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February 2, 2005: A Visit With Mom

I am going to be going to Florida next week, and will be gone for ten days, so I wanted to make sure that Mom was all set for my absence. It is a usual practice for me to check to see if she has enough medications for the time I will be gone, and also to alert the staff that I will be away. So I have stopped by to visit with her and help her with lunch.

I did not take many pictures today, and none of Mom. There are three pictures that I'll put into this album for today, though. The first one is of her bedroom area; they've made her bed and straightened up. The second picture is of her living room area and the last picture of Mom being helped in the bathroom.

I stayed with her during lunch and afterwards made sure she knew I would be gone and exactly when I would be back.

February 20, 2005: Mom at the Bentley Manor

It's Sunday, February 20th, and Fred is working this weekend, which means that I have returned from his place to Dallas this morning to have lunch with my Mom. Actually, I don't really have lunch with here, since I rarely eat lunch, but I do visit with her before or after lunch and help her during the meal.

This is getting to be kind of a routine with me, since I stopped working late last year. I try to get up to the Bentley Manor to see her once a day, unless Fred and I are gone, or I am at his place or, on rare occasions, I just have too much to do. I hope she enjoys my visits, but it is getting hard to figure out if she does or not.

As for pictures today, I took some stills at lunch and when Mom was talking to Judy on the phone:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

Mom has an assigned table in the dining room. She sits with three other ladies- Helen, Anne and Lois. Mom doesn't talk much, probably because she doesn't really listen to what is being talked about, and also because she has to devote so much attention to eating, what with her failed eyesight. The other ladies don't seem to mind; some of them don't talk much either.

I also took a selection of movies today, and you can use the players below to watch the ones you want:

This is my Mom eating her Jell-O salad at lunch.

Here's Mom at lunch and the activity at her table.

I guess someone told my Mom she should really chew her food, because that is what she spends most of her time doing. I think it is a bit excessive, and I am often telling her to swallow and get on with it, but I guess she can do what she wants.

When I got Mom back to her room after lunch, I called Judy on my cellphone and let Mom have a chat with her. Mom oftentimes makes little sense when she talks and, even when she does, she is slow and halting and it is often hard to figure out what she's saying. Judy just listens patiently and tries to interject some responsive comment every so often.

While Mom was talking with Judy, I took this movie to show you what her apartment is like.

March 29, 2005: At the Bentley Manor

I've taken a rest from watching the crew working on my new kitchen today, and, as usual, I've come over to the Bentley Manor to be with my Mom at lunchtime. Mom doesn't seem to change much day to day, and today she seems to be doing quite well. Just a couple of pictures for you today. Here is a picture of Mom at her table just before lunch.

And I also made a movie of Mom eating her lunch, and you can watch it with the player at left.

April 25-26, 2005: Mom in the Hospital

I got a call this morning from the Bentley Manor that Mom had been found on the floor in her apartment, physically unhurt but very disoriented. This has happened before, and is usually a sign that my Mom has developed an infection of some kind. The folks at the Bentley Manor had already checked Mother out and did not find any broken bones or anything like that, so I quickly headed over there, picked her up, and took her across the highway to the emergency room at RHD Memorial Hospital- where she has been multiple times before.

The emergency room nurses got Mom into an examination room, got her undressed and into bed. Then we just had to wait for her to be examined. Mom, of course, fell asleep in bed.

Mom got examined in due course, and the results came back to confirm a urinary tract infection. For anyone young, they would have been sent home with an antibiotic, but for someone Mom's age and condition, they admitted her to the hospital. I stuck around until she'd been assigned a room, and then went upstairs with her to make sure she got situated. There wasn't much else I could do this evening, so I went back home.

On Tuesday morning, I went over to the hospital to see how she was doing, and I found her awake and being fed her lunch. She was much more coherent this morning; I guess it doesn't take long for the antibiotics to begin working, and perhaps a night's sleep had something to do with it. Below are a couple of thumbnails for the two movies I took of Mom having her lunch. They aren't particularly interesting, but will capture what things were like for her in the hospital. To watch the movies, just use the two movie players below:

I stayed through lunch, and then, for the next two days, came back at lunch and dinner to see how she was doing. Fred and I had plans to go down to San Antonio the upcoming weekend, and it was fortunate that Mom was discharged and I was able to take her back to the Bentley Manor on Thursday afternoon.

Today, I have just happened to take my camera with me on one of my daily visits with my Mom, so I thought I would just take a picture and a movie. I sat with her at lunch and helped her as needed, and then took her back to her apartment. There, we just sat and had something of a conversation. Here is the way my Mom looked and if you will use the movie player at left, you can watch my Mom and I trying to converse.

It was a pretty normal day for me and my Mom.

On Thanksgiving Day, we took some time out from our own meal preparations to go over to the Bentley Manor to visit with Mom. We got there fairly early, and found Mom still in her room. I got her ready and we took her down to her usual table in the dining room. Here is a picture of Fred and Mom at Mom's table in the dining room.

I took a couple more pictures as well, and you can view them by clicking on the thumbnails below:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

I wanted Judy to be able to see how Mom is doing, so I took a movie of Mom wishing Judy a Happy Thanksgiving, and you can view that movie using the player at right.

After Fred and I opened a few gifts on Christmas Day, we went up to the Bentley Manor to have lunch with my mother.

While we were here, I made a movie of my mother that you can watch using the player at left.

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