A better day...:)

Well, as predicted, Mom was better today. First, no hot flashes!!! However, she needs to learn how to pace herself. She is so desperate to get better, that she is trying to run before she walks. She did have PT today, and on top of that, she got in her wheelchair 4 times...Including, at 7:00 pm. She asked if there was still time to get her in her chair, and I immediately said "no," and the nurse that was standing there said "yes." Well, who do you think she listened to? So, in the middle of cleaning up dinner and prepping patients for bed, the CNAs got Mom into her wheelchair, and I wheeled her around. A visit with Dad, a couple laps around the building...And she was exhausted...Well, she was exhausted before she got in the chair, but was really struggling at 7:45 when she wanted to get in bed. Well, there was no one available to help her right then. So, I tried to talk her through not overdoing it so that she won't be exhausted tomorrow when it comes to PT time. I think that is what happened yesterday. She had tired herself out so much on Monday, that she needed a day of rest.

Oh, and guess what else happened today...I walk in at about 3:30, and what is sitting on her nightstand? A freakin' telephone! So I asked her who gave her the phone, and she said "Arleen the social worker did and you can't stop me from having it! You can't trap me like that!" Boy, was she mad. She said "why don't you want me to have a phone?" So, I said "I don't want you calling people at all hours of the night." And she said "Don't worry, I won't call you, I will call whoever I want. If I want to talk to my sister, or Paula, I will do it when I want to!" So, I said, "Mom, they don't want to talk to you at 1:00 am because you are bored either..."

I am not sure she remembers phone numbers at this point, so she is probably calling random people...We went through this with my Dad, and he would make the staff call my Mom and me at 2:00 and 3:00 am...Those late night calls are scary. Maybe as she gets more comfortable and more aware of time and what not, it might work out...However, until then, if she calls you in the wee hours of the night because she is bored, I apologize in advance.

She was very tired tonight, and I hope she will get a good nights sleep. They said she slept very well last night. She is still getting used to it all.

She and I wrote some thank you notes tonight, and I was sort of surprised to see that after a few attempts at signing her name, her handwriting was almost as beautiful as it was before surgery. That is one thing I will always admire about my Mom. She has the most beautiful penmanship. Not surprising considering what a perfectionist she is, but I still love how she writes. I bought her a wirebound notebook tonight so she can practice writing, and write herself notes...And any of you who knows my Mom well, she LOVES her notes! And that will help her with her short term memory as well.

Dad was sleepy, as always. He did not want his dinner at all. I got him to have 3 bites of pineapple (yay vitamin C), and all of his milk...That was it. But they usually give him 2 ice creams in the evening. He just loves the sweets. He sounded horrendous tonight with the congestion. The nurse was going to call and see who was on call to see if we could get a 5 day regimen of the prednisone...It has helped in the past. Dad did wake up a little when Mom came in to see him. He didn't really open his eyes, but he was talking to us, well responding to us a little. It is hard to see him like this, but I am glad he is not in pain. It is most likely caused by the delayed side effects of the radiation and the chemo can cause extreme fatigue. And it compounds as you take it, and he is going on his 8th month of chemo. We are weaning him off the steroid he was on (Decadron), and that may help, but we won't know for sure for a few weeks.

Anyway, if we can just get Dorth to pace herself a little, then I think we are on to something. After being there just under a week, she really is improving by leaps and bounds in many ways. She keeps asking me about what is going to happen, and she cracks me up when she says things like "I don't want tennis balls on my walker!!!" And "I think if I get a little motorized scooter, it will be pale yellow...I love yellow." She just has to learn that she does not need to do it all in one day. I am thrilled by her enthusiasm, but if she pushes so hard one day, that she has to rest the entire next day, she may not get better as quickly. Maybe I will have to tell her that famous "Turtle and the Hare" story..."Slow and steady wins the race!" I also think she will do better as her energy level increases. Oh, and they finally weighed her today...And she weighed in at 86 lbs. This is after hi-calorie tube feeding for over a week, combined with actual eating for just under a week, so I can only imagine how much she was weighing when she was in the hospital prior to having the feeding tube. To be fair, she weighed in a 90 lbs when she checked in before surgery, when she was healthy. I told her we need for her to strive for triple digits!

I got her an appointment to have her hair cut on Friday. That will make her feel better I think.

Much love!