Visiting Grandma Reese

This past week we received word that Grandma Reese (my Mom) was not doing well. She had pneumonia and a UTI and was delirious. It looked like she was not going to last very long. Stephanie and Van and Neal all were worried. Hospice was called and they brought in a hospital bed and started treating her. After a couple of days she had recovered and was back to what was normal for her...but there was still concern because she wasn't eating much. Her Parkinson's disease was making it hard to swallow. She had no memory of the days she was super ill and thought she had been moved to a different room. Stephanie had taken her to see Janet after she recovered. She stayed over an hour singing songs to her and saying nursery rhymes.

I drove up to Utah arriving late on Friday, then went to see her Saturday morning. Mom was mostly normal but talked more softly than usual. Stephanie was planning a birthday party for her one year old, Benjamin. I asked mom if she wanted to go and, to my surprise, she said yes. It was a big party with lots of attendees from Austin's side and Stephanie's side.

Van and Neal and I met to visit her Sunday evening. She was obsessing about her nose so I went to get the CNAs to provide some anti-anxiety medication. She calmed down after that but seemed confused about some things. When we talked about her memories of growing up she remembered everything clearly.

I also made it over to see Janet. The medical team is more actively working to restore her brain function. They have special medications and exercises to help her progress. It is making a difference.