Hi, I've been keeping up with texts as best I can, but between texts to me, texts to my mother's phone, facebook messages and every other means we have to bother each other in the digital age, it's getting to be a lot. I'm a fancy guy with his own website, so this is the next best thing. I'll update it whenever I can. If you don't see an update, there's nothing new going on...she's either asleep or watching MSNBC. Feel free to give this URL out to friends and family.
I'll also note that she's been extraordinarily ambivalent about even looking at the phone or ipad. Seeing as how both barely left her hand prior to this, I'm as surprised as you. I'm not really sure what that's about. I'd say don't bother calling for the moment, she literally just doesn't pay attention to it. My first job after I got to the hospital last week was to clean out her email (bouncing messages bc Spectrum is a dick) and VM (full bc she gets dozens of spam calls a day). I ask her every day "do you want me to call anyone so you can speak to them?" She always says no. Don't worry, I'm sure you're still special.
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The story so far:
Pat fell and broke 3 ribs. She was in the hospital for a week, initially for pain management and then because her sodium was precipitously low. She was discharged to the same rehab facility my father was in and where he died. The plan is there for a couple weeks and then onto whereever is next, whether home or assisted living. She knows the choice is completely hers and that I support whatever she chooses. She's on a lot of Tylenol for pain and is being aggressively monitored to watch for any signs of Autism.
2025.11.25 Tuesday:
Today we had the meeting with the social worker and her PT lead. They both felt like she's making good progress. She still very much wants to go home, which I don't think is the best idea, but if she's adamant and the folks at the center think she can manage with some help at home, I can't force her not to. We discussed adding more problem solving to her OT so she can manage complex tasks more effectively now that she's much more limited.
She seems to have stabilized generally. Her blood numbers are far better, which means the meds to suppress the reflux which caused the bleeding seem to be working. In the short term she is still off her blood thinners but I'd imagine long term the best idea would be to get her back on them once again, knowing as we do her history with strokes and heart attack.
The projected date for her to bounce out of there is 12.9. We'll see if that actually happens. Before I returned to NYC I disassembled her bed in anticipation of a hospital bed going in there...her regular bed was so high I had trouble even sitting on it. I was hoping to make some more accommodations like rearranging her bedroom so the bed is on the shared wall with the bathroom (meaning a shorter walk) but as you all know she is very controlling, very stubborn, and very resistant to change, so she was resistant to all of that.
I'm now back in NY with an extended show run through January with one day off, so she's on her own for a while. To her friends reading this, you all have been amazing and I couldn't do any of this without you. I don't know that she's gone more than a day or two without at least one visitor and I know many days she's tired from all the people stopping by.
2025.11.24 Monday:
After 2.5 straight weeks of work I finally have a couple days off, so here I am. My mother seems better, a little more with it. Definitely more argumentative, which makes the 3.5 hour drive in traffic feel even more worthwhile. Her hemoglobin counts are improved, her heart function is not.
She's still weird with the phone. I asked if she wanted me to call a number of you and put her on the phone, she said no. She says texting is an issue because of her sight, but she was texting fine before the fall so I have some feelings about how true that is.
We have a meeting tomorrow with her case manager, and I'm not sure whether this is a progress report or for discharge planning. I don't feel like it's safe for her to go home, many of her friends agree, so we'll see what happens then. After that I am working shows every day until January, so I have to go back to NYC. The show must go on, and for the holidays that becomes even more true - everyone wants to watch football on Thanksgiving weekend and go to shows during xmas, and that means my friends and I work all those days.
2025.11.07 Friday:
Yesterday was a travel and wrapping up day for me. My mother spent the day resting and getting some PT. If you visit, it's very important to let her do things for herself...feeding, reaching for things. If she wants any measure of independence, she needs to struggle and build up strength. I called her and watched her answer the phone yesterday, but for whatever reason it seemed to take a lot of effort. If you do call, please keep your messages short. She's getting dozens of spam calls a day, and every one of them leaves a long message. Her voicemail will fill up quickly.
However she's doing, she's certainly doing better than the dementia-addled pedophile-in-chief who, during a press conference in the Oval Office yesterday stood at his desk and shit himself while staring off into space after a man passed out and most everyone else in the room rushed to help.
2025.11.05 Wednesday:
2pm: She's all settled in and was eating some lunch when I left. She's not happy with her new room or roommate, and handled it with her usual shining attitude and sparkling wit. I have more laundry to do and desperately need a nap. Text me if you'd like to pay her a visit and I'll give you her room number or you can ask at the desk.
10am: Pat is now out of the hospital and on her way back to rehab. If you're planning on visiting, just a reminder that she will have a new room assignment, so check in at the front desk. Before we left we sat together for a little while and I asked why she seemed to have an aversion to her phone and iPad. Other than the fact that she's having trouble seeing, she didn't have a good answer. I went through a list of people and asked me if she wanted me to call most of who'll be viewing this page, she said no. So, I tried. Best I can do. If you're annoyed, just imagine being her son who lives 130 miles away and who will have no way of being in touch with her.
Also, holy cow am I proud of my city for rejecting yet another sexual predator and the billionaires and electing an actual man of the people!
2025.11.04 Tuesday:
Pat is currently in the hospital. On Sunday at the rehab facility she reported chest pains, was taken to the ER and found to have hemoglobin counts low enough that they gave her a couple units of blood. This morning she was given a third. The current working theory is that she has a hiatal hernia which is causing reflux, which has in turn caused bleeding in her esophagus. They're working on keeping it controlled via medication to keep her as comfortable as possible. If you're local you can visit her, but be warned she's very tired...she was up all night Sunday (I was there for 7 hours, it was hectic til midnight) and has been on a liquid diet since.
If all goes according to plan, she'll be discharged back to rehab tomorrow. Her room assignment there will change, so if you'd visited her previously you might be surprised to find a totally different person when you now walk in the room. The front desk will have her new room assignment.
You've reached the end of the updates. Still hungry for some Gallagher goodness? Here's some of my past work:
