This update is per Aunt Lou's request...
She said that she had a very pleasant day today. Yea! First of all, a big thank you from Aunt Lou and the gold star goes to Aunt Nita for sending her a care package. She received it today and had the best time prowling through the box. She's already played with a bunch of the things you sent and it really made her day.
Thanks to Jeremy for bringing her scrolling picture frame. She's highly impressed and really enjoys watching it. She even informed me that you set it for her so that it comes on and goes off automatically. Very cool! Aunt Lou gets weighed every day and yesterday she was concerned and fussing at the nurses because she weighs 132 lbs. You see, she had been told that she can't pass 133 lbs or she has trouble with her CHF fluid stuff. While that is true, she is now gaining real actual weight because she's eating like a little pig 3 meals a day. GREAT news! Many of us know exactly how fussy she's been about eating and has just flat not felt like it. Well she's eating now and the nurse and I both reassured her that they are monitoring her in many ways to keep the fluid situation under control and that eating like a pig is now a very good and fun thing to do. I would love to be able to eat everything all the time and it be good for me. However, I wouldn't want to get to do it by going through what she has.
Since last I wrote, she has started wearing regular clothes again. She has been feeling so yucky that she wouldn't wear anything but housecoats and nightgowns so this is also big news and another step toward recovery. She's especially excited that she can wear pants again, even with her foot wrapped up and attached to a vacuum. A big thanks to Jimmy and Maria for bringing her new clothes. She mentions it often.
Today she played bingo for the first time. First activity at all at her new place, which is pretty unlike her. Usually, she's a real joiner so it's yet another step in feeling and acting like her regular self. She met the Activity Director and when she said her name was Lou Ragan, the director said, "Oh! You're Aunt Lou!" I forgot if I've already mentioned that Blake and I are calling Bingo every Thursday and the director is putting it on the schedule as "Aunt Lou Bingo". Anyway, they had a nice chat about what sorts of prizes we might want to do and she showed Aunt Lou all around their bingo equipment. I asked her if she met any nice ladies today and she said that she hasn't met anyone since she's been there. I told her that she's about to know EVERYONE. She said she sort of figured that was my plan.
She's crazy about her doctor down here (the one that sees her in the nsg. home). He's been very proactive with her treatment and she says that she either gets word from him from the nurses or sees him in person every day. I'd say that's pretty on top of things.
Tomorrow's beauty shop day and Thursday is our first Aunt Lou bingo game so it's going to be a banner week! We'll keep you posted from the sticks. Don't forget to call, I know your arms aren't broken and so does Aunt Lou!
Love you all!
Ann-Marie
