Monday, November 24

Since this was the day we thought Mother might be discharged, we wanted someone with her most of the day. Velda worked until 3:00 PM, so I took the middle of the day shift – 11:00 AM until Velda arrived at 3:30 PM.

Mother’s first visitor was Kristen from the pharmacy at Landis Homes. It was so kind of her to take time to visit Mother on her week off from work.

Thanks, Kristen, it was delightful to meet you.

I went down to the fourth floor to check on Jeff (our TFC co-worker) while mother ate lunch. He was out for surgery.

We had lots of fun with Pastor Shertzer (above) from Erb Mennonite Church – Mother’s home church.

Dr. Kuhlengle stopped in to update us on Mother’s health. Her pneumonia is pretty much gone. The doctor told us that the x-ray on Mother’s knee (yesterday) revealed arthritis and a bit of Pseudogout. The reason for her pain. They were treating it with a steroid pill.

When I asked Dr. Kuhlengle about Pseudogout, she explained it well, but I didn’t remember the details, so I looked it up online.

Pseudogout, also known as calcium pyrophosphate deposition (CPPD) disease, is a type of arthritis that causes spontaneous, painful swelling in your joints. This condition most commonly affects the knees, but it can also affect the ankles, elbows, and wrists.

The doctor said she felt that Mother was well enough to be discharged when Pleasant View or Landis Homes has a bed for her. About 2:30 PM we got the word that Mother was being discharged to Skilled Nursing at Landis Homes.

I immediately called Velda, telling her to go to Skilled Nursing at Landis Homes instead of coming to the hospital. Then I called Cerwin’s other siblings.

We are pleased that she could go back to Landis Homes – meaning she will not need another transfer. However, we will miss the wonderful people at Pleasant View. They did an awesome job of therapy and preparing her for this next step in her life.

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I went down to Jeff’s room before the ambulance crew came. He was in his room and feeling pretty good. He said surgery was successful. Thank you Lord! His mom was with him. It was nice to meet her. Jeff’s wife, Kellie, and I met at the elevator when I was leaving the hospital and she was arriving. I will miss seeing them every day. Jeff thinks he will be in the hospital another three days – then there will be several months of rehab.

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The ambulance transfer crew arrived about 3:40 PM. I got to Landis Homes shortly after they did, and since I didn’t know where I was going, it was nice seeing the ambulance so I knew which door to enter.

They were  pulling the gurney away from her room when I arrived. Velda was with Mother, and several nurses were making her feel welcome.

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I must tell you a story about Mother – which tells you a lot about this wonderful mother-in-law of mine.

After Velda and I began unpacking a few of her things, she said, “Doris Jean, the ambulance man who took care of me does not know the Lord. He has a really mixed-up idea of who God is. I asked if I could pray for him, and he said I could.”

How many ninety-seven-year old women are concerned about the souls of their care-givers?

Sure do love her.

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Velda called me a few minutes ago – 8:00 PM – to ask me to bring a few things for Mother tomorrow, and to say that Mother was doing really well, and that she had eaten most of her supper. 🙂