Mom Update

It has been awhile, huh? Well, Mom is doing very well. She is doing OT, PT, speech and music therapies 4-5 hrs a day. She is walking without assistance, not even a cane. She has about 25% strength in her right hand. She can use the toilet, brush her teeth, shower and eat without assistance. It has been forever since she has fallen out of bed or a chair. She is still on "Soft, moist and small" foods but is eating pretty much whatever we can make fit that definition. She has had 3 of her goal foods... Mama DiSalvo's spaghetti with meat sauce, a chocolate malt, and enchilada casserole....not at the same time! Still wants a Wendy's cheeseburger, but is unwilling to let us chop it up. She wants it whole and dripping, thank you very much! She is able to ride in the car....I have taken her to Dr. appointments, banking, to friend's home for a party, to her house to see if I have been taking care of things to her liking, and to vote. One day this week, her girlfriends are taking her to lunch and this Friday, she is going to the retiree's monthly birthday dinner at Tumbleweed's restaurant.

She is still on oxygen and we have an appointment with a pulmonologist this Friday to see what can be done. She still tires easily, especially after a round of 4 hrs of therapy. Thank God she quit smoking! well....sorta forced into quitting....between intensive care and all of the other hospital time as well as being pretty much out of it for over a month, she just quit and shows no interest in starting up again! YEAH!!!!!

Our biggest obstacle is still speech. I can understand her about 50% of the time. And some days it is a struggle for both of us. She writes fine, but still gets her words confused on paper so I see alot of vowels in words.

And now for the public service portion of this post...GET A DAMNED POWER OF ATTORNEY FOR YOUR PARENTS.....HELL! GET ONE FOR YOURSELF WHILE YOU ARE AT IT!!!
I cannot tell you how much aggravation it would have saved us if we had just pressed for this when she retired and was still healthy. For the most part, medical professionals have been pretty accommodating in using my brother and myself as guardians, even though we have nothing legal to support us. Legally, they could have denied us the ability to control Mom's care. It has worried me every single day that I would make a decision that someone would disagree with and my ability to care for Mom would be stripped away in a court of law.

We are planning on Mom moving home December 11th. That will be 100 days of rehab and the cut off point for Medicare to cover her stay. At $400 a day, we do not want to have to pay out of pocket for additional days. And it looks like Mom will be able to be in her home with some assistance at that point. My niece moved into Mom's home about a month ago, so Mom will have a roommate and someone to assist her when needed.

'Nuff said.... Time for bed... on Tuesday's I work early and go North to spend an hour or so with Mom... then I am there all day Friday, Saturday and half day on Sunday.... I will be glad to have that schedule in her home and not at the rehab center.

T