Final Update on Mom!
Mom is no longer on Hospice as she discharged herself on Thursday.
What happened is that on Wednesday the charge nurse stopped by to check on mom. The last time she had seen her was some time in May. She was actually shocked when she saw mom as she was sitting at the piano, playing. Mom then got up using her walker and went and sat down and talked with us/her etc.
As we were telling the nurse how well mom is doing, she mentioned that if she was doing too well, then she wouldn’t continue to qualify for Hospice. I told her “That’s okay. That’s been our goal from the beginning - to get her kicked out of the program!” She sort of looked taken aback and said, “OK.”
When it became obvious that mom really didn’t want to continue to be with them, she said that we could get her taken off - rather, mom could sign herself off, now that she’s doing so much better. So, we made a tentative appointment for the next day —this would give us a last chance to see Yuliana - the CNA - young lady who has come most of the time since the beginning of mom’s stay with hospice.
Mom also really wanted the bed out of the living room and the other paraphernalia such as the oxygen tank, the concentrator, and the nebulizer, I think it was. She didn’t use any of them except once for the nebulizer when my niece came over and showed us how to use it.
So, on Thursday, they came and removed the bed and other things that Hospice had provided. Then about noon, the nurse came back with the papers to sign and mom signed them. We had to say goodbye to the CNA, though we do have her phone number should we want to make contact. She lives nearby.
And just like that, mom is ‘off’ hospice.
They told us it doesn’t happen very often.
Mom got her living room back!
She still does have a ways go to but is getting stronger every day. She can get up and off the couch by herself and dresses herself (except for her socks - they are hard - her tight bobby socks are hard for her to get on) and is working on building up her stamina.
Today she drove to the bank with me in the passenger’s seat.
So…I won’t be giving you more updates unless something dramatic happens. I’ll be leaving August 3 to go back to Poland, very grateful that I’ve been able to be here - but knowing that the time is drawing to a close that I’m truly needed here.
To summarize - mom got sick some time in the middle of March, went to the hospital April 8, was released April 28 as ‘complete care’ - completely unable to take care of her own needs including rolling over, sitting up and feeding herself, and now was released from hospice on July 22, 2021.
It’s been a hard road for mom and she’s worked hard to get this far.
Thank you so much for your interest and prayers and concern for her. We are so grateful to God for sparing her life at this point. I know that many have not been.
Because all the improvements will now be ever so much smaller, I won’t be taking blog posts to update on her anymore.
We are now expecting her to continue moving forward as she learns to take care of all her own needs once more. My brother will stay here with mom a bit longer after I leave to help her adjust even more. After he leaves, Rachael and her husband and other family members are in the area to help as needed. I’m not doing that much with her personal care anymore - just occasional help.
She spent a long time trimming threads off of my quilt. :) Thanks, mom! July 22, 2021
She does have a bed sore that she got in May on her heel. It is not 100% healed yet, so I think until the skin has covered it, someone will continue to check on it and bandage it daily. That is something very difficult to do by yourself as the location is hard to reach on your own heel.
She’s starting to check out her kitchen once more and bemoan the fact that we’ve ‘messed it up’ or ‘moved things’. I assured her that once we all leave, she can put everything back to exactly as she wants it. :)
And so, this ends a chapter of our lives and my updates on this topic.
Thanks again, as I mentioned before, for your continued interest.
Have a great day wherever you are reading this! Stay safe!
Be sure to check out what my sis has for you in the store here!
Here’s one of the beauties we have!
