( First posted on 2007-04-03)

My mother has been in an assisted living home for sometime now. The first home was not the best for her. Most of the staff was low pay, just out of school. Once they had a little training, they would find another job and be gone.

It wasn’t long before, mom was making regular trips to the hospital for urinary tract infections, strokes, or possibly slight heart attacks.

About 3 years ago, her last trip to the hospital was so bad that I didn’t really think she would make it out of the hospital. The doctor overseeing her care advised that we find a higher level of care faciity and suggested another within the same town.

What a difference that has made!

When she arrived at the new facility, she wasn’t even swallowing her food well on her own. To expect her to chew the food and swallow it was asking too much. Now she chews and swallows her food on her own. She gets around much better and is more conversational than she was during the last months of her stay at the original unit.

The new facility is more like a hospital. Every one acts professionally. The place is very clean and only occasionally do you detect odors that were a regular occurrence at the initial place.

Mother just had her 94th birthday. We celebrated with cake and ice cream. She really enjoyed all of us being there.

Hope there are many more to come.