Determination and perseverance

Ruth working hard!

Tuesday was a busy day for Mom. In the morning, Byron and I took her for her follow-up appointment with Dr. Nowinski, who said she's healing quite nicely. Seeing the hardware -- two pins, one being around 8" long and the other a bit shorter, plus a large screw -- in the x-rays was pretty amazing. Dr. Nowinski noted that her left hip (the one she broke) is arthritic, and that she would probably continue to have some discomfort in that hip because of that and the injury. He said that she seemed to be doing well with her physical therapy and urged her to keep the good work up.

And she is doing remarkably well, according to her therapists during our "care conference" Tuesday afternoon. Byron and I participated, and Dave joined us via telephone. The social worker, physical therapist, occupational therapist, and nutritionist were present. They anticipate she'll be at Heartland for several more weeks, but felt it was a real possibility that she could go home. On June 25 the therapists will make a home visit to see if that's feasible. If it were to happen, she'd need to have assistance at the very least in the early morning and evening. But it's very encouraging to hear this, and to see how hard she's working in therapy. She did steps for the first time in therapy today, in preparation for those steps going into her kitchen.

She says she's having far less pain than she was even a couple days ago. Even though it's been only a few days since I last saw her, on Saturday, there was marked improvement in her appearance, attitude, and ability. I attribute it to her determination and the aggressive therapy she's getting there. They run a good program. Staff promptly return phone calls, the facility is clean and doesn't have that odor that is frequently present in nursing homes, and Mother says all but a handful of aids have been great (can't expect all of them to be personable).

Since she'll be there at least a couple more weeks, keep those cards, phone calls, and visits coming!

Looking at some photos that her roommate Sylvia's husband brought in.