My mother is sleeping comfortably, as I write.
    We're coming up on 12-hours-sleep so I just checked in on her, again. She was close to consciousness, thus, me leaning over her aroused her. She kicked off her covers sometime in the night, which is unusual for her, but she's been sleeping that way since I awoke much earlier. She's breathing evenly. After I confirmed with her that she wanted "another hour or so", she coughed lightly before closing her eyes, but that's not unusual. Her speech doesn't sound "tongue thick". She doesn't feel fever-warm.
    As I was exiting her room I remembered something mentioned by the Hospice RN with whom I consulted during her last bout of pneumonia. I looked it up and, sure enough, it's been just about four weeks since her last bout. Mom might be fighting off a little cold, instead of the pneumonia I'm considering. Considering that her lungs are highly compromised, though, no matter what she's handling in there, it could set off another episode of pneumonia. I won't be able to make a sturdier determination about how she's doing until later. But, it seems uncanny that, if this is another bout of pneumonia, it's arriving "on schedule".
    Mom seemed in a good mood, not overly tired (wanting "another hour or so" is not unusual for her) and clear-eyed. So, this could just be an obvious extension of her inevitable physical decline. At any rate, I'll keep my spirits up and tease her, throughout the day, about it being my birthday, not hers . Birthday teasing like this is one of our family traditions. That should keep her on her toes.
    Later. Oh, yeah, and, Happy Birthday! To me!
- posted by Gail Rae @ 11:55   email  this post