push the matter on

Indeed, the trip did go well . . .

HOWEVER,

1.  walker only at my Uncle's home.

• she did great, with only assistance, getting to and away from the bed, and up and down from the armless kitchen chair.
• except for the last day when she made an error in judgement and tried to pick up a dropped tissue.  (since she was bent down, it was not a hard fall.  She mostly clacked her knees together which left spectacular bruising.  The comedy of the situation was my Aunt apologizing that she couldn't help lift her, and my Uncle eagerly holding up his "button" and asking if he could push it to get the firemen!  I reminded my Mom that this is how Dad kept falling -- from which he would NEVER learn, and my Aunt, I reminded, of how much more my Father weighed, whom I regularly had to get back up.)

2.  wheelchair for everything else.

• worked well for the rest area "changes" and I could walk her a little with just myself to move the legs a bit.
• at the Reunion, I felt she could relax more and visit, rather then worry about walking and exhausting herself.

3.  stairs.

• a few porch stairs and a threshold at my Uncle's . . . she did fantastic.
• 10 stairs at the Class of '51 Reunion in the NON-handicapped accessible "German Club" building . . .  probably as old as the town.  (fortunately, I was not the only Child/Grandchild to accompany, she was willing and had started to give it a try . . . when these guys got under each arm and just glided her up!  The comedy of the situation was when we went to leave . . . "the guys" had already left. Mom's fellow LIFE GUARDS, decided THEY would step in and get her back down the stairs.  They raved about how strong her arms were and that she just had to build up her legs more.  An addition to this entourage, kept going on about how he had tried to get HER to rescue HIM, whenever she was the Life Guard on duty at the town pool, and give him artificial respiration.  Mind you, they are all around 79 years old . . . ain't dead yet!)

The Problem

Everything tightened up in the fall, 

then the two days of driving . . .

This set us back a bit

Now she needed help 

getting up and down

and even ended up with 

a few hours of

debilitating muscle spasms.

Gradually, all this did improve, but I noticed the confidence was NOT coming back.  She wanted me AT her side for any standing or walking.  (this is the same woman, who just the 2 weeks before, would go through closets while standing with her walker, then walk here AND there before sitting down.)

When the PT asked me to get her a quad cane, I knew it was time for pushing the matter on.

Just asking her to sit in a kitchen chair rather then the wheelchair was a cause for histrionics, and she made every effort to dramatize her discomfort in this chair, that she had personally picked out after Dad had broken the others!  (my cruelty knows no end--to force her to abdicate the safety of her wheelchair.)

I asked about going to my Brother's for Halloween, as we have done for the past two years, and received an emphatic denial.  She could not possibly get into their house.  (??one step in??  it's more wide open then my Uncle's house!?)  At this point I called my S-I-L in despair of what to do.  She decided to call the house with a personal invite and we both agreed that Push would have to continue even with the continued resistance.

I warned Mom, a day in advance, that we would be making bathroom visits, with the walker, every two hours.  Hallelujah!  Saturday, this went spectacularly well.

Sunday at Church, entering, leaving, and all Church activities were done with the walker.  Lunch out, was back with the wheelchair.  (I REALLY don't want to kill her off!)

Monday, she walked into PT for the first time with the walker.  Unfortunately, we had to cut short, to 30 min. due to exhaustion and borrow a wheelchair to the car.  PT and I both had to keep reiterating that this was not a failure but progress to a new and more difficult level.

Honestly . . .

she's NOT buying it yet!