New Year's Eve Party Time.....

We went over to bring her some treats for her to enjoy for the evening. Tom realized that they were having a party downstairs in the main dinning room. Yes.. It was a New Year's Eve party in the afternoon. Mom had been dressed in the early afternoon, and when we got to her room she had her pj's on and it was two o'clock in the afternoon. Tom went down to give them all Mom's medicines for the month and realized the party was going on. He quickly came up to tell us, so I got Mom dressed to go do some partying. She was  excited about partying and expressed how much she loved to party. When we got downstairs the small band had just played their last song, and everyone was getting ready to leave. Mom saw Jim and explained how she loves to dance. He said it was not too late to dance. No music on, the two of them started dancing. Mom told me while she danced that she did not have to have any music.. her feet knows what to do. Mom saw how many had hats on and of course Mom wanted the Princess crown one. 

 Jim.... Mom's younger friend who always makes sure Mom is Okay.

 Melba... who is such a funny lady....who makes everyone laugh... Who loves to talk about sex..

 Mom and Jim dancing without music...and the party was over..

 I told Mom the party was over...the sad  part was we just got there when the party was ending. She was so surprised to hear  the party was over.

 Chris.. who smiled when I told her she made a beautiful Princess.

 Dancing without music.. Mom explained her feet knows what to do.

 The  two lovely ladies of New Year's Eve 2013..

2013 Princess sitting on her throne.

She  was so happy even though the party was over, her party was beginning. Happy New Year Mom!

Another Trip to Emergency!

We went today to see Mom, and brought her clean clothes , new shoes, meds, and snacks. She loves her fried chicken from Lee's, Mom ate like Miss Piggy today. Hoping we can get her to put some fat on her little body.  When we got there we finally met her Occupational Therapist. She was so great with Mom, and had such patience with her. I took a couple of photos of Mom exercising with her.

We found out that Mom's ankle and knee was bothering, from the aides telling me. Not once did they check to see why it was bothering her and the last time she had her Tylenol was several days ago.Tom and I looked at her ankle and knee... and for sure we thought she broke it.  There have been many issues with American House not having the people be accountable for their work we are paying them to do; which is to keep Mom safe, clean, and happy.

We had to take Mom to emergency and after many long hours there we found out she had just bruised and sprained her leg and ankle. We think she had twisted her foot from walking in the poop that was all over her apartment. The people we have hired are suppose to put her on the toilet and make sure she is cleaned up, because she is having difficulty wiping herself, and going to the bathroom by herself, since she has broken her shoulder.

After expressing our concerns again to American House staff, Pat the head nurse called today and agreed on having a family meeting this coming Wednesday to make sure we are all on the same page with Mom's care. I feel some people think they are on the same page, some people don't want to be on the same page, and a few people are on the same page.

She has fallen three times that we are aware of. Her broken shoulder, her huge rug burn on her forehead, and now a terrible sprain. We can't wait to meet with them, and if they are not going to take the responsibility to take good care of Mom, we will be finding a place that will.

During the meeting with Pat, and the American House staff, it was agreed to develop a log book to keep track of what care Mom is getting and to set regular times to check on her and help her with the bathroom.  Also, it was agreed to give Mom a shower every morning.

Since Mom has been on the Namenda she seems like a new person. Happy, loving, caring, remembering some things, and some moments of boo hooing. She loves everyone , and everything now. Her bottom is not raw like it was, even though she will be seeing the doctor on Wednesday just to make sure she is okay down there. Yes... they were not wiping her or cleaning her up down their, and she got severe sores from not getting the care she needed.

Exercising with the Occupational Therapist because of her broken shoulder. She was crying because the aides had not given her any Tylenol for the pain for several days. They told me if she does not ask they will not give it to her. The doctor had said, and the staff knew that they were to ask her if she was in pain, and every four to six hours Mom should be getting the Tylenol.

So many of us love her so much..... and she loves to give us all her warm kisses. We are so blessed to have another Christmas with her.... God bless her..

Mom Loves Her Fancy Pants......

Mom is now wearing diapers. I bought her about four dozen undies, and hid them in different draws. Now we can't find one. Either she has thrown them away, flushed them, given  them away..... or they had a pantie raid at American House. I know she could of ended up throwing them in the toilet because many times we had dig them out.

 We all put our heads together and the best thing right now is having her in the pull-up diapers. They look like undies, and when she has any accidents they can easily be thrown away. I never thought I would see Mom in diapers, and I never thought she would wear them. Yesterday, when Tom and I went over to see her and bring some goodies and groceries that she needed she was not in her apartment. The aid came and asked us where she was and we got a little alarmed knowing they could not find her. The aid had helped her to get dressed and the last time she saw her was when she was in her apartment this morning changed back into her night gown. Someone came up with her  soon and there was Mom strolling down the hallway laughing and excited to see us in her night gown. Thank goodness she had jogging pants on. I changed her into the outfit you are seeing her in the photo on this entry. I helped put her diapers on and she told me she loved her new undies. She explained how they looked very fancy that it looked like there was lace on them. I replied to her that she has fancy pants on. She got very excited and told me she was going to tell the girls to get me a pair. I had to hold down my laughter. Here I thought she would never be caught wearing them , and now she thinks they are so cool to wear. 

Mom is on a new medication called Namenda, and it seems to be making her happy, and much more alert then she has been. Yes.. not seeing any anger issues. The only thing we do notice is that she has some boo- hoo moments... and we need to put some fat on her bones. We are so blessed to have another Christmas with her and we love her so much. 

Mom loves her photos taken. She must think she is a movie star or a Princess. She will always look at the camera and give such a sweet smile .

This is Carl. He and Mom have a very sweet bond. He was Mom's hero and found her hurt in front of her apartment. She ended up with a broken shoulder. Carl went quickly downstairs riding his wheel chair but when he got to the main office for help, he forgot Mom's room number. Poor man, we treated him with a hero dinner and thanked him a million times for finding Mom like he did.

Gloomy Day... But Happy One!

Today was such a rainy, and gloomy day in Plymouth, Michigan. When Tom and I got to see Mom she was taking a nap but in a great mood. She is still concerned about her huge rug burn on her forehead. She has her story on how she got it, but we know she fell at American House once again on a Sunday. Thank goodness she did not break any more bones... but the staff on weekends need to give  much better care for the Oldies and Goodies there.... especially to our MOM.

We brought down Mom from her apartment after we tried to get her to eat there. She was so happy to see her friends.... and in such a kissy mood. It is so nice to see more smiles on her face instead of the angry ones. We think the new meds are helping even thought they are experimental, they seem to make her have happier times.

 Carmella and Mom are best friends again .They did have a little problem.. but they don't remember.

 Here is Carl... he loved living here because there are more women for him.

 Chris said she does not like men without teeth... She wants a man that can smile and you can see his teeth.

 Mom loves to give big hugs... and Emily is getting her's.

The ladies waiting for dinner, and checking out who is visiting the house.

Mom Goes Back to American House.....

It was so great to get her out of the nursing home on Friday. Many people came to say goodbye there, and she left sad because of all the friends she had made. I just pray that she will not have to go back there and is able to settle back to her assistant living arrangement without any more broken bones. Her shoulder is still broken, but she was so excited to leave the nursing home which we called the Hospital. She had no idea where  we were taking her but she did not care.

The first thing we did when we got to American House was to get her hair washed and curled. She was very upset on how her hair looked and felt with all that hairspray. When we got there she kept telling me she did not want me to leave her and I had  to promise that I would not until she said it was okay. Once she got her hair done, she started feeling better and started remembering where she was. Tom, Kris and I stayed most of the day with her, and she said it was okay to go home.   The visiting nurse came to meet her on Saturday, and told us she needed more meds and meds for her to go to the bathroom better without all the cramping. Sunday we had breakfast and went off to sto ee Mom and to take her meds with us. She was in bed with the same clothes she had the day before, and her toilet was all plugged up. We also saw that her forehead had a large scrape on it. I was not too happy when I saw her complaining of the pain in her shoulder and her head.We did not get any phone call regarding her fall, and tears were falling from me while I complained to everyone what is going on , especially when we are paying for the extra services. We will get most of our answers tomorrow and I pray that Mom will not fall any more, and that they will keep her clean, safe, and happy.

 We decorated her door for Christmas and she loved it.

 She is so happy to be home....

 Her Christmas Tree all decorated and it sparkles for her at night.

 Mom can't believe she is home....

 I feel we are doing the best we can, but I still think she needs more care and the right placement ... but where is the right placement?.

Mom's Birthday Party...

We decided to have a small party seeing my nephews and Rachelle were sick and could not make it. Tom and I got twenty-four cupcakes, flowers and balloons. Greg, Kristofer, Tom and I went to  surprise Mom and have a party for her. Mom was laying down when we arrived for her party, and  so happy to see us. We took her in the nice dining room, and a couple of nurses came in to wish Mom a Happy Birthday.

 Tom and I stopped in at  Chick-In for a strawberry shake and ham and cheese sandwich. She did not like the shake and had a few bites of her sandwich. She then looked at her cupcake and did not even take a bite of that. Everyone knows how she loves her sweets. Greg went and got her a coke, but she still felt sick to her tummy and had such a bad tummy ache. Thank goodness Kristofer was there to express what he thought could be wrong, and he thought she had not gone  potty for a couple of days and needed some meds to help her.

Poor thing food was making her feel sick even on her birthday party.

Cupcake for Mom and cupcakes for everyone... Yummy..yummy......!

Flowers, balloon, and the birthday girl.. 88years old... what a Diva!

Mom loves her coke... she says in Armenian very delicious...

 She expressed many times to me that she was scared and did not want me to leave. I told her that I would not leave her until she felt better. We took her back to her room and had her rest, and the nurse gave her something for her  upset tummy and meds. to help her go to the bathroom. Today was to be a happy day and a wonderful celebration for Mom but not this year.....yes we are still so blessed to have her.......

Getting Mom to Eat... So Hard!

We couldn't wait to see Mom today and Tom and I decided to take her a warm sandwich from a new restaurant in Plymouth called Penn Station. I heard from my dear friend Jackie that she knew the owners and they had great sandwiches. Each time we go and see Mom everyone there is telling us, and we all see that she is not eating. She is constantly getting skinnier and skinnier.  When we got there in the early part of the afternoon she was doing some exercises, learning how to get out of her wheel chair and do some walking on her own. She was very wobbly and weak. The physical therapist told us to take her and see if she will eat.

 Tom trying to make Mom eat, and she was so happy to see us both.

Mom wanted Coke, but Tom got her this for her upset tummy. She loved drinking this.

 After a few bites of the sandwich , Mom felt sick in her tummy.

 Not enjoying any of the bites of her sandwich.

She thought she liked the taste of the lemon-aide but after two sips no way....

The food smelled really good and she did have a few sips of the fresh squeezed lemon-aide but when she took a bite of her sandwich it quickly made her feel sick. She felt so sick I had to get her something in case she did throw up. I realized maybe I should not have gotten such a rich sandwich that was kind of heavy to eating.  It was a Philly Steak Sandwich with a little pizza sauce on it.

We took her back to exercise but she said she would rather go and watch other people exercise. The physical therapist explained to us what questions she wanted us to ask the orthopedic doctor on Monday regarding Mom's shoulder. She also expressed to us that they were going to continue working with her for awhile longer until she gets a little stronger in her shoulder and arm. We were pleased with her decision.

I also talked to Dr. M. today regarding going out on Sunday to celebrate Mom's 88th birthday party and he told us there would not be any problem. The only problem I thought was her not eating..... so sad.  Tom and I left  watching her exercising, feeling sad for Mom and wondering what more could we do for her... 

What a Surprise for Mom!

After breakfast we went to visit Mom and was she glad to see Tom, Kristofer and me. She was sitting in her wheel chair at the nurses station. It was sad to see her a lone but she was so happy to see us . Mom had this huge smile and thought it was so nice for us to come and visit her today.

Mom must have spilled something on her pants and it was really bugging her so Kristofer wheeled her to her room and I put a clean pair of jogging pants on her. Mom was so happy that I changed her. Yes.. she did have her diapers on and seeing her with those on breaks my heart. I am surprised it doesn't bother her because in ways I think she does not realized she has them on. I am hoping that when she gets back to AH we can get her out of the diapers. Kristofer is more concerned of her being in the wheel chair so much and she will want to stay in one. I pray that God gives her strength to deal with whatever she has to deal with at that time when it comes for her to go back to American House.

We took her out of her room, and wheeled her to the dining room. Kristofer brought her a blueberry turnover, and Tom got her a cup of coffee from the kitchen. She was like a little girl with these treats. She did drink her coffee and ate half of the turnover. We have been noticing she has lost some weight and we are doing everything to get her to put some weight back on.  We played a couple of games, and then my brother, Rachelle Tony, and Ethan walked in to see Mom. Rachelle brought her nail polish to do Mom's nails again. Rachelle is such a sweetie to all of us. The boys are such great boys and they give Mom the love she needs all the time they see her. Tony shared with us one of his movies he had made, and Mom got a kick out of seeing his movie. Ethan had put the Lion's game on for Mom because he knows  Mom loves her sports. Greg got Mom a coke, and she was so happy seeing all of us.

Here is Tony and Mom wanted their  picture taken. Look how cute they both are!

 Greg took Mom's nail polish off and now Rachelle is painting her nails again.

 Ethan put the Lion's Game on for Mom, and he just told us the score.

 Tony is putting Kristofer in his movie. Kristofer is being a good sport.

 Mom loves the attention that Rachelle always gives to her.

 Here we were trying to play a board game with Mom. She was not into it... had no idea what we were doing. At least we tried.

 Half the time she had no idea what we were talking about but somehow she would get into the conversation even though we had no idea what she was talking about. It may have been a cold, and gloomy Sunday but there was a lot of love and happy times being shared  with Mom today.

Do You Know Who Judge Joe is?

It was a very gloomy, and cold Friday and Tom and I got Mom's clean clothes ready at home to take back with us to the nursing home. We bought some doughnuts and cider for all the nurses, doctors, and therapists. I even brought a doughnut for mom. When we got there she was in her pj's and her lunch had been untouched. Tom got her bed up for her to sit comfortable to eat. I had just talked to her doctor before we walked in, and Dr. M said she was doing well even though she has a broken shoulder bone. He had a blood and urine test done on Mom and everything came out good.

She is not eating, so I told her we had brought her a surprise and Mom loves those surprises. She picked at her food, and drank some of  her coffee. I gave her half of the doughnut and she ate most of the half. People come in and they always talk to Mom to see how she is doing. We noticed today she is using her right arm more, but still complained  of some pain in her shoulder and stiffness in her right hand. After she ate her fish and a little of the rice, I gave her the half of the doughnut. Her eyes got so big when she saw that doughnut.

We got her dirty clothes and I asked if she wanted to get dressed . She wanted to wait for awhile in getting dressed, but I still got her clothes ready in case she changes her mind. Tom and I spent several hours there, and her roommate told us that she was going home tonight. We will miss that sweet lady, and I know Mom had to bug her many nights because Mom stays up so late. God bless that lady for being so patient with Mom through out her time with Mom.

Even though Mom said she was not feeling good today.. she still had that big, beautiful smile.

When Tom put the television on and Mom got so excited.... she said in a very loud voice ... that'  Judge Joe was on television. Tom and I went nuts. Here Mom knew who Judge Joe was and simple every day things she has no idea what they are. Mom started laughing because she felt she that she was  so much  smarter than us  because she knew someone that we did not know...JUDGE JOE!

Scary Call about Mom

Saturday, was very scary because one of our favorite nurses Christa, called and told us Mom fell but not on her broken arm.  Mom hates being in a wheel chair, and wants to be a walking Diva. She wants to be able to go where she wants too. Christa said Mom complained a lot of pain in her back, so she was going to have her get X-rays. Thank goodness everything came out negative. We were told to not visit her on Saturday because they wanted to give her some pain meds and have her rest. If we came she would start crying and tell us what happened, and by waiting to see her on Sunday she will not even remember her fall.

After breakfast on Sunday we went to see her, and she was sitting at the nurses station. When she saw us she put on this big smile and was so happy to see us, especially Kristofer. She even showed me how much she liked her polka-dotted socks. Everyone that came by her she would greet them with a big smile and a sweet welcome. She still thinks this is her home, and of course I keep telling her that she is in the hospital.

The following photos are from last week.......

Mom exercises every day and loves it. She thinks she is such a cool Diva..... Loves to show off on how hard she is working.

We took Mom for a walk and she loved this funny Halloween Creature. I know you see some wildflowers in her hand. I know I am not suppose to pick them, but how could I tell an 88 year old lady NO!!!!

 Here is Tom, and Kristofer pushing her on are walk.

 Mom wanted another photo taken just in case she did not smile....

A bunch of ladies sit by the nurses station. This lady tells us all that her son is a lawyer and she is there to help him find the bad guys.

 Mom was telling Tom to move this and that in her room. She still likes to be Miss Boss.

She is telling us that she does not like staying in this wheel chair and can't understand why she has to be in this chair.

People are always coming to visit her, and we also have some photos for her to remember her apartment at AH.

She has to hurry and get that bone healed so she can go back to American House. Mom smiles and says she can't wait. I hate to see her at this nursing home, but God has blessed us with such an AWESOME place. The people care about her and love her so much. I still can't believe its near my old school district that I taught at.