The Longest Stroke-Dementia Road To Somewhere Journal

January 17, 2019 Thursday — “15 Steps to Freedom= Determination!!!”

The day started as usual with my workout at the gym and returned home to work on my projects before Mother awoke. Perhaps the rainy weather is a factor but Mother slept longer than usual and I was thankful.

Mother will be departing for her home-state on January 17 going back to her house. I had seven days to intensify her physical and speech therapy. My goal was to make her as functional as possible in her home. She needed to relearn basic things since the stroke like bathing, cooking, etc. She was determined and so was I.

I increased all of her physical and speech therapy activities to at least twice a day. The morning started with the usual dressing herself and working more closely on using her right hand to fasten her bra, zip her skirt, button her blouse and tying her shoes tighter. Didn’t feel like it but had to do it. My days of late, I felt tired. Probably a culmination of these months of therapy and working twenty four seven with Mother. The best part of all this was the results were forthcoming. Sometimes you just had to bite the bullet and do what is necessary. Life is not always about you but about another who gave so much prior. For me that person was Mother. My actions can’t begin to repay the many deeds she had done for me.

Intensive Speech therapy included to new books that I had to use to teach mother how to formulate sentences. Using the books were to get the…