Update

Monday, November 16:  Things seem to be looking up and it appears that my mother will be moved to a "skilled nursing facility" in her home town.  She just wants to be close to home and I want her to have good care and therapy that will move her forward.  It is easier to be assured of the former than the later! She has made great progress.  Shortly after I came in the morning, they got her up into a chair and, with the use of a walker, she moved to the sink and brushed her teeth, then to the toilet. I was amazed,especially since her posture was much more upright and she was more able to move  moreunder her own steam.

Even so, I think she must have had another one of those agitated, animated nights because at 11AM she becamse so sleepy she could hardly hold her eyes open.  She had to be moved back to the bed and is now fast asleep.  I will feel better if they can get that sorted out so she rests well through the night and can be alert and energetic through the day.

As for me, I'm still hanging in there.  I've been staying here in the hospital for a day, a night and the next day and then going to my mother's house (an hour's drive away) to feed her cats, shower, sleep (and in the case of last night, do laundry and clean out her fridge) before coming back again. I've been pretty wrecked at the end of those stints but have been surprised at how I bounced back after a real night's sleep.  I'm hoping that continues - or that I won't have to do it much longer.

The other difficulty has been communication.  My cell phone would not work at all in the ICU and only sporatically in this wing.  I've felt totally out of touch with the world.  To make matters worse, my mother's house phone has been acting up over the last 2 weeks and was a total pain.  I called last night to have her line chacked.  I resolved much of that problem by getting a netbook once I found the hosptial had wifi.  I could then email cousins and let them know what had happened, and I can keep up with my email, blog, etc.  Even so, that is only temporary. We have just found out that my mother will be moved today at 4:30, which means that I will then be in the dead zone again.  I would doubt that they will have wifi.

I've also gone through flash periods of becoming weepy, probably from both exhaustion and fear.  My mther has had lots of company from relatives - my two sets of cousins (Bill & Betty and Dennis & Carol) have visited every day, which has been a boast to my mother and a huge help to me and my spirits. It really means so much to have people care at times like this. I hope she will continue to get visitors when she moves closer to home.

I'd better close now and get ready for the move.  I don't know when I'll be online again but at least things are improving.  Thanks so much for your emails and good thoughts.  It means more than you know.