"And I will call him Ollie..."

Well, tonight was quite a nice night with Dorth.  I found out it was because my Aunt got their first...So, she got the brunt of the list of demands.   By the time I got there, she was pretty settled and we had a great evening.  I did push her around the nursing home about 11 times, but we talked a lot, and actually had conversation.  We stopped a few times because she wanted to rest her butt a little, which means she wanted to get off of it for a minute...So, I helped her to stand up near one of the hand rails a few times.  I have to admit, I am pleasantly surprised at how strong she has gotten, and how well she is doing physically.  She still does not have much use of the left arm and leg, but she is getting to the point where she can at least use her right leg to support herself, while the left might help a little with balance.  She said today in PT, she was so tired, she almost fell asleep during her workout, so they cut today's PT session short.  I think she over did it yesterday.

She had me help her stand about 5 times, and she needs help getting up, and she does need support when she is up, but I was surprised at how balanced she was.  And then, when she was ready to get into bed, she still had a cup of decaf, so I decided to have hear sit on the edge of the bed.  When she first had her stroke, her PT in the hospital was simply to sit up in bed.  She did not do this very well.  And even when she first got to Magnolia, she was unable to keep herself sitting upright with out any assistance.  So, I figured, I would sit her up and have to stand behind her and hold her to keep her steady.   Much to my surprise, she sat on the edge of the bed with her feet flat on the ground, and I wheeled the tray table with the coffee over to her.  She rested her right elbow on it in between holding the straw to drink her coffee.  She was able to sit there for about 15 minutes.  She was pretty much exhausted when I got her in bed, and she was ready for a good night's sleep.

One of the things she has been obsessing about lately is dogs.  She tells me that she saw a dog on TV and his name was Dexter, and if she ever got a dog, that is what she would name it.  She has told me this story every day for the past week or so.  She originally said she wanted a white dog, but apparently she saw a Boston Terrier on a commercial, and now she is fixated on a Boston...But she thinks that dog looks more like and "Oliver," so she said "I would call him Ollie."  I told her that I happened to see a Boston at the pet store in Parkway Plaza today, and that he was $800...She doesn't think that she will be spending $800 on a dog.  Well, then she started trying to rationalize it by saying that it will be a friend for Newman...My question was why Newman wasn't good enough to be her dog...She said that she wants a "clean dog..."  Um...What the heck is that supposed to mean???  I mean, yah, Newman smells...Like Newman...Not sure what sort of scent Mom thinks a Boston has...Maybe she thinks it will smell like baked beans or cream pie...And let's be honest...Who would be taking care of this lovely canine addition?  Yah, that would be me.  So, I am not really encouraging anything more than the idea of a dog...;)

So, I bought a book the other day on strokes.  I just finished reading the chapter on right brain strokes.  It says that some of the symptoms can include:  numbness or weakness on the left side of the body (check), difficulty in performing daily tasks (check), perception difficulties (check), left neglect (check, but much improved), visual memory impairment (hmmm, not really), excessive talking (check), short attention span (ummm, yah...Big check!), poor judgement (check), time disorientation (check), loss of left visual field (not really...Yay!), impaired abstract thinking (check), extreme emotional highs and lows (check), impulsiveness (oh heck yes, check), and lethargy (um no, but a little of this might be welcome from time to time...).  So, I guess what I a getting at is that the presentation that Dorth has is most likely stroke damage, not medication.  I still have a lot to read in my book, but there might be some medications to help treat some of my Mom's symptoms, and some may improve with time and rehab.  One day at a time...:)

Dad was sleepy tonight, but he did wake up enough to tell me he wasn't in pain, which is always a good thing.  When Mom and I were in there, he stretched his hand, and wiggled his fingers, at the same time, Mom put her hand on his leg, and he set his hand down on hers.  She is convinced (and elated)  that he reached for her..I am not sure if that was the case, but I am sure not about to take that idea away from her.  It made her night.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!  Hooray for beautiful San Diego weather!!!:)

Much love!