Margie's back!

Amazing. A miracle. I can hardly believe it. 

Margie is at home, back to being her full poetic laugh-loving self. She is regaining some short-term memory. She told me what happened this morning, with her carer who spends 3 hours with her, 3 days a week; and that the Physical Therapist and Occupational Therapist both visited today, and it was tiring, so she had a nap. She loves being back at home and alone in the evenings. She’s able to put together a simple dinner: yogurt and fruit, maybe, or a salad-in-a-box that Lucy brings her from the deli counter at the grocery store. Her son the doctor has prescribed a program of vitamins she has to take throughout the day. Iron, Vitamin C, and I don't know what-all. Lucy fills pill boxes with times clearly marked on the lids. Margie has an alarm on her phone that rings to remind her that it's time for pills, and she complies.

Her carer helps her with bathing. She has a marvelous bath chair that moves to the edge of the tub, swivels, and carries her back to the center, so she doesn’t have to step in. She is using a two-wheeled walker that slows her down (the four-wheel rollator goes too fast). But she can let go of the handles and stand on her own now. She has a wheelchair in the hallway, but she only uses it for rides in the early (cool) part of the day. 

She tells me: “It’s like I’ve been on a trail, and the trail had a curve in it, so I couldn’t see what was coming. I found myself in unfamiliar territory. But I’m discovering things I never knew before. It’s all about the body, really, not the mind. I never knew there were such discoveries waiting for me. I say, ‘Alright already,’ I’ve been here long enough. I have to say I’m enjoying this trail. It’s full of surprises. I’m curious to see where it’s going.”

Jaw-dropping. She’s really back. Herself again. Somehow I found myself telling her about a great-aunt of mine who lived to be 102. She grimaced. “Oh my god, what a nightmare. No,” she insists, “I don’t want to be here that much longer. But where I am today, it’s interesting. I’m enjoying the discovery.”

P.S. My friend Patricia sent me for my birthday a check for a series of piano  lessons, and I had the first one today. I love it! As Margie says (and models), it's a discovery.