WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES!

What a difference a day make.  I arrived on Monday around noon to find a distant and distraught mom. Seemed like she was in a suspended state of consciousness. Jim, Sharon, Heather, moms friends and I compared notes and tracked the change back to the 19th with the only change being a new medication added to lower her blood pressure.  It is not unusual for her blood pressure to floccuate.  We believe the new meds caused her to have a terrible head ache and put her in a confused and fuzzy state of mind.

Sharon's daily visits and posts along with Heather's (Ruth's grand daughter Heather works here) presence and feedback have been invaluable in tracking and pin-pointing changes and getting things done.

Jim, Sharon and I  went to battle with the staff of nurses, doctors and administrators and finally came to agree that we would stop the additional medication and watch the blood pressure very carefully. So far so good.  Here is a summary of today's events with marked improvement.:

 Speach Theraphy: Working on ways to communicate and swallowing. Worked with picture cards and hand motions that she can use to tell you what she needs or how she feels. We found two ways to say "I love you".  We also worked on a gesture to say I don't like that but we won't go into that one, if you get my drift. The soft purple head rest that Sharon picked up for mom today has worked out great for supporting her head and neck. Working out great with the chair.

Gathered with Friends: Two legged and four legged.  The ladies enjoyed viewing mom's blog from my laptop and Michelle and Jon can always put a smile on your face with their funny hats.

Mail Call: A gift from Daughter Diane. A beautiful cup with easter chickens. Put a smile on her face. I know you can't tell from this pose but it did brighten her day.

After dinner walk: It was refreshing to walk around the court yard.  We stayed out a good 20 minutes and it was very comfortable until the sun started to set.  We enjoyed the first signs of Spring (Fresh green perineals popping out of the ground, squirrels running about and birds souring and hopping around very close to us.)

We came in from our walk and joined a group session on Palm reading. Mom's palm said she was emotional and has had many loves and adventures in her life. Imagine that!

Time out to relax around the fireplace and show off the Easter lamb that was dropped off by a group of volunteers.

Say good night to the resident birds. We watched a little TV (dancing with the stars) and mom hailed the nurse on duty to put her to bed.  She was out like a light.  I kissed her goodnight and wished her sweet dreams.  She was sleeping soundly when I left.