Friday, March 18, 2011

Not much to report today. It was "shower day," and Estelle was worn out from the whole thing. They were just taking her to the shower room when I arrived at 9AM. While she was gone they cleaned her room and her bed and when she came back everything was nice and clean for her. We had brought her some tightly closed tulips yesterday and they were already wide open and beautiful. The nurses had opened the window a bit and the air was fresh and balmy. Unfortunately, Estelle was sound asleep and not responding to any of it. Seems to be a pattern of sorts, good day, bad day. We're keeping an eye on it to see if we can attribute it to anything in particular but so far, no clue.

I did talk to the social worker and there is a "care plan" meeting set for next Thursday. Dan has taken the morning off to attend. We will get to meet with her nurses, her physical therapist, her occupational therapist and her social worker and they will tell us what their plan of action is going to be. Monday we will be talking with the doctor, as well.

The nurse's aide was very nice this morning. Her name is Mary and she's very protective of Mom. She did ask me to bring some "good smellin," shampoo and body soap because it is her belief (and mine, too) that good soaps and shampoos make a woman feel special. She said they have soap and shampoo there, of course, but that even tho it works the same, it doesn't feel as good. She used a body lotion on Mom that she and the bath aide had handmade - apparently they use the lotion the home provides but they add scented oils so that it feels smoother and smells nicer. It really did smell and feel very nice and I'm hoping they'll give me their recipe.

I helped them move Mom from the chair to the bed and she definitely does not like the "lift" contraption. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't either.

Once she was back in bed and settled she promptly went to sleep and I did not have the heart to try real hard to wake her. I stuck around for awhile but decided that as long as she was sleeping I'd run some errands and pick up the soap and shampoo and a few other things she needed.

Dan and I went back after work but she was, again, sound asleep and we could not rouse her. The nurse said she had been awake earlier when he came on duty at 3PM but we had no luck in getting her to talk to us.

Her phone is finally installed. The direct line is: 703-535-7315

Dan will be visiting tomorrow during the day. It seems to be the best time to find her alert and talkative.

Hope all is well with everyone. Spring is in the air here - hopefully it is the same wherever you are. The trees are blooming like crazy and the daffodils and tulips are up. The daffodils amaze me. Back home in Indiana we pay big bucks for bulbs and cultivate them like mad, hoping they survive the frosts after the first warm days. Here they grow totally wild alongside the highway like weeds. I am always tempted to pull my car over and pick them because it seems like such a waste of beauty. They bounce so delightfully in the wind.