Liz called last night to talk about what is going on with Mom. I'll summarize it the best I can.
Mom has been falling a lot and, as you probably know, everyone is concerned about this. She also has a problem that I think was mentioned before: she sometimes cannot get her feet to move when she is trying to walk. She'll be walking fine, pause for some reason, and then be unable to start walking again. A number of people have suggested that this and the falling sound like Parkinson's, though she does not have some other typical Parkinson's symptoms. The doctor (on Monday?) started her on Parkinson's medication to see if that makes a difference. Liz tells me that it should be pretty obvious in a few days whether the medication is helping.
Meanwhile, Lima said that with all the falling they don't want her alone and she should have an aide 24/7. So, now she has full time aide. The hope is that the Parkinson's medication will help her significantly such that she will not need the aide for more than a short time. The 24/7 care is not cheap and so far as I know it is not covered by Medicare (if anyone knows otherwise, let us know!). One good thing is that her aide (at least the one Liz mentioned) is very nice and has been good company for Mom.
There was also some talk about whether she could/should move out of assisted living and into the unit that provides a higher level of care. Currently, there are no openings like that in Lima (where Dad is) so she would have to go to a different facility. I think we all hope she can stay in assisted living, but we'll see.
Anyway, that is pretty much it for now. I expect to report back once we know whether the new medication is helping.
Oh, and Liz spent a lot of time with Dad yesterday going over all the cards and letters people sent for his 85th. Thanks to all of you who did that!
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