Christina's Sunday 4-14 Pictures

Lunch

Happy to be in the sunshine!

Found a forsythia bush to pose with -- Grandma struggled a moment to remember the name of them, but did recall that they have several of these bushes on the side of their house.

Cute chat with church friend Julie, who has been at HHRC (nursing home portion, not rehab) for two years.

Sunday 4-14 with The Purple Ladies

Grandpa's update:

Lena started the day in a depressed mood, but Andrei & Joyce & Christina, as well as the nice weather managed to cheer her up. 

She did not eat much at breakfast, but commented favorably on the lunch & dinner. 

Thanks very much, Joyce & Christina, both Lena & I appreciated your visit and your help very much and Andrei, you are always one of grandma's favorite people to see!

** A reminder from Christina: If you click on the pictures they will open in a large slideshow view so you can see them better. **

Lunch: Beef, mashed potatoes, peas, and in the dish: dessert (marble cake, pureed).  Grandma has about the same meal as others at HHRC, but hers is just pureed.

Note that we're all wearing purple -- completely unplanned!

Visiting Julie (friend from church who has been a long-time patient at HH rehab) -- Grandma was surprised to learn Julie is only 66, yet has been at HHRC for two years, and yet Grandma is 90 and will probably eventually walk and be sent home!

Dinner: Chicken (or Turkey?) salad, beets, tomato soup, and I'm not sure what was in the small bowl. Apple sauce maybe.

Thursday 4-11 and Pictures

Some news I forgot to include from last Thursday. From Grandpa:

When I came in this morning about 9:00, mom was happy to see me, but complained she had been awakened at 6:00 ("That's the middle of the niiiight!") to go to the doctor. She claimed she had gone there, but as the wait was long she had given up & gone back. 

Anyhow she claimed also that at breakfast she had eaten a whole banana! I could not believe this, but later saw the speech therapist who confirmed that this was true! The therapist said that this was quite a milestone, but she stressed that such eating of rather solid food should only be in her (the therapist's) presence only. 

Then mom settled back in a rather noncomittal mood, leaving uncertain where the day would go, but i tried to liven her up with some music, and when the therapists came she agreed to be cooperative. 

After some exercises in bed with the one therapist (lifting the arms, and also with a 2 lb weight), they helped her move into the chair, and she helped rolling the chair to the exercise room where they had her stand up in a contraption she had been in before. She seemed pleased with the accomplishment but again scared them with stating she felt dizzy and breaking out in a sweat. However, her vital signs were OK and they took her to the middle of the room for a rest while they observed her sitting there with a rather absent look. However, she then suddenly broke the spell by saying, "Can anybody tell a good joke?" I then suggested she sing something she had composed, which she did, a happy tune. 

The PT (Annabelle) then worked for a while with her on exercises of her right leg, and indicated she was satisfied. The PT asked me however to discuss with Dr Chopra this frequent almost seeming to black out. 

Mom & I then sat in the room for at least another half an hour until she asked to be back in the bed which seemed deserved after the good work she had done. 

While we sat there, this doctor W (?) came by and said that he was making a slight change in her medicine, so as to correct her soda level which he stated was 129 and should be <135. 

All in all this was a good morning.

Although not overly enthusiastic, Lena agreed to be moved to the chair (4/11/13)

With her left arm & left foot she helped move the chair to the exercise room 

Resting from having stood up (assisted in special contraption)

Practicing lifting right leg

Lifting right knee

Saturday 4/13 and Pics

Per an email from Grandpa:

• When he arrived, Grandma still had her breakfast in front of her.  She had eaten some of the oatmeal but had no banana as there is no speech therapist on weekends. She seemed to feel good, and when the nurses came to clean her up she agreed readily to be transferred to the chair.
• Jonathan arrived, a favorite physical therapist, and this morning he did two new things with her.
• "He had her work on the NuStep bicycle. She was at first hesitant, but improved as she went along. As you all know, mom is often a kind of combination of being negative and a moment later cocky. When he installed her in that machine she gave her usual talk of her right leg not having been any more of use even before the stroke. But once she got going, she got better & better, and then said that such machines were below her dignity. Anyway she did more than 10 minutes on it."  -- Grandma is so funny!!
• "He had her stand up between 2 bars where she supported herself with her left arm on a bar. At first when she did this, she acted like she might faint, an experience other PTs have had with her. However she recovered almost immediately and indicated that she had had a tremendous fear she could not do this. But she tried this a second time and did better."
• After all this she was tired, and about 11 she went back to lie on her bed and take a nap. 
• Today is kind of cool, so we'll see how she feels this afternoon about going outside. 

She did more than 10 minutes

Standing up with help by Jonathan

Monday and Tuesday Pictures from Grandpa

Monday - Grandma with therapist & nurse aide

Tuesday, being delivered at Sajak Bldg for appointment with Dr, Farhadi, neurologist.

Lena at HH Rehab back from visit with neurologist Dr Farhadi

In bed after tiresome day, entertaining PTs and others with a song, which she stated was her own composition

Some other notes from Grandpa not covered in my mom's message:

• Both yesterday & today, Grandma was too tired to do therapy in the exercise room, but she was still able to to have good sessions in her bed, practicing sit-up, and moving her right arm & leg.
• The neurologist also stated that the pain of which she has complained in her right thigh muscles, etc. cannot be caused by the stroke but probably results from not having used those muscles much in a while (I believe this answers a question Lizzy once raised).
• The doctor was very pleasant and the transportation by HH vehicle was very professional, but in Lena's current condition this was relatively a pretty tiresome experience, and she was happy to be moved in her bed after this was over.

Tuesday 4-9 Pictures from Rosemary

The delivery van. Had a nice wheelchair elevator on the other side, very snazzy.

Mom settled in her snuggly bed.

Also from my mom's report: "After mom's PT session, she started singing a nice song with no words. It was pretty, it sounded very spiritual.  She said she made the song up a long time ago. Mom still has a very good voice.  She said this song was a happy uplifting song. That made me very happy too."

Sunday 4-7 Pictures

One of her favorite nurses-aids had put her in the chair 

Enjoying the sunny weather

Visiting a friend who has been a patient in this Rehab Center for years

Back outside again 

Just relaxing in the sun for awhile (Grandpa's Subaru in the background)

Posing with Grandpa's Subaru

Saturday 4-6 "Mom's Best Day"

From: GRANDPA

Subject: 8 iPhotos 4/6/13 at HH Rehab
Date: April 6, 2013 9:08:37 PM EDT

To me this was perhaps mom's best day.

It started with the arrival of Jonathan in her room. He and mom bond very well together and he inspires her to try her best. He took her outside (the weather though sunny, was nevertheless kind of chilly so we bundled her up). He had her find various things such as a yellow bush, a white truck, a bird feeder, etc. He also had her do some exercises such as turning her head, pointing her right foot forward, etc, small advances perhaps, but boosting her feelings of accomplishment, making her remark various times that she was "amazed" she could do these things, which she could not do before. After she was finished with Jonathan, we wheeled her around for a little longer outside, until she noticed she was getting cold, so we then took her around inside for awhile, until she indicated she was ready for a rest. In the meanwhile, Rosemary had arrived and pretty soon after that the three of us left mom to take a nap & we went to the house for some lunch & moving Elizabeth's stuff out to the car as she had completed her one week's stay with me, as my care taker, cook, laundry & dish washer operator, chauffeur, telephone operator, grocery shopper, and advisor, in addition to joining with me in our activities at that rehab center, interacting with mom & the personnel there. (There were several evenings that both Lizzy & I were thoroughly exhausted, & in addition she had to do her work for her job).

After we came back from lunch, Mom had rested, and she was able to enjoy various Utube music videos on her iBook & on Rosemary's mini iPad.

Pretty soon after Rosemary & Lizzy left to return to Virginia, Sally Baldwin arrived, & mom spent a happy & animated hour & a half with her, as Sally is also one of mom' s favorite people.

When I left Mom it was about 5:30, and before I left she suggested I go to church tomorrow morning.

I thought today was such a good day, because she was alert, happy, & optimistic all day with positive thoughts about her progress, and the real possibility that she may lick this thing eventually.

Working with therapist Jonathan (making her find various things such as "yellow bush" 

Sticking out her right foot

Pointing with right arm

Relaxing back in bed

Music videos on Rosemary's iPad

All smiles!

Sally visiting

Sally brought flowers & magazines for Grandma

A trip OUTSIDE! #2

A trip OUTSIDE!

Today the DC area is seeing some gorgeous spring weather (60°F where I am in Reston; online I read that Annapolis is at 62°F!) and it looks like GRANDMA GOT TO ENJOY IT today! See this adorable picture of Grandma outside in the beautiful sunshine~!

Photos courtesy of Elizabeth, reporting from Annapolis. <3

Friday 4-5 Picture

Getting ready for a nap... Long and busy day so far! (~1 PM)

Thursday visit to Amish Market

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Elizabeth
Date: Thu, Apr 4, 2013 at 12:03 PM
Subject: Grandpa and I went to Amish Market

We bought some apple fritters to eat while visiting gramma. Grandma is have a pretty good day so far, bit she says she feels a little blue. We are going to give her lots of love today

Sent from my iPhone

Wednesday 4-3 PT Pictures

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: GRANDPA
Date: April 3, 2013, 8:33:51 PM EDT
Subject: 5 photos therapy mom 4/3/13

Again Mom had kind of a slow start. When I arrived mom was sitting in her chair with that Omnivision machine attached to her right leg. She said they had awakened her from her sleep too early for some kind of a test. Actually I heard later from the personnel that they knew nothing of a test but the speech therapist had been there early, and the speech therapist told me mom had done "marvellous", eating 80% of her oatmeal. Pt's had installed mom in the chair and connected the machine.

Anyway after that machine was disconnected, mom sat in the chair quite listless & unresponsive, but interested in getting back in bed. So I got some nurses to do that. So she rested quietly in bed while I tried to liven her up with some music. Then the two physical therapists returned and were surprised to find mom in bed. They seemed annoyed at that and said things like sitting in the chair for periods of time was all part of the therapy. It seemed allmost reluctantly that they moved Mom back to the chair.

They then rolled mom to the therapy area where they supported mom practicing sitting on a kind of platform like a large bed and also brought in a mirror so she could see herself, and she also practiced grabbing objects like cones and passing those on to the pt. When this was over, they rolled her back to the room.

After sitting there for a while, I convinced mom she might like to be wheeled around various accessible areas, and that's what we did and she enjoyed, even meeting another patient from our community,who was also in a wheel chair.

Yesterday mom had done some of the moving of her chair herself but today she did not feel like doing that. Even so, she enjoyed this roaming around the place very much, but finally she said she wanted to be again put back in bed. So we found two nurses who did that, and soon after, about 12:30 we left and mom agreed to to take a nap.

This pretty well completed mom's activities for the day.

Lizzy & I then went home for lunch & did some chores till we returned to mom sometime after 4:00.

The remainder of our stay was spent chit chatting with her about the events of the day, etc etc, until it was time that we were going home for dinner. Mom seemed very content with the way the day had gone.

Back in her room after PT

Talking to Lizzy