Things Moved Fast

Finally...  she has a place to live.  After nearly two months of bashing my head against every door in the assisted living community in our city, one finally swung the door open and said come in!  

It's a small community (only 32 beds) and all they do is memory care.  No trying to keep regular assisted-living people happy, just keeping an eye on and interacting with the memory care people.  They have activities, exercise time, movie time, game time and eating in the dining room, assisted if necessary.  Mom can feed herself, but her food has to be cut up for her because she can't manage a knife anymore except for spreading butter.  The staff is cheery and helpful and genuinely cares about the people there.

Moving day came quickly.  Medicare had denied coverage a couple of weeks ago.  I appealed and got her an extension of a week.  Then appealed again.  Denied again, but in the one week she was extended, on the last day she had a fall (forgot to lock her wheelchair before transferring to the toilet), so the rehab extended her stay to make sure everything was okay and to cover their butts.  During that grace period, I interviewed this home.  They sent a nurse out the next day to assess the troublesome toe (which is healing now), and the following day, we moved her!  

Early, before the heat came on strong, my dad's housekeeper and her husband brought their truck over and we loaded up the furniture I'd already assembled in the garage for her room.  They got it all in one trip (amazing!), with me carrying the TV and a few boxes.  I must say, the housekeeper "R" is a whiz at organizing and arranging.  We got that room put together quickly!  Furniture arranged, drawers filled with clothes and the bathroom supplies all organized in short order. 

My brother Matt was to pick Mom up from rehab, take her to lunch, then deliver her to her new home, but she had an anxiety attack and a major meltdown, then started worrying about the lizard people (?).  I went over to the rehab along with my friend Angela and her daughter who had come to the new place to help me hang pictures, and we packed the rehab room while Mom was there so she could see that we got everything.  We all went together to take her to the new digs.

She liked it very much with the family pictures hung up, the soft colors of the bed cover and her new recliner.  She was very worried that we'd brought over all the stuff from the rehab place to put in the bathroom.  I reassured her that everything in the bathroom was brought from home - with the exception of one small tumbler she'd secreted away in her clothes and a spoon she stole from the hospital.  That made her laugh like a naughty little girl, but kept coming back to worrying that we'd stolen her supplies from the rehab.  That's not an idea that will go away any time soon, I'm afraid.  

She was exhausted after the move and the drama, so I put her down for a nap and we all left.  When I returned later, she was up and in her chair with an aide helping her.  She was all smiles and she said she liked this place!  She'd had dinner and was back in her room getting her medications and readying for bed.  I stayed and observed the Nurse checking her over and talking to her, then the MedTech came in to put her to bed.  There was toileting and I explained the bidet to her (she wonders why every room didn't have one!  We installed at Mom's request which was approved by the home.), the application of vasoline to the beginnings of a bedsore, dressing for bed, and explained the use of the air mattress that inflates different areas while running to help with pressure sores.  When Mom was tucked into bed, I kissed her forehead, told her I loved her and said goodnight.  She was asleep before I got to the door.

 I'm very impressed with the care and the staff at this place.  I believe it is the perfect place to see Mom out - comfortable and comforting.  We haven't seen a smile like this on her face in a very long time.