My dad has been full of surprises today!

His physical therapist came and walked him around the hall and back to the living room unassisted three times, then put him through some exercises, including getting up and down out of his chair-without the lift feature-and some basic leg movements, again, unassisted! Then they walked the hall circuit three more times. Did he nap afterwards, you bet he did. But then the nurse came and checked his vitals, changed his bandages, and listened to his heart and lungs. He was good on all the readings, and when she left we had lunch. Then I put him through all of the exercises his OT therapist gave him, and he did all of them and more! we are supposed to stand unassisted for ten minutes. Well, I guess he found that boring, so he kind of did his arm exercises again while he stood there! The only test that was kind of shaky was when I asked him to stand there and close his eyes. He wobbled, and to me, that indicates his balance is still off. Now, he is 😴 again. Oh, and when he went to the restroom, he got up with barely any assistance. This is proof that exercise is helping. Is he going to sleep better tonight? I hope so.

I believe that his being here with us is a blessing in disguise. I may be worn to the bone every night, but I am also moving around more, and finding the joy again in the little things. That our house is spacious enough to allow for a walker or wheelchair. That we have been able to afford a third person living with us. Oh, I’m looking for resources to help, believe me, but so far, we are coping just fine. That my son is not around to be a drain on his credit card. We haven’t touched it, and when he tried to help pay for dinner last night, Dave said to put it back in his wallet. We WANT to take care of him, we love him. When my brother comes home, he is going to pitch in for the lift chair. I appreciate that so much. Anything he and Sean can do to offset costs and/or help out a bit is appreciated.

I think all the naps Dad takes throughout the day is the reason why he doesn’t sleep well at night. The therapist and nurse both said that the busier we keep him, the more chance he will sleep better at night. I asked the nurse about the CBD gummies (I haven’t been giving him those but once since he’s been here) and she said she would defer to his regular doctor on that. Of course, they want him taking pills! He takes enough pills, I already have permission to give him the CBD from his doctor, my question was really if she thought it would make him more of a fall risk. They don’t make me groggy in the morning, but maybe they do him. He is almost 87 and everyone doesn’t have the same experience on CBD that I do. I don’t want to do anything that might affect his progress. We want him strong enough to eventually go home. (with help, of course) She couldn’t answer that yet either, time will tell, and it also has to do with what his insurance or the VA will cover.

I really kind of got off the point with this word of the day challenge, because the word is actually disguised, so…

Originally, I was going to say his PT is like a therapist disguised as a ninja, because of his sharp black scrubs and his noiseless shoes 🙂