Originally Posted by SoulfulYin

How bizarre is it that the BEST DAY so far was preceded by one of the worst?

Today was great. Mom was up ALL day, she didn't take any naps like she usually did, she was up and moving, she made dinner, but most importantly she was HAPPY.

She graduated PT. She was a little sad to see them go for the last time. Honestly thought about keeping in touch-- she's really enjoyed the company of both of her physical therapists when they came by. But when they came today, she walked up the stairs and went outside to the dumpster to handle some trash (which I usually do, so I'm definitely happy/grateful about it), then came back. And now we're planning to go outside to walk on a normal basis, at least 2 times a day after the stairs, starting tomorrow even. Or well, it would start tomorrow, but the weather says it's supposed to rain for the next few days. We'll settle for the stairs and walk in the living room with the patio shades open until then, at least.

Her doctor got her antidepressants, which is probably why she was in such a great mood today, and honestly? I'm so glad her doctor saw mom needed them. We got so much of our stuff done today. She's really looking forward to just going straight back to work full-time, even. And so am I, it'll be good for her. I don't think it'll be longer before I can trust her to take care of herself again so I can find my own job.

Her leg was much less swollen for most of the morning, but then it started going back up some again tonight. I forgot we had compression socks for her to wear-- probably for this exact reason. So we're going to start having her wear that, probably for maybe an hour at 2-3 times a day or less, and increase it if we need to while she exercises to see if it starts going down. I'm going to believe stalwartly that even the leg swelling will resolve itself as long as mom takes good care of her body through diet and exercise. This doesn't mean I'm going to ignore any new issues as they come up-- far be it from me to do something like that. If something happens, I'll do everything in my power to fix it, if I can't it's up to the doctors. I'm just going to try and stress less about the currently existing issues. Doesn't do anyone any favors. Unless I wanted to start growing gray hair before my 30's. Then I'd be doing myself a big favor.

I definitely feel like I haven't done a stellar job caring for mom, but at the end of the day I'm just happy she finally feels good. Like truly good. It makes the progress we've made feel so much better, so much more tangible. I'll get back to you guys as soon as mom finishes talking with her boss to see how her work hours will pan out!