This summer my mother had a TIA. For those who don't know, a TIA is a transient ischaemic attack. It's a mini-stroke. If any sort of stroke can be mini. They just randomly show up and take a bit of your brain function away.
The episode put her in the hospital. From the hospital she went to a rehabilitation facility in the hope that she would regain enough of her faculties to return home. This hasn't happened. She is not well enough to return home without full time nursing care and alarmed doors. This meant that when my mother left her apartment in June, she would never return.
It strange how a planned life with schedules, cell phone headaches, dates to meet up with friends and carefully archived mementos are gone in an instant. The life my mother had is gone. Are there any comforts from former busy lives on offer in care homes? I wonder if they can give patients hot coffee in care homes. I know there is a risk of scalding but sometimes a good coffee, served how you like it, works wonders. Can they have a beer?
I haven't been able to speak to her since she went into the hospital in June. First she was in the hospital and there was no way to get the technology arranged. Later she was moved from rehabilitation care and became a permanent resident. During this shift a vital piece of her cochlear implant was lost. She was then rendered almost helpless. Without her implant there was absolutely no way to speak to her. She wasn't able focus on the screen long enough to recognise the face at the other end. The one time I tried to connect with her, it was really sad. She was being fed her lunch at the time and wouldn't shift her focus from the food to the screen. I kept hoping that she'd focus and see me but she never did.
My lovely sister has been down to see our mom again and taken her to all her appointments. One of the appointments was the audiologist. She has a fully functioning cochlear implant once again. Scheduling an international FaceTime call isn't easy with a overworked (and caring staff) at her care facility. I have an appointment with my mom tomorrow. I hope she can focus on the iPad. I want her to be able to see me and have a conversation with her.
2 comments:
I am so sorry to hear this. I remember your mum as such a bright intelligent lady, from when I was in touch with her though her blog. I hope your transAtlantic connection is a success. Fingers crossed.
Having provided Speech-language-cognitive-swallowing rehab therapy to many people over the years i’m very aware of what your mother must be experiencing and how challenging this must be for her, you, the family. I’m pleased to hear her cochlear implant was corrected. I do hope your contact with her has proven or will prove to be successful. Many who have TIAs have little or no residual effects and could only wish that could be the case for your mother, but there are varying degrees of severity and other health factors can come into play. Covid-19 has certainly complicated matters for all. Hope she is able to stay safe and you are too.
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