Busy Lady

Mom is settling in well to Rehab. Geoff stayed the night there last night, and I will tonight, just to help her get used to her new digs.

She is certainly a lot more busy than she was in the hospital, with 3 - 6 hours of therapy per day. Today, her OT and PT helped her to "transfer" from bed into a wheel chair. Right now, she can only bear weight on her left arm, so she can assist by pushing with that arm, although it's still a bit weak after not being used for so long. They use a wooden apparatus, which has wooden rollers on it, to slide her safely from one surface to the next. The plan was to take her outside, so they got her dressed in her own clothes for the outing. But, because she's been laying down for several days, her blood pressure dropped when they got her up into the chair. Apparently, this is quite common, and she should be fine to be sitting up for longer stretches after a couple more days getting acclimated again.

I spent a lot of time with mom today. She is MUCH more lucid. I'd say she's making sense about 90% of the time now. The nurses, who don't quite get her sense of humor yet, might say otherwise! She told her OT that she was "up with the chickens today", so mom had to explain what she meant, so the OT knew she hadn't completely lost it!

Considering all that mom has gone through, she is doing remarkably well emotionally. She is keeping her sense of humor and seems incredibly patient about the long-term timeline of all this. Don't get me wrong... she has her teary moments and talks about how she can't believe this has happened to her, but, all things considered, she is grateful to be alive, grateful for her friends and family, and is already making travel plans for when she's better. It's good to see her looking ahead.

She asked me to tell all of you thank you for your support and to ask for prayers as she continues to recover. She's worried about her bone graft surgery (in 2 - 3 weeks), so she requests prayers for that, too. I told her that she had actually gone through the worst surgeries already, but, of course, she doesn't remember that, so she's worrying about a much less complex procedure.

If you want to send mom a personal e-mail, send it to her at sherylwow3@aol.com. I'm checking her e-mail and will pass along your message. And, still feel free to send her cards! She loves them.

love & gratitude,
jennifer