Joshua, Daniel, Grace, and myself traveled to our Grandparents’ over the weekend. Originally, the whole family (sans Anna) had planned to go–but we got ice in Lincoln and the forecast said wind for up north. Dad couldn’t risk getting stuck there–and Dan couldn’t go any other time. So we kids braved the weather alone.
It actually wasn’t that bad going up–dry roads to Seward, wet but not messy to Norfolk, messy in Norfolk, and just starting to get icky from Norfolk to Creighton. The trouble was Grandma and Grandpa’s driveway.
Saturday morning, we got going to leave for the hospital–Grandma and Aunt Ruth and Gracie leading the way in Ruth’s SUV, and the boys and I following in Mom’s Buick. The Buick made it up the driveway all right–but the turn onto the road that goes past their house was too much. Joshua and I got out and pushed–and then ran up the hill to get back in at the top where Daniel had stopped.
Sunday morning, we figured we’d get a bit more of a head start so we could make it around the curve. Unfortunately, we backed into a snowdrift and got stuck. So Joshua got out and pushed us out–and then hiked his way up to the top of the hill where we were waiting for him.
Monday morning, we had better luck–we backed into a little drive, got our head start and raced up the hill (so quickly that the turn seemed just a little bit scary!) Third time’s a charm.
Overall, the trip was good–Grandpa is doing much better than I expected. He recognizes people–even remembered that Daniel has a girlfriend and that she’s pretty. He can feed himself pretty well–especially with the weighted gloves that keep his hands from shaking. He can transfer himself from chair to bed–but needs reminders that he should lift off of the seat handles rather than from his walker.
On Monday, we kids went to PT with Grandpa–where they had him work on a little exercise bike/seated stair stepper. They upped his resistance after a while–a sign that he’s improving. Then he played ball with the PT gal–kicking the ball or tossing it, or reaching across to hit the physical therapist’s hands. He had some trouble with left and right–and it seems like he has a harder time getting his left side to “obey instructions” than his right. But he’s showing definite physical improvement.
While we were at PT, Grandpa started to introduce us to the physical therapist. “These are my sons and daughters” he said–but we corrected him right off: “Grandchildren.” He brushed off the correction easily, “Same difference.” It was a relief to see how well he handled it–it was plain that he knew who we are and had just said the wrong thing. This was especially heartening because with Grandma Menter’s Alzheimer’s, she got so that she didn’t know who any of us were or how exactly we were related to her. Not that she was mean or anything–she just didn’t know who we were. Even Dad, whom she recognized the most, she only called her “relative” since she couldn’t figure out how they were related. When I got home and described the situation with Grandpa to Mom, the scenario took on even more meaning. When Grandpa Menter was living with us in the last years of his Parkinsons (which is what they’re saying Grandpa Cook has too), he would think that Mom was his wife and that we were his children–which would make him very confused when Dad would come home and start kissing “his” wife! What a blessing it is that we aren’t having to deal with such confusion with Grandpa Cook.
Grandpa misses home a great deal–and fusses to be back all the time. The nurses and physical therapists and the like are starting to talk like home might actually be a possibility. What a blessing that would be for him and Grandma–assuming that they could get adequate help for his physical needs so that Grandma wouldn’t have to do it all. Grandpa has learned to appreciate Grandma’s cooking after a couple of weeks of hospital food.
The first week after the seizure was certainly the most difficult–no one knew whether he would ever really recover. Certainly, it seemed he was in his last days. But the second week showed promise–and his improvement in this third week has been marked.
Thank you to everyone who has been praying for the family. We continue to ask for prayers–but pray in thankfulness that God has restored Grandpa Cook, our patriarch, to us for a while longer.
