A Facebook update.
Good news. After a solid month of the hospital and then rehab, it looks like Mom is set to return home to the Wellington on Thursday.
In many ways the roughest part of this stretch was the past few days. I was exposed to someone with COVID and had to await a negative test before visiting Mom, so I hadn’t seen her in four days.Being unable to see her and support her was the hardest part of this ordeal for me, and I curse COVID for all the separation it has created. I can’t imagine losing a loved one, or celebrating an important family milestone and being unable to be there in person. I envisioned other possibilities for this summer.
When I visited Mom this afternoon, she picked up right where we left off days ago. First, she assembled a puzzle with moderate help (nothing fancy, just the United States.) She claimed to have forgotten how to play gin rummy but then beat me 2 out of 3. Then, tired from a day of PT – “She was walking all over the place!” the nurses reported to me – she took a nap. It seems a little thing, but she laid on her right side. This is the first time I’ve seen her lay on her right side during this whole ordeal, and I took that as the best sign yet that she really has strengthened her back and recovered.
In my entire visit there she offered not one complaint of pain, or even an “ow” to indicate a request for a different kind of assistance. She walked from the dining area to her room holding my hand, but without needing support or her walker (though I will feel better if a walker is part of her permanent entourage and I’m securing one to take with us Thursday.)
I wish she was as sharp today as she was a month ago, but she’s not. It is heartbreaking to see whole chunks of her memory calved like iceberg slices into oceanic oblivion; today she asked if her grandchildren go to school in Ohio, and if so, where, exactly? 3 of the 5 tables in the common room had items of hers on them, including her granddaughter’s Yale hoodie, but she did not recognize them as hers.
I am glad that she is pain-free. I hope that returning to a familiar place will help restore some of her skills and memories, and I am thankful that, for now at least, she remains happy to see me.
I am ever thankful for the many memories, cards, and messages you all have sent as encouragement for me and Mom. While Facebook can be quite terrible at times, this part of it has brought great comfort and lifting of spirits, which is really the best thing we humans can do for one another.