Braiding

I googled it:  Braiding is a method of intertwining three or more strands of flexible material.  

We are nothing if not flexible these days, between visiting with 3 granddaughters and their overlapping activities, 3 full time jobs for the working adults, 25+ beckoning boxes in the living room, laundry for 7 waiting to be done, 2 refrigerators waiting to be refilled and Halloween costumes and candy to be bought.  Flexible, intertwined, and more than occasionally exhausted.  

We have a routine. Mom has many people in and out of the house every day; nurses and therapists, and caretaker Cindy is working well with Mom, helping her relax before and after the visits and hard work of in-bed rehab.  Dad is ever-present, working on his laptop whenever he's not attending to Mom or being mindful of all the people who are here to help.  The juggling act of schedules and the accommodating last minutes changes requires unending patience and flexibility.  

Mom's favorite nurse came in this morning and Dad met her at the door with a cup of coffee just the way she likes it, in her favorite cup. The nurse climbed onto the empty side of Mom's bed to dress her wound, explaining that she doesn't do this for everyone, but Mom is special. It was a comfortable visit and Mom's wound is looking better.  Several weeks left, probably, of the wound vac she's hooked up to, and that will be a sparkling wine day, the day it comes up and is shipped back to the company it came from.  Packed in one of the (seeming) dozen of brown shipping boxes stacked in the bathroom.  

Weekends are different. A weekend means (with few nurse exceptions) no one is officially coming over, so Mom can enjoy a lazy breakfast and a day of tv, maybe some homework, maybe some reading/listening to the newspaper being read.  Probably a lot of football.  Doesn't matter who is playing.  Cowboys are always good for some heart pounding and adrenalin pumping.  We think it would be easier to be a Giants fan sometimes.  

We had Saturday and Sunday breakfast together. Mom gave instructions how to wash the many, many small rugs around the house.  (Thankful for a sunny day for drying outside!)  

Mom dried many dishes. It's amazing how many dishes you dirty up, between the Tervis tumblers, and all the silverware.  She loves drying dishes and it's super helpful  - it saves so much time, and helps the kitchen look nice and clean.  We also folded lots of laundry. Mom does a great job on washcloths and hand towels, folding them as evenly as she ever did before she was sick.  This is the best kind of occupational therapy she can do, practical, satisfying, and something to be proud of.  

Mom sat up for 26 minutes today on the side off the bed, longer than she has since mid-September.  When she was up, she enjoyed a heatpack and a nice back massage.  No pain!  She tried on a pretty new red merino wool sweater Dad picked up for her while he was shopping.  She loved it.  She was again proud of her work and efforts, and even after laying back down, continued to do stretches and exercises that her physical therapist has taught her.  She and Dad both felt great.

After a yummy dinner of grilled pork and sides, Mom was watching the World Series with freshly-showered Mary Claire right beside her. Before Mom was sick, she used to love to dry the girls' hair, she would comb and blow dry until it was perfectly done and just soft as it could be.  Mary Claire brought her a comb, and Mom enjoyed combing out the long damp loose curls.  And then she did something amazing. She braided her hair!  Now that's some good occupational therapy! 

Time flies

We're still here! Sorry for the long delay between posts. Between caregiving and working and taking care of our various family responsibilities, we've fallen behind in our updates. I apologize, and I know some of you were wondering what's going on.

Things are going pretty well. Mom is still recuperating from her back and hip injuries, and she's able to sit on the side of the bed a little more each day. We had a ball watching old TV series yesterday -- Father Knows Best and Dennis the Menace had us in stitches. We were laughing so hard, Daddy came back to see what on earth had us in such fits. Last night, we watched the debates, and Mom and I thought for sure either President Obama or Romney were going to throw a punch. We were backtalking to the TV quite a bit.

We discovered something mundane but important yesterday. Turns out there isn't a single set of queen-size percale sheets in this house. Everything is sateen. Percale is much cooler than sateen, and since it's still in the upper 80s here in North Texas, the coolness would be welcome. Mom and I both prefer percale, and since she's in bed 24/7 for now, why shouldn't she have what she wants?  Luckily, I know where to get fantastic, crisp percale sheets. (You knew I was good for something, right?) Good ones are hard to find these days.

Speaking of good, I'd like to brag about our neighbors. They are tremendously thoughtful and caring; we're talking good old-fashioned neighborly neighbors. Frank and Joanne from across the street bring over dinners and flowers and cheerfulness. April from next door brings over dinners and magazines and is equally cheerful and upbeat. It gives Mom such a boost; her spirits are lifted for hours afterward. It's so nice to have old friends as neighbors, and vice versa. Everyone should be so lucky. Thank you all.

Old friends are the best, aren't they? Yesterday, a postcard arrived from Cape Town, South Africa. My dear friend Glenn, who is also one of Mom's former students from Clovis High School, sent her a note from afar, telling us about his experiences and giving us something grand that we could dream about, a little mental adventure of our own. It was a real treat to get a card from nearly 9,000 miles away. Thank you, Glenn! You totally made our day.

Speaking of Clovis, I recently learned that a teacher there (from Yucca Junior High, where I spent my 9th-grade year) is fighting glioblastoma multiforme. Sigh. He received the diagnosis a few months after Mom did, and he's facing challenges similar to the ones Mom has been through. Chuck Tipton and family, we are praying for you.