Mercy General here she comes!

Yesterday my mom was moved to Mercy General. She has slowly made her way through the Mercy's- first Mercy Folsom, then Mercy San Juan and now Mercy General. Mercy San Juan was a blessing as it was certified as a National Stroke Center 3 years ago. They have since served their purpose and now Mercy General steps in. My dad was told that they have a better Rahab unit and so that is why she is there. I think that my dad was a little frustrated because that just means that he has to travel longer to get to her but he will also do whatever it takes to get her home.

The last couple of days she has been eating soft or pureed foods on her own. My dad said that the only thing that she has not liked thus far is the soup. She has also been drinking apple juice. She is now opening both of her eyes more frequently. Before it was just her left eye that we would see. Even then most of the time it was just a little slit of eye.

When I called last night, my dad was in her room. I was able to talk to her. She tried to respond at first and then just listened to what I had to tell her. I told her all about our Christmas that we had on Monday and what the weather has been like here. I of course told her that she better respond to the nurses and therapists if she wants to get home. Gunnar happened to be running around me so he got to talk to her too. Conversations are usually one sided with him doing all of the rambling anyway so it was perfect. He loved telling her about the play spoon that he was beating on a picture frame like a drum. My dad later told me that she was laughing (in her own special way). It felt so good to just have her on the phone. I miss her terribly. I just miss seeing her. I miss having my dad around as well. I so desperately want her home so I can share in the responsibilities that my dad has to shoulder on his own. I think I would be okay in speaking for both of my sister's on that. Today is the first day in my mom's official rehab. She is going to have to work hard. She is feisty and such a determined person that I know that she can work through this.

I also wanted to mention that my brother's open house for this Friday has been cancelled. There has been some confusion about it. It was cancelled the day that this happened to my mom. It has been cancelled indefinately. We were all looking so forward to this, but things change sometimes. We mailed out postcards to the people we knew we couldn't easily reach but others it was supposed to be announced in church. Please pass the word if you feel someone might not know. If you still want to give them a gift, we would love to get it to them. Cards can be sent to my house or my parents. Gifts can be dropped off at my house (Caldwell) or Wings Center in Boise where Heidi works. Email me if you need addresses. We hate to have them go to my parents because nobody is home during the day and they have 2 big dogs that like to take boxes on the porch and relocate them in the yard.

One of my friends left a comment here about how thankful we are for families. She continued on by mentioning immediate, extended and then ward families. This last week I have really appreciated our ward family. This ward has been absolutely fantastic from the first week that we moved in. I have loved them from the start. I couldn't say that for the ward that we moved from. I have very dear friends there but it was hard from the start to fit in. This ward has embraced us and I love them for it. One of the RS sisters asked if she could help by bringing us a meal. I told her yes because I had just finished cleaning out my fridge the night before and realized that we have nothing in there. It all went bad. We were so grateful for the yummy food and love that she showed for us. We have really appreciated all of the kind words and concern for us and the rest of my family. We will be forever grateful for these friendships.

I am hoping to get moving on some of our fun times this past week. We even had some pretty fun moments while my mom was in the hospital. It is just a matter of sitting down and doing it. And downloading all of the pictures.