Sunday, July 3, 2011

Update on my momma

So very much has happened in the last 2 months that it would be hard to tell everything. So instead I will give you the highlights:

Mom was taken to the hospital because of some sexually promiscuous and dangerous behavior. It turned out to be a side effect of some of her medications, but she was needing to be admitted to figure out what sort of mess would be more appropriate.

I wouldn't let her be admitted to cmh because I felt as though they were the ones who had originally jacked up her meds. The next nearest hospital with a bed in a psych unit was in Joplin. And because BoMo is just so wonderful.....I had to drive her there myself. The ambulances won't drive more than 100 miles after midnight. Yeah....we were there at 12:03 and the Joplin hospital was 101 miles away. Can you say RE.DIC.U.LOUS?

She was in Joplin for two weeks. Then, she was released. Oh wait. My bad....we have to back up. About 3 days after she was taken to the ER her nursing home called to let me know that she was not allowed to come back and I needed to come and pack up her things. I went round and round with those people....needless to say I still have a bad taste in my mouth about that.

God totally provided. He got us in contact with a home in humansville (about 20 minutes from me). They have a true dementia unit. S they aren't put off by her behavior....they know just how to deal with it.

Her behavior has leveled out, but her biggest issue now is her speech. We have narrowed down the problem. Through daily speech therapy we have discovered that the issue is a disconnect between her brain and her mouth. She has no trouble reading words off a page, but when she is trying to tell you how she feels or what she needs she can't get it out. She stutters, stammers, and her tongue literally twists up in her mouth.

But bless my sweet wonderful mother. She has always been strong....and terribly stubborn. She does not give up. She worked with her therapist and I for 20 minutes and the result.....I found out that she missed her mother. So we called my grandma and it made her day. What a joy it was for me to hear her tell me what was in her heart. And her request was all too familiar to me. I miss my mom too.

I am learning, however, that it is a joy to serve her in this way. Most daughters love their mothers, but don't know how to show them. How wonderful that I can show her each and every day just how much I love her. Prayerfully we will keep chaos free for quite sometime. And I am also praying for continued successes in the speech department. I so desperatly want to know what happening inside her.

No comments: