Somebody cheer me up, please.

I'm in hospital hell here.  The Mommie (96.25 years old) had a minor stroke Friday morning, and was off to the ER.  Many hours later, she was back to normal, and got moved to the telemetry floor.  OK, so now she is totally functional on her right side, her brain is happy again, and she's plopped in bed, where she loves to be.  To my mind, she is the way she was before the stroke.  Sleeps enormous hours, toddles around with her walker, sometimes is really fuzzy, and other times right on target.  In short, she's 96, and doing pretty well for her age.

So, I'm waiting for her to be released so that the Hubs and I can bring her home.  Not.  Now they want to do physical therapy with her.  Good luck, PT people.  The Mommie does what the Mommie wants, and she hates exercise with a passion.  So, they'll get her to move, and then the second she's released, she'll go back to being a lazy lady again.  And why not?  She's 96.  Do they think she's going to tap dance down the dining room floor?  Eh, what do I know?

On the other hand, they are truly doing what they think is best for her, and it is a gray and fuzzy area.  She's not going to reverse her stage; but do you let her go home as wobbly as she is?  At home, she uses her walker and is fine with it.  Here, she's in bed, loving every second of laziness, and she should be sitting up and toddling around with a walker.  But then, maybe PT will help.

And I can't get any answers.  Nobody will sit down and talk to me.  I suspect that they are as confused as I am, but they are the professionals, and want to get her mountain climbing again.  Eh, what do I know?  I do wish someone would listen to me.  That's the most frustrating part of this; nobody listens to the daughter.  But they are all very nice and well-meaning, and I'm grinding my teeth in frustration.

I'm so stressed that I can barely concentrate on anything.  Good thing I'm a knitter.  I have my hospital bag with me, and it's filled with 2 knitting projects so I can keep my fingers occupied and lower my stress.  If any of you wants a bit of stress, I can give you some.

I know:  I'm whining here.  I sound like I'm kidding around.  What I'm not saying is that I'm terribly worried about my mom.  I think she came through this latest crisis with flying colors, but that might not be the case the next time around.  Does staying in the hospital do good things for her?  Is she ready for a nursing home?  I don't think so since she gets extraordinary care at her independent living facility.  They don't allow her to stay in bed.  They get her up for meals, and she has a helper who gives her a hand with showering and getting dressed.  And they all love her.  Is a nursing home better than this?

Thanks for reading this; it feels better to let it out a bit.

Scrabblequeen - It's been quite a ride.  It does put a lot of things into perspective:  I don't need a vacation; I need just normal living.  ;-)

Caryn - She has totally bounced back.  She is one amazing woman!