Guest post

Update from Sister K, who is in town:

I arrived yesterday at 1pm and found Mom dozing in her bed. Two minutes later D and C showed up for a visit, and there was a steady stream of caregivers and guests all afternoon, including Al and An from upstairs. 

At 5 we went to dinner and ate near Pat and Grace, both 94 and 100% present, and the meal was silent but not unpleasant. Be arrived but in an unsociable mood due to leg pain so she sat alone in the private dining room. A mild-mannered married couple sat at their own private table next to the group table and spoke a mixture of English and German. 

This was part their conversation during the dinner of what was called "pork marsala":

M: Wiener schnitzel!

W: Well, it isn't advertised as such so it can't be held accountable for what it doesn't pretend to be.

M: There is recognition in the audience!

(Later)

W: The pork is good if you take off the breading and dip it in the sauce.

M: Well, mine is completely breaded -- it wouldn't be wiener schnitzel if it wasn't.

W: It isn't wiener schnitzel, breaded or not.

After dinner Mom had a thorough "bed bath" with wonderful aide Ay. Jon came and we all chatted for awhile and then Mom was ready to sleep and Jon and I went out for a drink.

This morning we ate breakfast with Be, who was in a much better mood, and the gracious Grace. They reminisced about time spent in NYC. Mom could not really follow but her comments were somehow melded in and she seemed to feel a part of things. The social time wore her out and she zonked for about a half hour. 

At 10 she was taken to PT in the basement for an hour and 15 minutes! When I left her there she was doing an arm workout like pedaling. She can walk with her walker for short distances and with lots of support. Tomorrow I'm going to stay and watch the whole thing so I have a better sense of what they do with her.

She took a huge nap after PT and then I dropped her off for a late lunch at 12:30 (everyone was still there and a bevy of student nurses were chatting them up). I went for a run and returned at 2 to find her asking after me. 

She couldn't really sleep much in the afternoon so at about 4:30 I took her upstairs where we visited her old room and sat in on trivia for a little while. None of it seemed to stir her memory too much, but she happily greeted the staff members and they hugged her. Julie came by for dinner and we ate with Ja and Be. Mom was exhausted after dinner and went to bed before 7. 

Mom is pretty confused about what's what and where she is and where she's been and what's happened to her. When she visited Mom, An kept saying "Mary, I'm soooo sorry about what's happened!" Finally Mom said, "I'm getting pretty sorry about it too the more I hear about it!" She has no memory of her hospital stay or the surgery, or that she used to live upstairs.

That's the news. I'm sitting near the bistro as I write this since I have no wifi in the guest room. During her naptimes I'm keeping busy with my homework since classes have started.