I arrived at the Kline today around noon, just as Mom was finishing up her chi gong session. This morning they practiced for about an hour, and she felt pretty good afterwards. About an hour later, Mom began PT, where she walked the hall a little bit (with lots of breaks as her oxygen levels fell) and rode the bike for seven or eight minutes, again, with breaks. It's a tricky balance, finding the right oxygen level for her comfort. Too low and she's dizzy, short of breath and anxious but too high and her nose dries out and she's uncomfortable too.
After riding the bike, we thought it would be nice to sit outside for a few minutes since the weather was nicer than it's been in about a week. It was still a bit too cold for Mom to be comfortable, so that was short-lived, but I still think even a few minutes in the fresh air are good.
When she got back to her room, Mom fell asleep for about three hours, the first nap of the day since at least 11am. When she woke up, she was really uncomfortable: her stomach was aching, her body was aching, she was nauseous...not pleasant. It took about an hour and a half, but slowly and surely she did feel better and was even able to eat a little bit of macaroni and cheese for dinner. Her appetite has dramatically decreased since my arrival on Wednesday; it's a bit worrisome for me.
We've had several visitors over the past few days and have even more scheduled through the end of the week. If you haven't yet made arrangements to come by, please don't. Mom is having enough trouble simply breathing; entertaining numerous people is a bit too much right now. I know that everyone has good intentions and, especially with so dramatic a decline, they want to rush in and see her, but it's overwhelming and not good for her (or me) right now. If you want to come, please please please let one of us know and ask if it's okay to come on a certain day at a certain time. If you don't hear back, don't come. And if you do hear back and someone says it's not a great time, please don't take it personally. As I've said, we've had lots of visitors that we're planning on-unplanned drop-ins really throw her for a loop.
Gary arrived tonight safe and sound and joined us for a casual dinner at the Kline before going to my parent's house with my dad. I'm so happy to have him here, happy to be spending tonight with Mom and happy to know that we still have a few days to all be together.
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