No question, but update and venting.

Mom spent three days in hospital due to dizziness, probably caused by not eating for three days. She told the EMTs she had stopped taking her meds because didn’t want to take them anymore. She also said she fell in the house, with only a scraped knee - nothing broken or other injury. Many tests later and a week in the hospital, she is healthy as a horse, considering bp and pre diabetic meds not taken for who knows how long, as she doesn’t recall.

She was gifted with a Medicare bed in a very nice facility for rehab late Saturday night. Because she cannot hear and won’t accept the thought of a hearing aid, she may not have heard doctors, nurses and I say she needs rehab to strengthen legs and hopefully dispelling her fear of getting around.

she was engaged on entry to rehab, enjoyed the attention by staffs and did very well with PT eval Sunday, which I happened to be there for. Yesterday, she used some of her personal care products and gave the ‘okay’ for the clothes I brought for her. Took her to a cafe area, we had snacks, engaged with some of the staff and I wheeled her to the library where she picked out a magazine and a we returned to her room.

Today, once I finally reached Mom and after saying hello to me, she just stopped talking. I talked normally, then increased my volume a few times, but not another syllable left her lips. I started to think the phone dropped, but I didn’t hear anything like that. I could hear the woman in the next bed, too. Finally, I said that 3pm was bingo and that someone would come around for her if she wanted to go.

I had not planned on visiting her today, as I had work and visited yesterday. I called the nurse‘s station who said she was lying in bed and had not eaten. Then appeared her phone was off the hook, as I got some weird message like the call couldn’t go through. The facility is a nice 10 minute drive so I hopped in the car with some things she had asked for yesterday - tissues and so forth.

Mom was laying in her bed, eyes closed and didn’t open when I arrived. Asked if she could hear me and said she didn’t want any conversation. I tried various subjects, but had a tens jaw and kept her eyes closed. I left to get a break and returned a short while later. Still in the same position with phone off the hook and lunch untouched, I asked if she would talk to me. Saying nothing, I said if she needed me she could let the nurse know and that I was leaving her items requested nearby. No response. Nurse said she tried talking to her. Mom said if she needed the nurse, she would call.

I’m kinda broken hearted because it’s my mom, after all. But it’s the way my parents lived. If they didn’t like something you did or if you disagreed with them on ANYTHING, they would tune me (and everyone else) out. No way but their way.