Day 29

Today has officially marked the 4 week time period that I have cared for my mother. I asked her if she thought it seemed that long- and she said no. Today when her therapist came and saw her new "room"- he thought it was perfect-after her therapy he spoke with me privately about how he thought she would really thrive in the situation she is in now- because it is familiar. He really thinks that if we put her in assisted living that she will decline- I told him I thought the same thing. she really seems happy at our home- there is just no way I could tell her she has to leave. I talked to Jerry about it tonight and he agrees- she is welcome to stay as long as needed as far as he is concerned- how many other husbands would be so nice to a mother-in-law who wouldn't even attend our wedding- that's another long story that I won't get into- but I am so proud of him for being so good about all of this. Although her Alzheimer's has improved greatly- I know that eventually it will get worse and it would get worse quicker if she were to have to make another move/adjustment. So for now, I believe we will just plan on keeping her long term. I want her to be happy and I believe she is- we have to work out the Sunday church issue because we belong to different denominations, so I will be praying for a solution. Today Jerry and I went to her house and picked up a few of her pictures and special items to make her room feel more homey. Her room used to be Jay's room, but we have turned it into the "grandmother"room in about 24 hours. She has her own bathroom right off her room and it is just perfect- we had kept her hospital bed in our great room but yesterday I had the bright idea of moving her into that room- this involved ripping up carpet, taking down an antique bed and finding different places all over the house for Jay's stuff. I'm proud of Jay for being so willing to give up his room- he never really slept in there anyway- because Sam's room upstairs still has two twin beds and he usually sleeps up there. Sam helped me take apart the hospital bed, move it and then put it back together again! After we got all of her pictures hung and special stuff in place, her room looks really pretty. Tomorrow we have blood work to get done in the morning and then she goes to get her hair done- hope we get sleep tonight in order to get up early...