, the social worker told him that Mom's 100 days will be up on March 5th and she wanted to know what our plans are. Now I am getting panicky wondering how we are going to do this. We will take her to her home and I plan to stay with her as much as possible. I guess I will just take it one day at a time and do what I have to do.

Hope all my fellow Mardi Gras pals are having fun out there tonight!

Sorry..I couldn't help it!

Ooops!

I just deleted the last post and I really didn't mean to. It's my record of my mom's stroke.

We are now 15 weeks post stroke and still making some progress. My brother is going to be gone next week, so I will have it all by myself.

Superman brother!

I spent several hours at the hospital yesterday waiting during my brother's back surgery because his wife had to go back home to take care of the dogs.( They train retrievers) As she was on the way back to the hospital and I was on my way home, she called and said he was coming home! What! Yep.....came home after back surgery. He waited until I got to Mom's room and he called so she could hear his voice. Made her grin from ear to ear!!!


Yesterday seemed to be good for her. She would not lie down for her afternoon rest until I got back and gave her a report on her baby boy. When I walked in, she really lit up and was thrilled when I told her he was coming home. He is not able to go visit her yet, but I doubt that will last past tomorrow. He cannot stand to not see her.

Good day

I took Mom to my brother's for lunch today. An aide got her in the car, but when I got her to my brother's, he was not there yet. I was able to get her out and into her wheelchair by myself. She helped a lot. She had some physical therapy today and walked with a different kind of walker. The therapist said she did real well, but was real nervous about it. She doesn't have confidence in herself and is scared a lot. Tonight after I spent the evening with her, the aids came to put her to bed. She was just fine until I told her I was going to the hospital early in the morning to be with my brother for his surgery. Then.....she started crying! Then....I started crying. I just can't help it. I can't stand to see her cry and not be able to tell me why she is crying. She has never been one to cry. I cry watching TV!

Strange brain!

This week while Mom was napping in the afternoon, the aides heard her yelling out, "Get her away from me" several times. They rushed in to see what was wrong and she was asleep. They woke her and told her she was dreaming, but they told me she said that very clearly as if nothing had ever happened to her brain! The brain is a strange organ!

Oops X 2!

Ooops #1...I took a video with my iphone of Mom trying to talk today, but it is too big to upload to blogger and I don't know how to make it smaller.

Ooops #2...As I was leaving the rehab facility tonight down the same path I take several times a day and every night, I fell and busted my butt, but I didn't drop my iphone. I know what's important!! !Forget the busted knee and elbow....the phone is saved!

And....I missed my first parade today. Won't be participating in any of my krewe's activities this year and I am really sorry because I really like our captain this year. Don't really care about missing the ball as I am not much of a dress up kind of gal anymore, but I did enjoy riding the float in the parades.

Negative!

I just got back from seeing Mom for the first time tonight. My brother was with her at noon and I stayed home and was lazy. He just called me and said she was not acting right. I told him that she was not acting right tonight either. Just doing some strange stuff....not normal...and not understanding much of anything. She was tired, so I got them in there to put her to bed and I was home by 7. Highly unusual! Don't know what is going on with her.

Every night I stay with Mom until the...

Every night I stay with Mom until they put her to bed and I know she is comfortable. Last night, her gown was bunched up under her, so I got the aids back in the room that put her to bed to straighten it out. She still was not happy and none of us could figure out what was wrong. She ended up crying and I ended up crying because I couldn't understand her and didn't know what was wrong. I finally left, but didn't sleep well last night because I was worried that something was wrong with her. Today, she doesn't remember why she was unhappy and crying. I told her I didn't sleep because I was worried about her. She very clearly said to me, " I'm sorry"! She was happy tonight when I left her, so I think I will sleep tonight...Oh, wait, I slept this afternoon. My brother called and told me he was with Mom at 4 and there was no need for me to come then, so I waited an extra hour to go there. An extra hour at home is very helpful to me.

Sorry

I just realized that I have been quite remiss in updating on Mom. It's just because there is nothing earth shaking to report. She continues to make tiny improvements, but continues to do some mentally really strange things...like blow her nose  in her hand!!! WTH! We have tissues right in front of her, but she can't grasp the concept all the time. Her mind is just not quite right. That part is really hard for me because she has always been so smart!

My brother saw his neurosurgeon today and has surgery scheduled for the 24th for his spinal stenosis. Doc said maybe a couple of days in the hospital and light duty for a couple of weeks. This will be his second stenosis surgery and the last one, he stayed in the hospital less that 24 hours. He thinks he's indestructible! Superman!

Check it out!

Mom is moving her right foot on her own now! WooHoo! The therapists wanted me to see her walk today, so they came back and got her after lunch and brought her back to therapy so I could see how well she is doing. I am thrilled! My brother had ultrasound on his kidney today and got the all clear! Nothing wrong there! Wednesday he sees the neurosurgeon about his back.

Well, duh!

Family friends brought their 3 month old twins to see Mom today. What was I thinking when I didn't take a picture of Mom holding one of the babies! We had to keep a hand under the babies, but she was so cute talking to those babies and we knew what she was saying. The word spread quickly and all the rehab staff was in her room to see those babies.

My brother told me that she walked 70 feet yesterday with a therapist on both sides and someone following behind with a wheel chair. Woo Hoo! Of course, someone is still having to move that right leg at the right time trying to retrain the brain to make it work on its own.

Tomorrow my brother goes to see about the spot on his kidney and next Wednesday, he goes to see the neurosurgeon about his back. Surgery is probably in his immediate future. We need him well and feeling good.

Time to take care of me!

I used my Map my Walk iphone app today determined to get more exercise in my life. Love that app so much. It has a GPS which pinpoints where I am when I start and traces my walk the whole way while telling me how far I have gone and how long it took. Today I chose to go away from my home to get started, so I parked at the hospital in downtown Minden, got the app going and the ipod feature cranked up and took off. As I was walking down Main Street, I passed Milly Rose's antique shop. Sitting out in front of her shop was an item that I believe to have been crafted by my father. He used to do a lot of wood working and these garbage cans were one of his items. I still use mine. I showed the picture to my mom and my brother and they both thought it was Dad's creation.

My brother called this morning to see if we could manage to get Mom to his house for cabbage and black eyed peas. WE DID! I went to get her and the staff helped get her in the car. My brother got her out at his house and he said it wasn't nearly as hard as it was just last Saturday when we brought her to my house.

Strike 4! I'm out!

My jaw has been swelling since Tuesday..dentist office is closed for the week, but I found some bactrim at my mom's and a friend brought me some ketoprofen, which helps with the pain. Today I finally caved and called my dentist at home, but he was out of town. He called me back tonight and said that what I was taking was alright, but if I needed something else tomorrow, he would try to find a pharmacy open. It's always something!