Update on Darlene...

[jheffer]

I wanted to drop you all a quick note to say THANK YOU for the prayers and good thoughts you have been sending Mom’s way….she woke up on Sunday morning as herself – almost all of her confusion has disappeared AND her appetite came back with a vengeance AND she is standing with a walker to transfer from her bed to wheelchair AND she took 3 steps with a walker yesterday!!! This is a MAJOR IMPROVEMENT from last week when she needed maximum assistance to scoot on a slider board from the bed into a wheelchair. Also, last week her cognitive ability was so impaired that she couldn’t follow directions from reading a simple sentence. Yesterday, she read the entire page of directions and did everything without being reminded to stay on task. It’s almost like a light switch was turned back on in her brain!!! She has had some major issues with delirium caused by the medication and just the simple fact that she has been hospitalized for so long – it’s common in the elderly and the scary thing is sometimes, the fog doesn’t lift and they stay confused….thank GOD a big wind came by and blew the fog away from ole’ Darlene!!!

Now we have to concentrate on keeping her mind clear, keeping her body strong and building up more muscle so she has the strength to be able to start working towards getting a prosthetic leg. She has lost a lot of her muscle tone in the past three months so they are now going to focus on getting that back. She’s got a long journey ahead so we’re saying that she’s on the interstate now, before, she was stuck in the ditch in about 8 inches of mud!