A changing landscape

Calatrava in full flight

It's hard to know what to think. I saw her Wednesday for dinner and she looked awful -- pale and cadaverous. After we ate she wanted to lie down, so we went to the room and she got in bed, then wanted her nightie on, so we got her up, but before we finished that, she said she had to go to the bathroom, and in the middle of that two aides came and said it was time for her shower. She was exhausted and wanted to beg off, but they went ahead, which I thought was good, and I left.

Then yesterday I went in the morning, and she was great. Having breakfast with G and B. Good energy, talked -- a nice morning. Everybody confirmed that both days she had gotten therapy, which the first week, only thanks to Sister K, did it happen at all.

So today I went again, and again, she struggled in the afternoon. Julie had been there midday and was told by an aide that she had hardly slept all night. So when I got there, she didn't know where she was, where she lived, where I lived, where she ate, did she have to pay, and on and on. Even after little sleep, she'd had a big day -- watched Al's Run, which comes right by the front door, and, when I found her, had just finished a snack while an opera singer entertained.

She was exhausted, and I took her to her room, tried to get her into bed, but she complained as to method and final arrangement, so I called in an aide, who did it just right. And finally I left, promising to take her to chapel tomorrow.

This move to rehab has been an upheaval for her, and she complains more than usual about her loneliness, though between Sister K (last week) and Julie and I, she's been visited at least once a day.  Next week, there'll be a staff meeting on her situation, and then on Thursday, she and I will meet with a social worker about getting her regular visits with a private aide -- three hours of companionship, basically, on weekday afternoons.

She never has been able to entertain herself, and now, unless someone puts something in front of her, she just lays there.

The time, the care, the effort, and the push-pull with the staff has just about doubled in the week since she returned from the hospital.

TosaFest
You know, it's not such a bad look.