There she is! And I'm so glad I decided to bring my (Kodak) camera at the last minute. I had Gail take this pic of Mom and I. Mom is definitely making progress in her physical therapy. She can sit on the edge of her bed (with help getting up there) and, though it was VERY painful and hard for her because of her bad knee on her "good" leg, she DID stand on it yesterday in PT by leaning on the p-bars. And they showed her in PT how she can actually assist the aides and turn her 3-person transfer into a 2-person transfer. The problem is that it's VERY hard work and, classically, if she can get away with someone else doing it for her, well, she will.

But, overall, I was really encouraged and now am somewhat hopeful that she CAN work to the point of being able to come home someday. The physical therapist explained how far she had come in just a week. Sooooo, there's HOPE! And that will change the tone and direction of our family meeting today, at least a little.

Barb is coming in a 2 p.m. today and our family meeting with SES and Dave on the speaker phone will begin as soon as she sets foot in the door. Then we'll all (or as many of us as can) will go down and meet with Mom and tell her whatever we've decided to tell her. She is still under the impression (on "planet Mary" as I like to call it) that the dr. will tell her she can start walking on her next visit - which isn't for 3 months. She doesn't want to be wheelchair bound, so she, in her mind, is still hoping for a walker. She, as is so like her, hasn't really heard that the dr. does NOT want her walking on that leg, so the walker is OUT. Therefore, she WILL, at best, be wheelchair bound. And I say at best, because I feel that it's a much better option than where she's been for the past almost 6 months now - bed bound and tied to the bed pan. UGH!

So, we'll see how our meeting goes. I'm of a mind that she should know and accept this because then she can begin working and pointing her life towards it, instead of living in the land of unfulfilled hopes and dreams. I know it's more bearable to believe what will not be, but I also believe that allowing her to continue thinking that way keeps her from doing the work she needs to do and it keeps her in a constant state of disappointment when what she hopes continues to not happen.

Okay, so I'm off for my 2nd cup of coffee and then a little walk outside (it's GORgeous!) before I head over to the skilled nursing unit for the rest of the morning.