4:30 PM – I was finally able to visit Mom today! It’s been something like 9 or 10 months, but limited visitations are now being allowed.
They told me that they told her that they had a surprise for her today and she was really excited and had been waiting in the doorway of her room for her surprise. While I was waiting, they told me they didn’t know if she was going to make it when she had COVID-19, so that was some scary news to me! I suppose they didn’t tell me how bad it was at the time to keep me from panicking, but I still wish they would have said something. I asked about her hallucinations and I guess the latest episode was after it had snowed, she thought there was a truck driver stuck and she wanted to take food and blankets out to him. Turns out it was just cars in the parking lot, but for the most part, they tell me that her hallucinations are a lot less frequent.
Anyway, she lit up when came around the corner and seen me and still remembered me, so that was really good. It was a really nice visit and she’s looking really good. There was a lot of repetition going on, which I wasn’t surprised about. Every few minutes, I was asked where I was living and then she would tell me about her roommate who apparently doesn’t talk or do anything (I guess that would make her easier to get along with.. lol)
Mom doesn’t seem to realize that she’s in a nursing home, but recognizes that there are a lot of older people there. I didn’t say anything about nursing home, just called it a long term care facility. They do have younger residents there for physical rehab care, so it really is a care facility, but I think Mom thinks of it as more of a type of hospital where she’s getting some kind of help for something, I don’t think she’s sure what it’s for though.
It seems like her hearing might be a little worse, which made our visit a little more difficult with the social distancing, but at least we were both allowed to pull our masks down while sitting there, so that made it slightly easier. I asked them about hearing aides after the visit since she’s on Medicaid now and they said they will book her for an exam on the audiologist’s next visit. I mentioned noise cancelling ones for her tinnitus that would probably help out a lot, so hopefully they can get that going for her which would help her out tremendously, if she’ll wear them.
Overall, it was really nice getting to see her again! I made an appointment for Troy and I to see her on Saturday, March 13th and I think she will be thrilled to see Troy again. She hasn’t seen him since before she went to the Neuro Psych Hospital. I’ll be sure to post again after that visit to let you know how it went. 🙂