Yet another, very rough week. Mom's energy is limited and her physical issues make everything, even the simplest of tasks, incredibly difficult. Twice a week she has a Physical Therapist (Spencer Thompson) come to the house and put her through several exercises. He is a family friend and amazing! We love having him there and Mom trusts him (very important). Mom gets very anxious about PT and the build up to Spencer's arrival is challenging. One we start, the toughest exercise is getting her to stand. She is unable to do this on her own, let alone sit up on her own. We place a gravity belt around her waist that allows for 2 of us (usually Dad and Jon) to lift her at the waist while Deb and McCall steady her feet. I stand in front of her to catch her if needed. This is very scary for her. She feels like she will fall and nobody will be able to catch her. Clearly, her Walmart fall weighs heavily in her mind. The battle we face is motivating her to do this and help her get over her fears and physical limitations. She is usually wasted after PT, and so are we.
Dad's sister Dagny has been in town all week from Dallas to help where she can. What a welcome help she has been! Dagny is a skilled chef, painter, and decorator. She helped Dad by cooking (amazing) and getting the house in order since they haven't been able to decorate after moving in. It was so good to have her in town and we miss her already!
Mom sees your posts, reads your texts, and enjoys your videos. She doesn't have the dexterity to respond with her one hand, but know she is VERY MUCH uplifted from seeing them. I will usually hold up her iPad high in front of her face when we are doing PT to try and get her to look up and stand up. I tease her that she needs to see the next picture or message and she can't unless she stands. We can't thank you enough.