One Week Later...

I was just thinking this morning that perhaps you all might want to know how my mom is doing. Some of you were even reading my mind, because I've been getting emails asking about her today. So, here's the scoop...

Mom came home from the hospital a week ago Friday. She'd been in there for 2 weeks and they were going to transfer her to a skilled nursing facility to gain back her strength. After trying to find a bed for her for two days, they found one, but the insurance reviewed the days notes on her and decided that she was doing too well, and they would no longer pay for a nursing facility or for home care. So at 5:00 p.m. last Friday all of the sudden I needed to go out and buy a walker and prepare my house for her to come and be nursed back to health. We decided it was a blessing and divinely orchestrated that she came home to my house instead of being sent to a nursing facility. Here she has been up and moving every day -- whereas in the nursing facility, she might have been laying in an uncomfortable bed in a hospital-y room for much of the day. I have been feeding her like crazy (lots of healthy foods, extra protein shakes, and ingeniously created things that don't have wheat -- which she's allergic to -- but taste yummy!) But at the hospital, and probably in a nursing facility, they just couldn't get the food right for her. We're hoping to help her gain back some of the 15 pounds that she lost in the hospital on her "adult baby food". She started out using a walker (a bright red one that we named the rockin' walker) but in the last few days, she hasn't been using it much. She'll forget to take it to the family room, or she'll take it in there when she goes, but then she decides she needs something from the bedroom and makes several trips back and forth without it. She's gaining strength back by leaps and bounds, but she was so weak to begin with, it still means resting a lot and taking it much easier than she would like. I think it's a great indicator to see her dressed in her cute jeans and a blouse, with a little bit of makeup on when she comes out from resting in her room.

She is still battling ears that are aching and plugged and have been, I think, since a week before she went in the hospital. She said they're a little better today than yesterday. I think the hardest thing she's dealing with is that she's still experiencing double vision unless she looks down. So she can read, but she can't watch TV or venture out much. Her eyes are burning and it makes her head ache to try to look up -- symptoms she's experienced before, after she was hit by an SUV while walking across a street 2 years ago. I think if anyone has any prayers left, we should pray that her eyes will heal and return to normal, so she can paint and drive and do other things that bring her enjoyment.

So, we're well on the road to recovery and so grateful that she is here with us. Thank heavens for miracles and happy endings.