I hope your mother is in regular touch with a doctor? I see mine every two weeks and that seems about right for me. Leave it too long and the head talk starts questioning if something else is wrong, and often it isn't. It just takes a long time. Still its good to be seeing a professional regularly to monitor the progress and tell you you're on track.

Bring any new side effects to the doctor. Most are just part of the recovery, but most are treatable as well. In particular keep on top of pain. She shouldn't be trying to tough out pain, it interferes with healing.