3.7.11

AYNSLEY:
The streak continues! We had more disruptions last night than we've had in the last week or so; I was almost getting used to sleeping well with Mom. Nothing serious, just some bathroom breaks and a blood draw at 5am.

Universally, blood is drawn before the crack of dawn. The vampires always peek in the rooms between 4 and 5am, apparently to get samples off to the labs before the doctors begin their rounds. Today was a draw to see the infection's progress (or hopefully, lack thereof). There will be another blood draw on Wednesday morning, just to make sure that the infection is gone for good. I'm still a little concerned about that fever from Saturday, but it seems to be gone, so I should really stop worrying about it. There are enough real things to worry about.

In spite of fragmented sleep, Mom was upbeat, alert and strong today. Her appetite has been great the past two days and today she ate about 80% of her lunch: lamb stew. I am beyond excited that she ate and enjoyed the lamb. It seems like the perfect meal for her right now. She's about 93 pounds and always cold (today wearing a fleece hat and fleece jacket in bed with two blankets on and we have the heat way up!!), so lamb stew just seemed so nourishing and rich and warming to me. She must have agreed, because she was way into it. For a snack, she devoured half a large orange. And some grapes.

Physical therapy today was similar to yesterday: walking to the gym to ride the bike, then exercises in her room. She's visibly stronger the past couple of days, getting herself up and down from bed, standing with more stability. Last Friday, I noticed that her left foot was externally rotated while she was walking. In essence, her feet were making a wide V. I'd never seen Mom do that before and I mentioned it to the PT. She told us that it's a way to gain more stability and that our bodies will do that when we're off balance. So, Friday she was feeling so off balance that her legs were repositioning themselves to give her more stability. And today, she was plowing down the hall, lifting her legs up high with each step and both feet pointed firmly forward.

She also got weighed today, a process that involves standing on her own, on an uneven surface (the scale), while holding a very narrow bar in front of her (not at all like the stable position of a walker). She was weighed last week and shook the entire time; I basically held her upright from the hips. Today she didn't need any help-I kept my hands hovering around her waist, ready to spot her, but she didn't need any help.

The other bright spot that I haven't been mentioning because I haven't wanted to jinx it is her vision. There is progress there. A couple of days ago, I was holding a cup of water for her, getting ready to hand it to her and she grabbed it exactly where it was. When I asked if she saw it, she said she saw the shadows. Yesterday while in bed, a beam of sunshine landed directly on her face and she said "is there sunlight on my left eye?" Indeed there was. She could see it. And today, while Dad was kneeling in front of her, she saw his face. She couldn't make out any specific features, but she reached out and touched him exactly where she meant to. Beautiful.

All in all, things to celebrate. Here's hoping the infections are long gone, that the shadowy vision continues to narrow and focus and make way for sight and that the weak days are behind her.