Monkeys on the Wall

Just two weeks ago, Mom was transferred out of ICU to a "normal" hospital room . However, there was nothing "normal" about this room and nothing normal about this situation.

Mom was struggling to breathe, still on 3 liters of oxygen - sleep deprived, and just down right miserable. Each breath was a struggle and we just kept thinking if she could just have some sleep! If she could just relax and take an easy breath. She couldn't talk and we were all fighting this new "normal" that we were being forced to adjust to.

Mom's roommate was not your "normal" little roommate. Bless her heart, she had a horrible, continuous loud cough that shook the room. And let it suffice to say, she had loud noises coming from all of her orifices! (No joke) Each time our phone rang, she yelled "Hello! Hello!" and when Dad dropped the phone, she yelled "Watch it Buddy!" When my sister walked in the room and her shoes made a light tapping sound, she looked at Lori and sarcastically said, "Clomp - clomp - clomp - clomp -clomp!" Oh yeah...as the night progressed she continually got out of her bed setting off an alarm that alerted the whole floor. Finally she fell on the floor and had to have a team pick her up. But none of that compared to the monkeys that she saw on the wall that night! Now that wasn't normal.

In the midst of all of this, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Dad looked like he was going to blow a gasket every time she coughed (which isn't normal for him). Lori was about to make a comment back to this poor lady everytime she made a comment to her (which was normal) and I was becoming so slap happy that I was beginning to think the whole situation was hilarious (which was certainly not normal!)

There is no point to this story other than things are better today than they were two weeks ago. Today, Mom walked 40 feet without any help - other than having someone stand by to steady her. She was up MOST of the day - and although she was exhausted, she is creating a new "normal" for herself - everyday! She's accepting visitors now and her speech improves every day.

We are fortunate to have Mom struggling with walking and talking with a CLEAR mind instead of dealing with monkeys on the wall! We are thankful for that and at the same time, we'll say a prayer for the lady (and her family) who struggled at making sense out of the monkeys on the wall. We are certainly counting our blessings today!