Mom Going Home with Good Progress on Her Knee

My mom goes home tomorrow after a couple of weeks at the Spring Tree Rehabilitation and Health Center in Sunrise, Florida (west of Fort Lauderdale). It was a good place for her rehab, thankfully (heaven knows, finding a good nursing home is such a challenge). She was incredibly complimentary about the quality of the physical therapists, the friendliness of the nurses and staff, and how often someone would just check in on her without requiring a call button plea for help.

The kitchen honored my request to keep my mom dairy-free and voila, my mom's itchy skin magically started to disappear. Now my mom thinks rice milk is the bomb, better than real milk even. Another convert!

Although my mom never did join in on any of the activities at Spring Tree, she never minded the bustle of the hall outside her room a few steps from the nursing station. She preferred to keep her door open so she could observe and hear people going by. And she kept her shades open so she could see the plants outside. Such a contrast with my dad, who always preferred his door closed and his room dark, with no interest in any "views." Funny thing is that my mom lives practically like a hermit on her 2 acre property in the sticks, while my dad always coveted an audience and attention from people.

Stephen picked up where I left off in visiting mom and taking her out to meals (she liked the boiled dinner from Joe's Crab Shack) and out to feed the ducks cracked corn (you see, bread is considered "junk" food for ducks).

We shared stories about how incredibly appreciative mom always is, whether it's a dinner out (every meal out brings an effusive response) or flowers from the grocery store (she wanted "tall" flowers and I created an arrangement of lilies and chrysanthamums) or watching an episode of Dancing with the Stars (she has big opinions about dancing and considers current choreography routines less dance than "gymnastics!") or House or Law & Order with her.

On Tuesday, Stephen took mom to get the staples out of her knee at the Cleveland Clinic, and he came away totally impressed, saying if he ever had to have surgery, he would go there. Mom's surgeon was quite pleased with her progress, and he gave her the green light to go home, with home health care for 2 hours a day for the first week or so.

Mom's orange tabby cats will be delighted to have her home, and they should provide a fair amount of help in her healing (rumor has it that the frequencies of a cat's purring are supposed to help heal bones as well as encourage hearts!). Maybe my mom will be well enough to travel by summer's end after all!