TENACITY

This last week was almost exactly as we were expecting - pure hell and some decent progress. Mom's meds have been giving her fits and hallucinations. It's tough to calm her down when we can't convince her what she is seeing isn't real. It adds to significant confusion and hopefully a change in meds will fix this.

There WAS a lot of progress in that Jon, Dad, and my boys were able to lift her in to a comfortable chair so she could see the beautiful weather and simply sit up and chat with us in as normal a setting as we cold provide. This is very important as the IBM causes significant atrophy of her muscles and laying in bed due to her broken bones and pneumonia only makes it worse. It also helps to give some strength to her abdominal muscles so that she can hopefully sit up on her own at some point.

Mom also got to go on a car ride this week. Through the strength of Jon and Dan Nelson they were able to lift her in to Dads car and he was able to take her for a short ride. Mom loves car rides (it has rubbed off on me) and this lifted her spirits so much! That...was a good day.

As we move forward with the extremely slow progress, please know that your messages and words give her MUCH strength. At times she feels like she can't go on, but when she realizes how many people love and appreciate her she feels needed and significant. Thank you for your kindness.