...and a Mom update

Since I finally got my lazy butt to post an update on Dad's blog, I figured I'd give y'all the complete rundown on Mom, too.

About a month ago, Mom moved to the long-term care wing of her care center. She stopped receiving therapy in September because they had taken her as far as they could. At this point she is able to walk the few steps from her chair to the bathroom using her walker, but she still needs at least two aides to help her in and out of her chair and is still using a lift to get in and out of bed. The aides are occasionally able to work with her to practice walking down the hall, and they are trying to help her get stronger so she can get in and out of bed on her own. We hope that an assisted living facility is in her future, and possibly home, but that seems pretty far in the distance at this point.

In happier news, since Becky and I both have birthdays in October, Mom was able to get out a couple of times last month so we could have family dinners together for each occasion. And a couple of Sundays ago Mom was able to go to church! For Halloween, her care center invited residents' young family members to come trick-or-treating and Mom smiled so much passing out candy. It's good to see those moments when she's engaged.

We are trying to encourage Mom to seek out some mental health help, but she's pretty much eschewed that since summer. Please, please continue to pray that she will want to take advantage of every opportunity to get better.