This week was nothing spectacular, as Mom continued to eat little, enjoy her shakes, and arise early, then to bed at an early hour.
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| Mom, brother Larry, her mother, her brother Peter, and Aunt Suzie |
Monday, she ate very little, she arose early but went to bed soon after her shake and a tiny morsel of lunch. Getting up and into bed was simple, as Mom was helping the staff rather than laying there like a lump.
Tuesday, Noel, the hospice nurse came, and trained staff, using an unusually cooperative Mother as the guinea pig, on using the Hoyer lift. Mom seemed to enjoy this. She still didn’t eat much, though.
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| Mom age 20 |
Wednesday, Mom arose early and worked on her breakfast of French Toast! She ate nearly all of it! Of course, she took her time, so when Connie and Jean came to visit she still had some bites on her plate. They can tell you more:
Hi, Tony,
We signed in at 11:15 today to visit Norma. There were three of us; Jean had invited her friend Joyce to come with us to meet Norma and to see where Norma lives.
Joyce, a retired nurse, is new to Portland, wants to find a place to live where she can stay if she requires help in time. Seems a tour was not possible today, but Joyce filled out a request form to schedule a tour. Tracy, the tour person, will call her.
Norma was almost finished eating a full breakfast,with just a few pieces of French toast still on her plate. She had had two cups of coffee plus juice and whatever else was on the menu.
Connie had brought the Wall Street Journal. Norma held it much of our time there, glanced a bit at it, but did not read aloud. We think she read it after we left; she looked interested in the paper.
Jean showed Norma the pink nail polish she'd brought to do her nails. No comment but Jean did not expect one. Jean took one hand at a time, and painted the nails; she held perfectly still, giving time for the polish to dry.
She was more engaged than we've seen her in some time; as you said, it's probably because she had more nourishment in her. At noon came soup--she accepted one bite--offered the rest to us. Joyce and Connie said it smelled good--a creamy vegetable soup.
Elsa offered the lunch plate--pieces of chicken with noodles (?) and Norma said she did not care to have any.
So Elsa brought her a cookie to go with the protein drink. She ate the cookie and about half the protein shake; we left while she still had some of that to drink.
Norma speech was quiet, as it's been lately, but she was part of our conversation at times. Mostly she would have a thought, but the words did not always complete her thought. She was pleasant all the time; never looked frustrated at not finishing a sentence. As always, we either said nothing or tried to give some kind of neutral answer if we did not know what she was trying to say. But she looked content, with no worries or problems.
We kissed her goodbye.
Thursday went as the days before, but not eating much of anything.
Friday was a repeat of Thursday.
Saturday, too, was a repeat of the previous days. Mom sits quietly and does very little, sometimes speaking with some of the other ladies, but mostly keeping to herself.
Today, I found Mom eating pancakes. She kept eating through our visit, and at one point stated she was quite full. Finally! She wasn’t much company, and didn’t really want to chat, so we sat there holding hands while she picked at the plate.
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| Mom's graduation photo from St. Mary's Academy (1946) |
Her world may seem vacant to us, but I’m not sure I am able to speak for her on that issue. She’s not been eating, but her spirits are good, she’s being congenial, and no longer targeting her nemeses, which tells us she’s tuned out from the negativity she used to lug around. This is good, but also, a sign her spirit is weaker.
What comes this week? No one knows for sure!
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