Gramma's back from the nursing home!
Those of you who know me may have heard that Gramma has been in the nursing home for some time now (just about a month). At the end of January she went to the hospital with bronchitis, then was moved to the nursing home for her rehabilitation. She worked really hard at her therapy with the goal of becoming strong enough to come home. Tuesday was her first day back home, and she did pretty good. It was hectic, but she didn't seem to get too stressed out. We had a new hospital bed delivered to replace her very old Craftmatic Adjustable bed. The hardest part was taking apart the old bed. Those things have a ton of screws and bolts! The new bed is smaller, and much easier for me to move around it. The delivery guy had it put together and set up in no time. It has locking wheels, so I can move it whenever I need to. It also seems to be easier for her to get in and out as well. Then the medical supply company dropped off a machine for oxygen, which I think will be temporary. She's never been on oxygen before, and it was just prescribed to use at night. Gramma said she hasn't noticed any difference when she's not using it. When the nurse came to the house and checked her oxygen it was 97%, and Gramma had me turn the machine off about 9am, so she had over 5 hours without any additional oxygen. The nurse said if Gramma felt she didn't need it, she didn't have to use the machine. Gramma's mood and attitude are pretty good too, which is nice to see. It's good to see her smile and hear her laugh. We'll have all sorts of nurses, aides, and therapists coming to the house for a while. So far they've all been very nice and answered all our questions and concerns. I was so proud of Gramma for getting herself in and out of bed today (I could see how bad she wanted to do it by herself). She also walked up and down the hall (with the walker) about 5 times. I hope she remains this motivated. I think it will help that spring is coming and she can sit out in the living room and see the sunshine, animals, and flowers. Winter in NE Ohio is enough to depress anyone!
I just wanted to update everyone on how Gramma was doing. I may not be able to spend as much time online now that she's home, but don't worry, I'm still here!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters
Showing posts with label therapy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label therapy. Show all posts
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Friday, June 5, 2009
Gramma's coming home!
Well, Gramma should be coming home from the hospital tomorrow. She's been in there for 2 weeks now with pneumonia. My husband and I have visited her at the hospital just about every day. I hate hospitals, but I'll do anything for Gramma. We've been living with her for several years, and my life pretty much revolves around her. Having the house to ourselves for 2 weeks has actually been weird. I'm just so used to her being there, fixing dinner for her, talking with her, and just having her around. The great thing about Gramma is that, mentally, she's still sharp as a tack, even though she's 93. We moved in here because it was getting too hard for her to take care of the house and her arthritis kept her from doing a lot of things. I couldn't see moving her into a nursing home- that's an absolute last resort. I don't mind taking care of her and the house and the yard. She took care of me until I was 13, so it's only right that I return the favor.
Her pneumonia appears to have cleared up, and she's spent the last several days doing physical therapy to regain the strength she's lost over the last month or so. This all started at the beginning of May with bronchitis, which the antibiotics never fully cured. Poor thing hasn't been eating much for quite a while, so it'll take a while for her to get back to "full strength". Of course the terrible hospital food hasn't helped either. Her social worker told me she'd be getting a physical therapist coming to the house a few times a week once she gets home. I'll be able to see what the therapist does, then do the same when she's not there. One good thing about Gramma is that she's always worked very hard at therapy. She had both knees replaced several years ago and recovered much more quickly than anyone expected. Partially because she had a great surgeon and partially because she worked so hard with her therapy.
Normally she's not bedridden. She gets up, has breakfast, gets dressed (sometimes with help), and keeps herself busy throughout the day. She can't cook any more, but she does chop all the vegetables for the soups and stews I make. I consider it part of her occupational therapy. If she can do it, I don't stop her from doing it. I just make sure she knows that I will gladly take care of anything she can't handle. I don't know how she'll be when she gets home tomorrow, or how much more I'll have to do for her, but I'll just play it by ear. Thankfully I can work from home and arrange my schedule around her needs. She tries hard to do all that she's capable of. I know she doesn't want to be a burden to anybody, but there's no way she'd ever be a burden to me. I love her and I'll do ANYTHING she needs me to do. I'm so thankful to have her in my life, and I'm very happy she'll be back home, where she belongs. Even the cats have missed her- they've been looking all over for her. She'll be glad to see Ozzy and Cedric too- they always make her laugh.
Her pneumonia appears to have cleared up, and she's spent the last several days doing physical therapy to regain the strength she's lost over the last month or so. This all started at the beginning of May with bronchitis, which the antibiotics never fully cured. Poor thing hasn't been eating much for quite a while, so it'll take a while for her to get back to "full strength". Of course the terrible hospital food hasn't helped either. Her social worker told me she'd be getting a physical therapist coming to the house a few times a week once she gets home. I'll be able to see what the therapist does, then do the same when she's not there. One good thing about Gramma is that she's always worked very hard at therapy. She had both knees replaced several years ago and recovered much more quickly than anyone expected. Partially because she had a great surgeon and partially because she worked so hard with her therapy.
Normally she's not bedridden. She gets up, has breakfast, gets dressed (sometimes with help), and keeps herself busy throughout the day. She can't cook any more, but she does chop all the vegetables for the soups and stews I make. I consider it part of her occupational therapy. If she can do it, I don't stop her from doing it. I just make sure she knows that I will gladly take care of anything she can't handle. I don't know how she'll be when she gets home tomorrow, or how much more I'll have to do for her, but I'll just play it by ear. Thankfully I can work from home and arrange my schedule around her needs. She tries hard to do all that she's capable of. I know she doesn't want to be a burden to anybody, but there's no way she'd ever be a burden to me. I love her and I'll do ANYTHING she needs me to do. I'm so thankful to have her in my life, and I'm very happy she'll be back home, where she belongs. Even the cats have missed her- they've been looking all over for her. She'll be glad to see Ozzy and Cedric too- they always make her laugh.
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