Hello, dear friends and family! Alyx here with a little "day in the life" update. I got to spend much of the day with Mom today while Dad worked with a friend on getting the house ready for their planned return home on Thursday.
Right after Dad left this morning, Mom and I were both a bit nervous about how the day was going to go. We looked at each other and wondered what we were going to do with ourselves while he was gone. However, we were both determined to figure it out, and we ended up having a really lovely time together. One of the things Mom wanted to get done today was getting her fingernails filed down and toenails trimmed. We decided to start our time together getting her fingernails taken care of. Once that was done, we decided to have some creative time - Mom colored while I started knitting another hat for her (which she was very excited about).
The recreational therapist came at 10:30 and we went on a little adventure up to the 8th floor of the hospital where there's an observation area that looks out over the city. The therapist talked with us about strategizing about energy conservation once Mom is home, so making sure to rest before and after planned activities, and also having backup plans and being flexible based on how much energy she has on a given day. We also talked about getting her back to knitting at some point - the therapist had the great idea that I could cast on a little practice project for Mom (since casting on is often the hardest/most frustrating part of a simple project) and then have her take over. She feels like right now she wouldn't be able to do it, largely because of her vision deficits, but once she's had time to settle in back at home I'm hoping to encourage her to try it out and see what muscle memory might still be there!
After we got back to the room, we decided it would be good for Mom to take a little nap before lunch. She didn't think she'd be able to sleep, but did end up getting a solid 30 minutes or so eventually. Once her lunch arrived I ran downstairs to grab some food for myself - while I was gone, she managed to eat her bowl of tomato soup without spilling anything on her white sweatshirt (which we'd covered with a towel, just in case) (which is a feat I don't know if I could have pulled off). After we finished eating, Mom asked if I could take her on a little walk around the halls in her wheelchair, just for a little change of scenery, which was a fun little adventure. When we got back to the room, I took care of her toenails - removing the polish that had been on them since before the accident and then trimming them. She was very happy to have that done.
We hit another moment of "what do we do now" at that point, but we decided to go to the little living room area on the unit where there was a couch and lower lighting, so we could just visit for a while. We ended up having some very tender conversations about life, the accident, our relationships, and her challenges for about an hour. While she did struggle to find words, especially in the moments when she was more emotional, I was astonished by how much she remembered about our lives and how many ideas she was able to get across. At one point, she sighed and said, "I'm a totally different person." I told her she was still my Mom, and that seemed comforting to her. One of the recurring themes of our conversations today was that we love each other, and how grateful we are for that. She also expressed immense gratitude for all of the people who have shown her such love and care and concern since the accident - you are all making a big difference in her outlook on her situation.
She took another nap after our conversation. When she woke up, she told me that before she fell asleep she was trying to remember what sorts of foods she used to enjoy cooking (because she did enjoy cooking quite a bit), and she couldn't remember any of them, which was hard. She said she didn't feel like she was going to cry about it then, but that she might later, because it was sad. But even in the midst of that sadness, she expressed hope that she'd be able to relearn, particularly once she's back in her own space.
I'm so grateful I got to spend the day just being with my Mom - that was probably the longest concentrated time we've spent one-on-one in years, and I'm just so glad it was such a positive experience for both of us.
Thank you all again for your continued prayers and support - like I said, she's definitely feeling it and it's making a big difference for her and for our whole family.