Friday Update

The hospital social worker came and talked to Mom and me today about her discharge. They are aiming for her to go home a week from Monday -- April 21. But she has a lot more work to do in order to reach that goal. I thought she had a good day today; she did all three hours of her therapy. She's taking both physical therapy and occupational therapy. Since they increase the difficulty of her exercises every day, she has a hard time seeing her own progress, although to those of us watching, it's evident. She only knows that every day is difficult, and every day the therapy causes pain.

She had a number of friends come by to see her today, as well as some phone calls, and she received a bundle of pretty get-well cards in the mail. All of that is encouraging to her, and takes her mind off of the present difficulty for awhile.

She is still taking some pain medication, but much less than earlier in the week. She is no longer getting confused, and can even laugh when I tell her some of the funny things she said "under the influence."

Tomorrow morning I'll take care of a few things here at her house, then go by to see her once more before heading home. I hope to be on the road by 10:30 or 11:00 in the a.m. I'll be able to go back to work for a week before coming back down to stay with her for a short while when she comes home. We will also be arranging for home health care, which will include some continued in-home therapy at least three times a week.