Fashionista eh soup ala hat du-jour

Today I was wearing another of my new hats from the Salvation Army which Mom very quickly donned just in time for lunch...she's still a fashionista! Soup du dour alaTomato Basil.

   

Hats off to Dianna

Lynn, Scott and I visited Mom today wearing new hats bought from the Sally-ann. When she saw Lynn, she said "I like your hat!"  Here's a couple of lovely pics of Mom wearing my hat...she was happy to see us and in good humor.

So glad to see you...

I stopped by to see Mom yesterday on my way in from the City, and was so happy to see her, as she was to see me.  Here's a couple of great pics...

mid February

Beautiful day outside this morning.  Yesterday was the exact opposite. I'm sitting in Di's room after lunch. We are watching the Olympics. It is a rare and treasured day with Di as she is alert, positive, and affable. I glance out the window and notice snow falling; as I watch I see the snow is blowing almost horizontally; strong winds. The snow looks wet and heavy. I decide I must go now as it is clearly getting worse. I say goodbye and leave.

I left with some sadness. Days like this with Dianna are increasingly rare and treasured. We had sat in the activity room where she had her lunch. A staff person walking by stopped to chat. Something she said made Di laugh. She commented on how Di's smile was so bright and engaging. Di laughed and smiled. Her face lit up as she radiated feelings of happiness and contentment. She commented later that she liked the Lodge and the people there.

A couple of pictured showing Di feeding herself. It is difficult for her but she often wants to feed herself.

Too sleepy for lunch

Les, Bella and I visited Mom today around lunch time.  She was in her wheelchair and already seated at a table in the dining room having some cold water from her sippy cup.

One of the caregivers was telling me they have been seating Mom at a small table by herself for the past couple of days because she tends to get overwhelmed when there are too many things in front of  her, as can be the case when she's at her regular table with other residents.  All the residents have their own meal trays with their names on them which get placed in their regular spots each meal.  Mom likes to pick up all the utensils and napkins etc. She moves them around, or drops them on the floor.  This can sometimes be upsetting for the others and causes her to get agitated.

We wheeled Mom into the activity room to have her lunch with us and set her up at a table of her own.  I found these silly hats hanging on a coat rack -  I was reminded of how much Mom loved her summer hats, especially the purple one.   Mom was in good spirits today. Both Les and I noticed she was looking tired though.

I fetched the soup du jour which was some kind of carrot and squash (ick), and started to feed her. Mom catches on pretty quick and soon was eating her soup on her own.  But when the main course arrived - beef stew and a cheese scone - she all of a sudden got really sleepy and started to fall asleep.  Being in her wheel chair, I had to sit close to her to support her and soon after, she was in lala land.  As she slept, she leaned against me, and I felt her closeness and her warmth. I was overwhelmed with sadness.

She never really came too so we abandoned lunch and had the Lodge staff transfer her to her Broda chair where she is more comfortable.  She slept through the whole process and didn't seem to be aware when we said goodbye.

Dianna has an accident

A couple of days ago we were leaving the dining room after lunch. I was pushing Dianna in her wheelchair to her room. As we moved into the hall Dianna started screaming.  I stopped immediately to see what was wrong. I got her to calm down and then I saw she was holding her left hand. I looked at the hand and it seems to be ok. She said that she was okay so we proceeded to room being careful. I took another look at the hand and it seems to be ok.

I thought everything was fine and forgot it but yesterday morning Julia, the head nurse, called me to say Dianna's hand was quite bruised around the thumb. I told her what had happened. She was quite relieved to know what had happened and how it had happened and told me that she would get the doctor to have a look at it. As of today at noon the doctor has not been around but I had another look at Dianna's hand (see pics). While the bruise is not pretty Dianna can move her thumb and it doesn't seem to be broken. I still would like to have the doctor have a look at it.

Valentines Day comes early @ the Lodge

Di has her picture taken with the Valentines Day flowers

Smile Dianna... oh you are smiling, you say.

Hugs and Kisses from Lisa to Dianna