Glen and Mom

I spent this week in West Palm Beach, visiting Mom and Glen. Mom fell and broke her arm. Then Glen fell and shattered his arm. Dani went down to visit, followed by Gayle. Glen’s son Alan and his wife Rosemary came back from Europe and went down to visit. Now I am visiting. Dani plans to come down Friday. Gayle might visit again, depending on how Mom and Glen are doing.

Mom is doing much better since she got her arm out of a sling and got permission to drive again. She has problems with her PT exercises hurting her arm. But she’s getting herself around very well. She has a nurse visit twice a week to check her and help with her shower, and a PT visits twice a week. She had been feeling overwhelmed because she was so far behind on her budget and hadn’t been able to do those daily activities that we all find so satisfying. We got her budget patched up, and she’s had time to do some of the things she enjoys doing. She is feeling much less stressed.

Glen is in Morse Rehab center. He’s doing remarkably well. He isn’t strong enough or stable enough to walk, so he is either in a wheelchair or in a bed all the time. His arm is still in a sling, so he can’t move himself anywhere. There are lots of patients and not very many staff. As a result, Glen spends a lot of time waiting (as do all the patients who can’t move themselves). Glen is doing his exercises and eating his meals. He is getting stronger and has been able to stand. He will see his bone doctor in about a week. He’s hoping to get permission to get rid of the sling and start using both arms. This will be a major improvement in his mobility. Morse will hold a review of Glen’s progress Wednesday. We’re all looking forward to hear the results of that.

I’m going back to Jewel Cave tomorrow morning. It’s more-or-less an 8-hour flight with a 2-hour layover in Dallas. I don’t mind long layovers at all. I would much rather spend several hours in a nice airport than worry about making my connecting flight. Dallas is a very nice airport. I’ll be back at work Thursday, conducting cave tours and climbing 723 steps two or three times a day in a 49-degree cave. It will be a refreshing rest after a week in hot humid West Palm Beach.