Sunday Socialite!

Grandma had a busy visitor schedule today!

In the morning she had Physical Therapy.  Grandpa was there for about an hour or so before my husband (Jason) and I arrived at maybe 11:45.  Joyce came after lunch.  Then there was the Speech and Swallowing therapist, a lady from church (Marion) with the flowers from the service that morning, the President of the Heritage Harbor chorus grandma sings in (Maggie), and their church pastor (Bill Hathaway)!  And I believe Sally (Dolley's daughter) was going to visit this evening after we left, too.  I told Grandma that one of the nice things about being in the hospital is that she's probably seen more of us family in the last week than she has since Christmas, and all of her friends come to her! She thought that was pretty amusing.

Keep in mind I didn't see Grandma Saturday and this was the first time I saw her since Tuesday, but I thought she looked great today.  Tremendous progress from last Tuesday, and even Grandpa thought she was a little better than Saturday.  Fantastic last few days in contrast to the not-so-great Wednesday and Thursday.

Vitals are stable, medication for infection is working.  Nurse didn't say anything about her temperature or BP today, just that "everything looks good" so I imagine that includes her fever having gone away. Yay!

Grandma was a chatterbox today!  She is talking longer and more clearly.  Where earlier she was only speaking in short sentences or a few words at a time, she was speaking in fuller sentences, a few at a time today.  She continues to follow the conversations in the room, looks around the room pretty easily now, and stays awake and alert for longer periods of time.

Joyce is going to give the Discharge Coordination nurse a call tomorrow to see when they think Grandma might be moved to that rehab facility in Heritage Harbor and check with the facility Admissions lady about what else needs to be done on our end to ensure there is a room available for her when that time comes, but that is at least several days off I think.

Speech and Swallowing update

• This therapist comes in every day to see how Grandma is doing with speaking and with swallowing, since the muscles on her right (stroke) side are a bit weaker than her left, and it will take some practice for her to work back up to "normal."
• Grandma was given a little sponge on a stick and asked to "brush" her teeth and tongue with it and she did this very well.  I'm sure that felt pretty good!
• The therapist worked with Grandma to eat some applesauce on her own and swallowing.  She did great, and the therapist says she is cleared for snacks (e.g. applesauce, pudding, mashed potatoes, mashed-up banana, other puréed food, honey-thick liquids) whenever she wants them! (So long as a nurse is around.) Another milestone accomplished!
• Since she appears to be swallowing pretty well (acknowledging that her right side is weaker) the next step is to work on her endurance.  That is, Grandma needs to be able to keep up the energy and use of her muscles to eat a meal.  When she is at the point where she can eat her meals and meet her caloric needs on her own, then they can take the NG tube out of her nose, but until then they want to make sure she is getting enough calories by being fed through that tube.
• In a few days they will do a swallowing xray to check how her throat muscles are doing.

Attitude

When asked how she's doing, Grandma was pretty upbeat today.  "I'm not complaining at all," she said. She noted repeatedly, "Most people don't make it to this age," and that she felt pretty positively about how things were going.  Although she doesn't remember everything fromt he first few days of her time in the hospital, she is encouraged when we remind her of how far she has come, comparing earlier in the week with where she is now. "Even I am surprised," she said, in reference to how well she was making progress with everything.  She added that "some people have this stroke and they don't live through it," and that others "don't do as well after," trying to keep things in perspective.  Grandpa said he reminded her this morning that they have been together for so many years and he would like to continue with that... and Grandma agreed.  Considering how she sometimes gets depressed by her limitations with getting older, this is great to hear and I think it is good to keep her thinking positively. <3

Cute anecdotes:

• Sometime when I was out of the room for a moment, Joyce asked Grandma if she was interested in having some music brought in sometime, and Grandma started SINGING. "I make my own music!" (I'm so sad I missed this!)
• Grandma was so talkative today that the Speech and Swallowing Therapist at some point had to tell Grandma, "I'd love to hear more of your stories, but we have to get through this test...!" Sounds like the Lena we all know, chatting people up!
• At the end of her visit, the Speech and Swallowing therapist assured Grandma, "Believe me, you won't have this forever, things will definitely improve," to which Grandma responded emphatically, "Yeah, I hope not!!"
• I announced to Grandma that my mom had text messaged me asking, "How is the Queen of Everything doing today??" Grandma thought that was funny.  I told her that I contemplated bringing in the tiara I wore for my bachelorette weekend in May so that everyone would know that "the Queen is here" but none of us were expecting Grandma to say, "Nah, don't really need that... Everyone knows it anyway!" I thought Grandpa might fall over, he was laughing so hard. :)
• We put on the TV in her room for a little while and came across a channel that was showing a motocross race, which I guess Grandma had never really seen before.  She kind of shrieked at the crazy jumps the riders were making.  So sweet to see her excited by this.
• As we were leaving, I asked Grandpa if there was anything he needed help with at home before we left for Virginia, like dishes, laundry, or cleaning.  He said no, but confided, "In all of our years together, I have never had to do the laundry. Your uncle John the other day showed me how to do it, and even made some labels on the machine, 'Step 1', 'Step 2'... And actually, it's kind of easy... I got everything washed, ran the dryer, sorted things...!" He seemed kind of proud of himself. I told him, "Yeah this must make you appreciate all the things Grandma has taken care of all these years!" He agreed, said it was kind of humbling. :)  <3

I think that's about all I have.  I have some pictures myself, and Grandpa just sent me his... I think I'll post those tomorrow.

Thanks again so much for all the prayers, positive thoughts, good vibes, etc.  I do pass your messages along and Grandma is just so humbled to hear about everyone who is thinking of her!

-Christina