Mom....Continued

Here's mom today playing ti vit (in Sicilian this means I saw you), a card game, with family friend Giuseppe (same name as mine).

Mom is an avid reader and loves doing puzzles, so you can see the Maxi Puzzle book that she has been enjoying and also the yellow book, La Prima Indagine di Montalbano, which contains several novellas written by Camilleri.

Mom Cuts Her Cake While Klaus Watches

Here she is! Her jaw still hurts so she's still not able to wear her dentures, but she's a happy camper! I spoke with her today on the phone and her spirits are very high.

Notice in the second photo Klaus, one of Sally and mom's two dogs, watching attentively on the bottom right.

Klaus is part German Shepherd and was born around Christmas so Sally named him after Santa Claus. He is a real sweet guy and he is ecstatic that mom is home. He jumps up and down like crazy every time he sees mom. When he sees Sally bringing breakfast upstairs to mom, he walks ahead of her and pushes open mom's bedroom door and starts kissing her!

When my sister helps mom out of her chair into a standing position so she can practice walking with her walker, Klaus runs all around, worried that mom will fall or that she might get hurt.

Whoever says animals don't have emotions is insane!

MOM IS HOME!

After almost five months in different hospitals, mom has finally gone home. Actually, she did about a week ago but I've been holding my breath hoping that everything would go well. I've finally exhaled. (A whole week without breathing! Try it sometime!)

Mom still doesn't walk the way she did before. She has to be very careful walking up an down the stairs and can't do it alone, but she is mobile finally!

All her memories have returned as has her appetite.

MOM'S BIRTHDAY IS IN A FEW DAYS! SHE TURNS 73! MY SISTER IS THROWING HER A PARTY ON SUNDAY! If you would like to add your birthday wishes in the comments below, I'll be sure she gets them!!!

Thank you, all!

Mom, Getting Better and Better

Mom is doing great. During my last trip to Italy, which was three weeks long like the time before, her appetite improved a lot. When I first arrived, the thought of eating anything was repulsive to her. By the time I left, she was eating her meals with gusto.

Since coming home, I've been told her progress every day. Every day she has walked a little more than the day before. Before too long, she'll be walking better than before and going up and down stairs. That's the only thing she had left to do to get better and go home!

Mom is Back!!!!

It's amazing that as quickly as mom became ill, she is now almost back to her normal self, at least mentally. She is quite aware of everyone now, her memories have almost all returned, and she is starting to learn how to walk again. She is joking, she is serious, and she is talking. They moved her today to a different hospital, one where they can take better care of her and one where she was a patient before when they operated on her knees. She likes it much better there!

In less than two weeks, I'll see my mom again and she and I will spend some quality time together!

Thank you to all of those who have cared and sent me such sweet messages!

I've found and scanned some pics of Mom I have from her past.

Mom is Making Great Strides Back to Health!

Guess who called me today? My mom!! Well, it was my sister at mom's hospital bedside, but this was the first time that mom was able to express a desire to talk with me. I understood most of what she said and she knew who I was I'm sure.

It's hard to believe but mom is getting better every day! She now recognizes my sister most of the time, she is eating again, and soon she is ready to start walking again! I am returning to visit her for another three weeks Sept. 23rd and hope she continues to improve between now and then.

My sister and I communicate every day and the stories she tells me of her conversations with mom are incredible! We couldn't make this stuff up!

For instance, here are some tidbits from the last few days. If you haven't already read my entry from August 27th, go back and read that one first so that this will make sense to you!

1. In the last few days, mom has recognized my sister just fine but today once again did not. My sister tried several things but mom kept saying to her that she was appreciative of her kindness but her daughter would come visit soon. Finally, in an act of desperation, my sister pulled out her ID and showed it to her. My mom looked at the ID, then at my sister, then back at the ID, then exclaimed,
   
   Oh, figlia mia! Perdonami, questa malattia mi ha impedito di riconoscerti!
   
   which means "Oh, my daughter! Forgive me, this disease has caused me not to recognize you!" She then extended her arms to hug my sister and my sister cried from joy and relief.
   

2. "Mom, do you remember when Joe was here?"
   
   "Joe was here? When? How long was he here? How many times did he come visit?"
   
   "He was here for three weeks and came to see you every day!"
   
   "Oh, my, I only remember him coming once and I wasn't even sure about that!"
   
   "Yes, and he's coming back soon to see you again!"
   
   
3. Mom: "What month is this? June?"
   
   "No, mom, it's September 3rd."
   
   "That's not possible. How long have I been sick? At least a year, right?"
   
   "No,mom, a little more than two months."
   
   "No, that's not possible, it's at least a year! I don't know if I'll be able to return home. After all, I'm already 83 years old."
   
   "No, mom, you will be 73 at the end of the year."
   
   "How is that possible? I was born in 1935, so I'm 83!"
   
   "Look, mom, let's subtract it on paper. 2008 - 1935 = 73."
   
   "Wow...I had no idea I was that young! I feel as if I were 100 years old! Hey, if I'm only 73 then I can still get better!"
   
   "Yes, mom, but you have to promise me that you're going to start to eat and slowly start to walk again."
   
   "Yes, I promise you I will."
   
   
4. "Mom, a lot of people have come to see you. Alessandro came again yesterday, but you were sleeping and we didn't want to wake you."
   
   "Alessandro? My nephew?"
   
   "Yes, he came all the way from Savona, at least three times now in the last couple of months."
   
   "Especially for me? You should have woken me! Poor boy! How good he was to come visit me. Tell him I'm sorry."
   
   "Others have come too. Chiara, Emanuele, Paola twice, aunt and uncle. But you were to ill during that time."
   
   "Darn this head of mine! All these people came and I don't remember anything!"
   
   

A Fantastic Day for Mom!!!!

After weeks of us seeing little progress, today was an incredible new day for my mom. My sister was at the hospital, as usual, and mom was awake and aware. The last few days had been a bit heartbreaking for sis, as mom has slept a lot and not necessarily been the nicest person when awake.

But today was a different story. Mom has started to remember. She carried on a full conversation. She said she has lost track of time and asked what day it was. She said she feels she had been stuck in a dark tunnel and that people would come visit her in that tunnel, showing her photos and asking her who the people in the photos were (as my sister and I have done often with her). She said she remembers being confused and not being able to recognize the people in the pictures.

My sister asked her if she knew who she (my sister) is. Mom told her she was the nurse. Then she showed photos of herself (my sister) and asked my mom who the person in the photo was. My mom answered, "That's my daughter."

"What is her name?"

"Her name is Sally." (right)

She then showed a photo of me and asked her who I was. She responded, "That's my son." That was the first time she has done that since falling ill. My sister asked her, "What is his name? Is it Joe?"

"No," she responded. "It's Giuseppe." (That's my name in Italian!)

She also recognized my father, who died when I was two, and her mother, who is also deceased, and others in the photos! At a certain point, my mom told my sister, "How did you come in possession of these photos?" My sister told her that she brought them from home. She then told my sister to please arrange to bring photos of others who are still alive because the only ones in the photos that are still alive are herself and her children!

At another point, she asked my sister to get a piece of paper and then recited from memory my sister's home and cell phone numbers and asked my sister to call my sister and ask her to come visit! My mom said that she can't believe that even though she's been in the hospital for weeks, that my sister hasn't come once to visit. Of course, my sister has been there every day and said so, adding that I had been there every day for the three weeks that I was there.

My mom made it clear to my sister that she was surprised to have come out of the tunnel she was in and that she is very anxious to get back on her feet and get back to a normal life.

I know, I know, this may all be temporary. Tomorrow she may relapse back to how she was. I hope not, of course, I hope she gets better and better! I hope to return very soon as finances permit and see her awake, recognizing me, smiling and kissing me once again.

Thank you for continued good thoughts and prayers!

Mom - Up and Down

This is a photo of my mom at Starbucks while she was visiting me in the States a couple of years ago. I think it's a cute photo.

Mom has good days and not-so-good days at the hospital. Yesterday she was very alert. She tried to talk several times and we were able to make out a word here and there. She grabbed our hands several times. She even raised both arms up a few times, the first time in a while she's done that. She even raised her right arm quickly to scratch her head. That was almost startling! What really made my sister and me laugh out loud with surprise and happiness was when we asked our mom near the end of our visit if she was tired and wanted to sleep and she instantly and very quickly started nodding her head up and down in response. A few minutes later we asked her again and she responded the exact same way. That was nice.

We spend our time every day talking with mom, cleaning and refreshing her neck, face and arms with wet wipes and just being with her. Nowadays she seems really happy to see us...most of the time. Today she seemed to be in a bit of a foul mood, not talking, her face in somewhat of a grimace most of the time. We exercised her arms and legs so as to not let them atrophy, as we do every day, and she didn't seem to like it all. I know it might be somewhat painful, but it has to be done.

One day at a time. Tomorrow may be a better day.

Mom...Maybe a Little Better

It's hard to say, but today mom may have showed some signs of improvement. I spent a long time talking with her, my face close to hers. She never looked away from me and when I moved a little, she would follow for a bit. She also reached out her hand to mine and grabbed it three times today. She tried to talk three or four times but could not get the words out.

I don't know if she knows who I am (I think not) but she knows I'm a friendly face who comes to visit her every day and talk to her. She is able to smile ever so slightly when I play the fool with her. That's rewarding for me.

Sally (my dear sister) and I are mom's companions. We talk to her every day and try to cheer her up, try to jog her memories, try to make her feel loved. In this hospital, the first couple of days she had a young lady as a roommate for a couple of days, then she was alone for a day, and then she has had a very nice 90-year-old lady who was there for 3 days and was released today. The 90-year-old said she had never seen a mother so loved by her children. We responded that we were just showing her what she had shown us all our lives - the love of a mother who took care of her two children by herself after losing her husband after only 3 years of marriage.

Sally is fantastic. Despite having her share of pain and her very busy schedule, she seems indefatigable with mom - loads of energy there.

Today she had an MRI. We hope to know the results very soon.

Thank you again for all your support.

Mom is the Same Today

Today mom is the same, not talking, looking at us when we talk but not able to respond or move much. I have extended my stay by eight days until August 2nd and hope to see some results in the meanwhile.

Tomorrow we should know the results of the MRI. Here's hoping...

You all keep me sane with your emails and comments here. Thank you so much.

Mom is Not Improving

Sigh...today was not a good day for hoping for mom's recovery. The head doctor at the new hospital said he's not convinced that mom has the Herpes virus because the test for the virus results in many false positives and it is so rare for the elderly to actually have it.

The cortisone had helped, it seems to me, in that they stopped it yesterday and she was back to not being able to communicate or move again. She only tried to say things a few times today to us and each time it was hard for her to get any words out.

Part of the reason for that, I think, is the side effect of the cortisone. Her face is very swollen and perhaps her tongue as well and it's hard for mom to talk.

I'm seriously thinking of prolonging my stay here. The doctors are doing another MRI today and will have complete results on Wednesday. I was supposed to take trains up to Zürich Thursday and then fly out Friday, but I may stay longer to see if the diagnosis changes with the MRI results and if that means a treatment with visible results in a few days.

Here's hoping...

Mom is Improving

Improvement is always a relative term, of course. She has been at the new hospital for two days. We had a long talk with the head doctor and he confirmed what they were going to do. The first order of business has been to give mom some cortisone to help dry up some of the excess liquid that surrounds her brain and presses down on it. They started the treatment yesterday. Today she was like a different person. She is still not back to herself but I was delighted to see her moving her whole body in bed rather than just her head when she would move any part of her body at all. She also would turn her head to look directly at me and grabbed hold of my hand a couple of times. She is still not herself mentally but she is talking nonstop again, over and over about how she has to work hard to help the children. In this case, she's not talking about my sister and me, whom she still doesn't recognize, but of the orphan children that she worked with when she was a young lady, before meeting my father and moving to the States. She worked long hours to make money to help the orphans in the orphanage. The name of the orphanage was St. Joseph's (San Giuseppe) and she mentioned the name, so we figured out where her memory was. She used lots of words today, though, that I hadn't heard her use since I've been here, a larger vocabulary than simply repeating the same phrase over and over, which is what she was doing before.

It's day to day. I hope to see even more improvement tomorrow, perhaps even a return of more recent memories, but I'm happy to see such improvement in one day. These things can turn on a dime, I know, and tomorrow she may be back to a waking coma state, but perhaps this is a harbinger of things to come, good things. Thanks again for all your support.

They Now Know What's Causing Mom's Illness!

Finally, a test has come up positive. Mom has Human Herpes Virus Type 6. It usually attacks children under the age of 3 and is mild, affecting the skin only, going away on its own after a while. However, when it attacks adults, it can be much more serious, often infecting the brain, which is what has happened to her.

Mom is being moved as we speak to the bigger hospital in Reggio Emilia, where they have a topnotch communicable disease division and they'll be able to take better care of her.

Mom didn't have a fever or any of the symptoms she has now when she entered the hospital. All this happened after about a week. We don't know if the virus had been dormant in her and woke up after she was in the hospital or she got the virus in the hospital. The research we have done this afternoon after we found out tells us that this virus an lay dormant for months in the body, so it's likely she already had it before she went into the hospital. Either way, I'm glad that at least we have a probable cause!

We hope to know more soon and will keep you posted here.

Update on Mom

This is my mom a couple of years ago with Chiara, my cousin. For the last few days, my mom has shown some slight improvement. Sunday was much like Saturday - she was very talkative but didn't say much that made sense.

Monday she slept quite a bit. Yesterday and today she has been awake but has spoken much less, and when she does it's tough to understand because she is not speaking very clearly. We have been showing her photos from her life and ours, have been talking with her about a lot of things to try to trigger her memories but at this point she still only seems to remember her name and her place of birth.

The doctors still can't figure out what's causing all this - it's very frustrating. I'm ready to wring some necks but I don't think that will do much good - in fact, wringing a doctor's neck may just get me barred from the hospital. Of course, the doctors are doing their best but I can't believe that there aren't other doctors who may not be able to tell what's wrong with my poor mom.

Thank you for all of your emails and your good wishes. They are much appreciated!