"I'm comin' back tomorrow!"
Hi Friends,
Well, today was a success...Betty and I spent the whole morning cleaning the apartment more, putting up some Christmas decorations, and just getting the apartment ready in general for mom's visit. We were very productive, and the place looks loads better than it has since mom left it! :) When we'd deemed it satisfactory, we headed down to RIC, and mom was dozing in her wheelchair in her room. Shortly after we arrived, Laura her Occupational Therapist came in for mom's last session of OT...we all got very teary, and it is quite obvious that though mom has been wanting to get out of there and go home, she is going to miss all her therapists and the rest of the nursing and support staff...right down to the Environmental Services people who stop to chat with her! I am for sure going to miss everyone there, especially after 2 of the most intense months of my whole life going there every single day...everyone there saw me through some rough moments so smoothly and expertly, and I'll never forget a single one of them...I am so appreciative of their expert care, and forever grateful. Tomorrow will be very strange.
Betty and I packed up mom's whole room, all the pictures and belongings that have accumulated there over the last 2 months, and mom napped for a bit after therapy in the afternoon, and Betty and I kept ourselves busy. Around 5pm, we headed to pick up the ZipCar we reserved (for those who don't know of it, ZipCar is a carsharing service that allows one to rent a car by the hour)...we splurged on the BMW for the special occasion, and we had a hell of a time finding where it was parked as the directions were somewhat vague...when we finally found it, we got in and it was so "fancy" and newfangled that we couldn't figure out how to start it!!! We sat in it for a good ten minutes trying to figure it out...there was no owner's manual in the car to refer to, so we finally had to call the ZipCar 800 number to ask them how to do it...I accidentally hit the menu option for an emergency, so they had to transfer me to the appropriate extension, and then the guy probably thought I was so stupid but he explained how to start it. :)
Picked mom up at RIC around 5:30pm and she got in the car just fine...drove to the apartment, and came inside...as soon as we got off the elevator onto her floor, Betty asked her if she remembered which way to go...she stopped for a moment, and then proceeded to go right to her door!!! She remembered!!! She was in the wheelchair (for safety's sake...it's slippery out), but she got out and walked over the threshold (easier, and a bit symbolic) and made a beeline for Moe. :) She REALLY enjoyed seeing the kitties, I made a little food for us to eat, we listened to Christmas music, and she patted the kitties...when it was time to go, she was really sad to leave Moe, and I assured her this was the first of many visits, and that eventually she'd be better enough to come home. Right before we left, we showed her the closet where all of her clothes are still hanging and her bathroom and everything, and she really seemed like she remembered everything...I asked her if it felt good to be back in her apartment, and she said "Yes! I'm comin' back tomorrow! To hell with the surgery!" It was hilarious, and an apt title for the blog.
We brought her back to RIC without incident and put her to bed...she seemed very apprehensive about tomorrow, but we reassured her that we'd be with her and that everything would be just fine...I'm sure once again reassuring ourselves right along with her...I hope we can all get some sleep tonight. The Medicar is scheduled to pick mom up at 6:30am tomorrow morning, so we plan to be there prior to that, and ride with her...the surgery has been moved to 11am instead of 8am, but they want her there by 8am, and since the Medicars can sometimes be late, they figured they'd just leave it scheduled for the same time. Ugh...so must get to bed now, will be an early, long and nerve-wracking day...please keep mom in your thoughts and prayers, and I'll update you on how everything goes. Peace.
Well, today was a success...Betty and I spent the whole morning cleaning the apartment more, putting up some Christmas decorations, and just getting the apartment ready in general for mom's visit. We were very productive, and the place looks loads better than it has since mom left it! :) When we'd deemed it satisfactory, we headed down to RIC, and mom was dozing in her wheelchair in her room. Shortly after we arrived, Laura her Occupational Therapist came in for mom's last session of OT...we all got very teary, and it is quite obvious that though mom has been wanting to get out of there and go home, she is going to miss all her therapists and the rest of the nursing and support staff...right down to the Environmental Services people who stop to chat with her! I am for sure going to miss everyone there, especially after 2 of the most intense months of my whole life going there every single day...everyone there saw me through some rough moments so smoothly and expertly, and I'll never forget a single one of them...I am so appreciative of their expert care, and forever grateful. Tomorrow will be very strange.
Betty and I packed up mom's whole room, all the pictures and belongings that have accumulated there over the last 2 months, and mom napped for a bit after therapy in the afternoon, and Betty and I kept ourselves busy. Around 5pm, we headed to pick up the ZipCar we reserved (for those who don't know of it, ZipCar is a carsharing service that allows one to rent a car by the hour)...we splurged on the BMW for the special occasion, and we had a hell of a time finding where it was parked as the directions were somewhat vague...when we finally found it, we got in and it was so "fancy" and newfangled that we couldn't figure out how to start it!!! We sat in it for a good ten minutes trying to figure it out...there was no owner's manual in the car to refer to, so we finally had to call the ZipCar 800 number to ask them how to do it...I accidentally hit the menu option for an emergency, so they had to transfer me to the appropriate extension, and then the guy probably thought I was so stupid but he explained how to start it. :)
Picked mom up at RIC around 5:30pm and she got in the car just fine...drove to the apartment, and came inside...as soon as we got off the elevator onto her floor, Betty asked her if she remembered which way to go...she stopped for a moment, and then proceeded to go right to her door!!! She remembered!!! She was in the wheelchair (for safety's sake...it's slippery out), but she got out and walked over the threshold (easier, and a bit symbolic) and made a beeline for Moe. :) She REALLY enjoyed seeing the kitties, I made a little food for us to eat, we listened to Christmas music, and she patted the kitties...when it was time to go, she was really sad to leave Moe, and I assured her this was the first of many visits, and that eventually she'd be better enough to come home. Right before we left, we showed her the closet where all of her clothes are still hanging and her bathroom and everything, and she really seemed like she remembered everything...I asked her if it felt good to be back in her apartment, and she said "Yes! I'm comin' back tomorrow! To hell with the surgery!" It was hilarious, and an apt title for the blog.
We brought her back to RIC without incident and put her to bed...she seemed very apprehensive about tomorrow, but we reassured her that we'd be with her and that everything would be just fine...I'm sure once again reassuring ourselves right along with her...I hope we can all get some sleep tonight. The Medicar is scheduled to pick mom up at 6:30am tomorrow morning, so we plan to be there prior to that, and ride with her...the surgery has been moved to 11am instead of 8am, but they want her there by 8am, and since the Medicars can sometimes be late, they figured they'd just leave it scheduled for the same time. Ugh...so must get to bed now, will be an early, long and nerve-wracking day...please keep mom in your thoughts and prayers, and I'll update you on how everything goes. Peace.
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Love, Tracy