Mom still in Willowbrooke

Sorry I haven't updated this in a while.  Spoke with Liz last night and she filled me in on the current status.

First of all, Mom is still in Willowbrooke since she hasn't shown signs of improvement.  Though they transferred her phone to the new room, it hasn't been working right.  Is supposed to be fixed by today(?)  Anyway, if you have tried to reach her and haven't been able to, that might explain it.

Since Willowbrooke can handle people with needs like Mom's, she no long needs the full time aide.  That's good from a cost perspective, though I imagine she misses the company.  The move to Willowbrooke is hopefully temporary, the idea being that if they get her on the right medication she will show some improvement (less falling, etc.).  So far, though, the Parkinson's medication they've tried hasn't helped.  (They could only put her on half dose, since it makes her blood pressure drop.)  At this point, Liz is trying to get in touch with the doctor to find out what's next.  I guess either she doesn't have Parkinson's or perhaps a different medication would work better.

Along with the falling issue and the problem of her legs getting 'stuck' when walking, Mom also is not able to stand up by herself from a sitting position.  She had been having some trouble with it for a while, and according to Liz it seems she can't really do it at all any more.  Though she still walks, she also gets around some by wheelchair now if the distances are too long for walking.

The last note on Mom is that the woman in charge of activities talked to her for a while to see what kinds of things interest her, and sadly there isn't much.  She likes going to church, talking to family, and watching her news program, but not much else.  Shows less interest in things she used to enjoy such as books and puzzles.  Hope that changes.

Not much to say about Dad.  He seems happy and is pretty stable, for which we are very thankful.  Has had some problems with feet swelling and sores on his toes(?), but that is all Liz could think of.

Funny how these posts were all about Dad for so long and now they are all about Mom.