the rehab

[part three]

Visits at the hospital were frequent. Christmas was a little different this year. More time spent at the hospital, less time spent in the chaos that the holiday often brings. Friday finally arrived and Consuelo was transferred to Compass Rehab. Her room was beautiful! Homey. Warm. Inviting. Comfortable. We could not be any happier with this decision. We went back to her apartment to pack a bag with clothes and other personal effects. This would be home for the next several weeks and we wanted her surrounded with familiar things. She was anxious to read a book, so we selected a few from the library in the Center.

We continued to visit several times a day. It was GO time and she had a lot of work to do. Many of our pep talks seemed to be in vain. She was not giving rehab her best effort. She was tired. She slept more than she needed to. We encouraged her every time we saw her. Another week passed and we did not see much progress.

Two days into the New Year, we received an early morning phone call from Compass. There was concern about her behavior. She was slurring her speech and not very responsive. The biggest worry was a stroke. It was agreed that she needed to return to the hospital. We found ourselves, once again, in a familiar room in the ER. Several tests later, it was determined that the Urinary Track Infection she developed earlier had progressed. The worse news... Pneumonia was developing. She was admitted back into the hospital for treatment.