This Life

The proverbial “other shoe” has, indeed, dropped. Of course, it happened at the busiest time possible, but we are over the initial bustle, have adjusted, and things are finally settling down.

The long and short of it is that Mom had a mild stroke over a week ago. We did not see signs of it in progress, maybe it happened at night, but when we noticed the effects we took her in to the ER and a brain scan confirmed it. Her short term memory and her ability for complex reasoning are slightly affected. Sometimes she struggles for a word, but we feel really thankful that it isn’t worse.

 

However, that’s not all. Mom has been slowly losing the use of her legs, primarily from the build up of arthritis and poor circulation, and one morning, two days before the stroke, she got up and could barely move her feet under her own power. Although it is a little better now, two weeks later, it takes constant effort on her part and means that we needed to start using the transport chair in the house. Don put a ramp in from the living room to the apartment so that she can be easily brought into the living room and be allowed to keep her bedroom and bathroom in the apartment. He also was given a metal ramp with railings to cover the outside steps. The hardest part of all this was spending countless nights helping her out of bed and one step to a commode and back about every 1 ½ to 2 hours, but that is a little better, too, and we have caught up on a bit of sleep. Thank goodness for the lady who comes in to stay with Mom when I need a nap or to run errands.

I don’t know how Mom can be so fragile and so tough at the same time. I guess that’s how she made it to 97: staying strong enough to endure, yet vulnerable enough to enjoy it. Maybe that’s a lesson for us all.