Everything's Rosie: The Spoken Word

Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.
(Psalm 139:4)

The last couple weeks have flown by. It seems that every day has so much to tell that my mind and my fingers can't keep up.

Since Mom came home from the hospital her personality has been more evident. Included in the return of her personality is, of course, her humor, but also a little sadness and frustration. We've taken the frustration as a healthy sign that she is more in touch with reality. It's amazing even now how well she is holding up under the circumstances.

Last night Mom began her second round of cipro and flagyl since her return from the hospital. We're administering the cipro on the first signs of bladder pain, as the infection disease doctor instructed. It's working well. Michelle from Vital Care changed her catheter yesterday.

Mom's care is shifting from home nursing to hospice care. Beginning Tuesday, hospice will take over where Vital Care is leaving off. She will be discharged from physical therapy, but yesterday Wendy left Suzy with instructions for exercises Mom can do. We don't know yet whether she will still receive occupational therapy.

Mom's ability to communicate is becoming an increasing challenge. She knows what she wants to say, but she loses her words in early to mid sentence. Sometimes she'll drift into thought while she's trying to regain her words. Last Monday as she was drifting, I looked her in the eye with my eyebrows raised to signal I was listening, and she threw me back a cocky version of the same look. We both lost it!

I've been reading to Mom from the book of James. Last Sunday we got to chapter four and, since James was becoming increasingly serious, we decided to look for something a little more encouraging. I asked Mom if she'd like me to read Psalm 139. Her eyes widened and she said, "That's my favorite Psalm." So I read. When I finished, I told her the verse that stuck with me was the fourth, because God knows what she wants to say, even though we, and even she, may not know. She replied, "I didn't think of that. What's amazing to me is..."

The overriding theme at this time as always is God's grace in the midst of difficulty. Other than her bladder issues, Mom still has no pain. No pain. Dr. Galloway told her on Wednesday she was most amazed by this, because many of her patients experience pain. Although the time may come that Mom does experience pain, we are very grateful that she has had so much time without it.

I haven't taken any pictures recently, but below are a few from a couple weeks ago.

Watching Animal Planet at NMRH.