Monday, September 29, 2008

The Miracle that is Mom

I've updated this last week's happenings and have saved the best for last so that it would appear at the top of my blog - mom is doing so much better that it's hard to believe.

She and I have had long talks in the last few days. She doesn't hear as well as she used to and she still has a hard time eating. She will not regain the use of her legs to walk any time soon. But the most important part of her body, her brain, seems to have come through this ordeal relatively unscathed. Her memories have returned, both those from a long time ago as well as those that are recent. The only thing she doesn't remember is the time she was in that catatonic state - no surprise there!

She has regained her sense of humor and is joking a lot.

Today was special. She asked to talk with me one on one and then asked me my forgiveness for not having done her best for me as my mom. I told her she had nothing that needed forgiving. She has been a wonderful mother who did all she could for her children after the death of our father when I was only two and my sister was not yet born by three months. I then asked her for her forgiveness for the hard times I put her through as a teenager especially and she too told me that I needed no forgiving. A lot more was said but suffice it to say here that it was wonderful to have the opportunity after being told she would not survive last month to be able to have such a deep conversation!

My main job now is to get her to eat more - something she finds difficult to do. She's now lost 60 lbs but she was pretty overweight before, so that's not as bad as it sounds. If she can get her strength back and start some physical therapy on her legs, she can get back to the point where she is self-sufficient again, at least as much as she had been.

Thank you all for all the kind thoughts and prayers. My mom asked me to thank you all too!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Joe
that picture needs to be framed and I'm so grateful you were able to record your feelings to remember the meaningful conversation you had with your mother. My prayers continue my friend

Laura said...

What a happy post!

Love,

Laura

Sadie Says said...

I'm so happy for you! Have they ever figured out what was wrong with your mom to cause these symptoms? I have to wonder if it was some kind of infection...

Love the picture. What a happy way to start the day.

Joe Ganci said...

We think that what may mom had was encephalitis and that whatever virus it was ran its course finally.