So much has gone on the last couple of days...
First thing this morning, Mom received the most beautiful, beautiful, 3 dozen bouquet of roses, with colors from yellow to burnt orange, with autumn leaves surrounding them. It came from dear friends and Ray's co-workers from Maui. They are stunning and Mom loves them. Not only are they gorgeous, but the roses smell just as beautiful! Sweet cards from Al and Alex (Reta's ohana from Maui), Mrs. K, (Mom's dear old friend of over 40 years), Goobie (Mary Beth), and Mrs. Capite (one of Ray's old friends) arrived, lifting Mom's spirits and reminding her that she's not on this journey alone. She's surrounded by the love, prayers and thoughtfulness of others around the globe.
It occurred to Ray yesterday that while we spend hours here with Mom, we can do more for her to stimulate her brain activity, especially with both Reta and Ray's finite time here. After googling some 'brain injured activities', we took a bunch of games and cards from Rena's house, to begin additional work with her. (Cards, Memory Games, Paint Set, Bingo, etc) Ray introduced a fun card game with Renee, Jeff, Reta and Mom. Each person was a dealt a card, turned it over, read the card and the highest card wins the pile! At first, Mom looked at us with disbelief that we were actually asking her to play such a simple (stupid!) game. But in the end, it was a great time had by all.....even Jeff ended up winning a couple of hands, just a couple :).
She did very well in Speech Therapy and the main objectives are to encourage her to 'initiate' conversations and 'staying focus on specific tasks'. She easily gets distracted and her mind wanders off. In PT, you can see her getting stronger, as she is now able to wiggle herself back into the chair and she's able to provide more strength and greater self-help in standing up and sitting back down. She walked the entire length of the parallel bars, taking each step gingerly. We find that Mom tends to close her eyes during the physical therapy, which is something that she gets to figure out why she's doing so, and work on not doing it during the sessions.
Today, there was another swallowing session, and she was able to successfully swallow 3 tsps of thickened cranberry juice and 3 tsps of apple sauce. They will continue to test her to see if she's able to stay awake during these times and swallow appropriately, ensuring it's going down the correct pipe. For today, she did super well in swallowing quicker each time. We are another day closer to Mom eating!!
This afternoon, Renee, Ray and I spent a great time with her, getting her in the chair, and stopping in the Physical Therapy room, which was empty. There, Mom actually participated in coordination exercises (hitting the balloon), Speech therapy (Renee's questions and conversation), and best of all, Mom actually was able to throw the balls on the wall (strength and balance). We are placing our energy on encouraging Mom to initiate conversations and staying focused on tasks and speech. She had tremendous growth today. God is really pouring His love and strength into her!
Renee wheeled her outside, where we enjoyed warm, fall day, and she asked more questions about the flowers around her. She was engaged and focused. The great things about Mom sitting up in her chair are that it causes her body to be upright, to safeguard against pneumonia, strengthen her butt and abs as she has to continually get comfortable, and allow the natural flow of blood throughout her body.
All in all, once again, we see changes everyday that remind us that this is a process and a journey that we are all part of. And as Mom reminded Reta last evening, in the quiet moments that they share most every night connecting, she said..."Well, God arranged this whole thing to happen". Yes He did!
Peace, Joy, Forgiveness, Grace and Love to all of you.
I lift up my eyes to the hills-- from where will my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.
PLEASE NOTE: Moms room # has changed to Room 224 and as today, she now has a roomie!
No comments:
Post a Comment