Dr Fu has
officially come to us & said that Mom's kidneys are normal & the Renal
staff does not need to see her anymore!
Mom is extremely confused & disorientated today.
This morning alone, she woke up twice, both times asking me what happened,
thinking she'd lost her legs. Yesterday she told me clearly what had
caused us to lose Dad, & we were discussing her bills and affairs.
Yesterday she was very clear.
But in this state, she doesn't notice the machine working her
leg, which ususally causes her pain.
If the Lord sees fit to allow me to go home today, I will try
to take care of life for awhile. Getting on a plane will take more than my
own courage, as I'm not guaranteed my plane ticket will work. I will have
to go to the airport early today.
Leaving is difficult, especially with Mom more aware. It is
knowing that no one will be here that knows those little quirks to
help her begin to feel normal. To make her tea the way she appears to
like it. Each day, for lunch & dinner, she gets a cup of unsweetened
tea. I stashed some sweet-n-low for her. A packet of lemon comes
with the meal. One Sweet-n-low. one lemon. one scoop of
thickener. She eats slowly, always has. She hiccups 3
times & takes a deep breath to stop it.
Her Visitors Journal, Photo Album & Prayer Shawl remain in
the window sill, along with her brush. Her hair is a mass of knots under
her hair where she has lain on it for 50 days. I need to get her some
of that spray on detangler she used on my hair as a child. There was
always a can of it in the motorhome for my rats nest. Brushing Mom's knots
out works best the way Dad always brushed her hair: starting with the
brush an inch from the bottom of her hair, working all the tangles out, then
going up another inch. He loved to brush Mom's hair & had pretty
gentle hands; I know because he used to brush my hair when I was a girl.
He liked to braid our hair, but as time went on, Mom became pretty
tender-headed, & braids caused her to have headaches. Ii
is braided now. Not tightly, but enough to keep it out of the
way, & it won't re-tangle itself as fast.
Mom's Physical Therapy went quite well today. She sat on
the edge of the bed, holding her own balance for 9 minutes, twice as long as
last time. She answered questions in her typical round about way ... "When
is your birthday?" "Same day as my grandson's." "What day were you
born?" "Six years after my Mom died." (Should actually have been
five years after my Grandma, but pretty good none the less.)
A friend sent me an email about what is learned through the
ages. I am now starting to read such things again, & was scrolling
through it to see what has been learned at each age. Well ... I had to
share this one with you, because Mom is 62 now, & it really fits for her
...
I learned
that life sometimes gives you a second chance.
Age
62
I don't know when I'll be back online. So I'll send this
message early today. Mom is sleeping, & I now need to make
arrangements for going to the airport. With luck, I will send the next
email from Wyoming & it won't have anywhere near as much detail.
So --- off to our next adventure. ~ Val & Tom