Sunday, 1/4/09

Today was a pretty spectacular day in regards to Mom's recovery. (You have no idea how nice that is for me to type!)

I was there for her initial PT session, which I thought was only going to be an evaluation. Nope! They had Mom out of bed, taking a few steps behind a walker, propelling her own wheelchair down the hall and then doing some leg exercises in the gym room. This is the most activity she's done in over a month, and it completely exhausted her. She did beautifully, though, and did everything that her trainer asked of her.

I am still seeing some holes in her short term memory. She has a difficult time with names of people she doesn't know well, and has a tough time with the date. She has absolutely no memory of either of her surgeries. We talked several different times today about why her tummy was so sore, and why her right knee is so stiff. Every day seems to bring along more and more progress, both physical and mental. For that, I am grateful...

Tomorrow will be a very busy day for Mom. On the acute rehab floor, the patients get three hours of PT every day. Tomorrow's adventures will include getting a shower (big excitement!), getting dressed and doing more exercises. Hopefully she'll keep her sense of humor and blaze through everything they give her to do.

I had hoped to give my Dad the night off tonight, but Mom quietly asked when her "sweetheart" was coming back. She is always so excited to see him, and loves to have him around. My schedule will be getting a little more complicated with Glenn heading back to work, and DJ going back to school, but we'll make it work. It has been so super to have Glenn off for such an extended period of time to watch Alex...I think they both really enjoyed the one-on-one time together. Sara will return to San Diego next Saturday; I'm betting she'll see a whole new Mom by then!

Okay, with all this happy news, I will sign off and go find my pillow. Thank you all for your continued well-wishes, unending prayers and personal support... we do so appreciate you!

~ Dana