Another rebound for mom and she’s back in Skilled Nursing for rehab. Today she will be re-evaluated and then we will know how much longer she can stay in rehab before making the decision between Assisted Living and Long Term Nursing. I feel like we both know what the answer will be but I am getting better at leaving the call of the future alone.
Snooping around. I just took a little tour of the part of Delmar Gardens that she would most likely be living in and I was encouraged by what I saw. Again, I never thought I could possibly have good feelings about my mom living in a nursing home. But, when I take my own beliefs and desires out of the picture I see more and more each day how much mom really wants to be in extended care. She has worked hard and done an amazing job but she is tired of taking care of herself. In the short period of time she has been in Delmar Gardens I see her more comfortable than she has been since her original move to Garden Villas last August. I have no regrets around that move because she did need to move out of her home and I did have to paint a pretty picture of what it would be like for her — why she was going to like it. She needed encouragement. Oddly enough she feels more “at home” now in the nursing home. Once again she is thriving among the residents and staff. A new fan club is already forming. I didn’t have to spoon feed her to get to this place. She wants it. For me this is a gift because trying to present a rosy picture of how nice it was going to be for her to move into a nursing home would be a challenge.
This is not final but it is where we are today.