Physical Therapy and Speech & Swallowing Therapy.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Thursday 3-28
It's been a busy week but I'll do my best to get some posts up about the last several days as soon as I can. Here's last Thursday; I'll cover Friday and the weekend tomorrow. -Christina
My mom/Rosemary visited this day. She said Grandma was sleepy but not all out groggy like she is on some of her tired days.
Physical therapy came midday and put some electric muscle stimulator things on Grandma's legs to help her leg muscles work again. She did not like it and that it felt terrible, trying to tell the therapist to take them off...! After about 20 minutes (while mom and grandpa tried to distract her from the irritation of the treatment), the therapist took grandma to the physical therapy room, where they worked on a number of upper body exercises in front of the mirror..
Mom reports that while the nursing staff at the rehab center are passable, the physical therapy staff are excellent and very sweet with Grandma. This is great!
Grandma occasionally has a bit of trouble with remembering the year, her age, how long it's been since she had the stroke, etc. She apparently told one therapist that she has not used her right side (arm or leg) for 4 or 5 years... When you explain to her her error she usually understands but sometimes questions -- she asked Grandpa the other night her age and when he told her 90 she said there "was something not right" about that.
After physical therapy (about 30 or 40 minutes) they took her back to the room, she sat in the wheel chair awhile longer, and then asked to get back in to bed since she could not keep her head up for much longer. Grandma does not have the muscle strength to manage her right side very well, but it is improving... just after PT she was particularly worn out.
Again, mom moved the chairs to keep Grandma's attention on her right side to encourage her to use those muscles and develop that strength.
Speech and Swallowing therapist came with a tray of food! Pureed carrots, pureed beans and rice, apple sauce and honey milk [I'm not sure what this is... -Christina]. Grandma did great and probably ate about 1/4 of the food there including drinking a sip or two of the honey milk from the cup. Yay!
Grandma does continue to have some issues with short term memory. For instance, she will ask for something from the house (shoes, blanket), but when Grandpa brings it she asks, "What did you bring that for?" Also, while she may have a really good visit one day, she won't necessarily remember much the next day, which probably is a significant contributor to her feelings of loneliness. We'll have to keep an eye on this. Apparently this is pretty common with a stroke where Grandma's was, but we'll have to see how this develops; hopefully it improves.
Grandpa has also mentioned that in a lot of pictures, Grandma looks just like she was before the stroke, which I think is due to Grandma regaining control of her facial muscles; you'll notice she doesn't have as much of the right-side droop as she had right after the stroke. (Yay, good job Grandma!) But as Grandpa also cautioned, the pictures also could give a misleading idea of Grandma's condition. She does pretty well, but she is still has a long road to get back to "normal."
Grandpa has also mentioned that in a lot of pictures, Grandma looks just like she was before the stroke, which I think is due to Grandma regaining control of her facial muscles; you'll notice she doesn't have as much of the right-side droop as she had right after the stroke. (Yay, good job Grandma!) But as Grandpa also cautioned, the pictures also could give a misleading idea of Grandma's condition. She does pretty well, but she is still has a long road to get back to "normal."
Overall, a good day. Subdued, but good. Hooray!
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Wednesday 3-27 Pictures
Pictures from Grandpa
Physical therapist & occupational therapist working with Grandma
Grandma listening very attentively to a paper Joyce was reading to her
Grandma reading a card from Linda Barbour a friend from choir
Wednesday Was a Better Day
Joyce sent an update yesterday afternoon (1 PM) that was great! See below (with some minor edits here and there):
When dad had left mom yesterday afternoon [Tuesday], she was sleeping deep, after a morning sleeping pretty deep through just about everything.So yeah, very good news all around. So glad to have this great update from Joyce. :)
Well, we got to dad's about 5 PM and he wanted to go to the store, so Andrei and I went over to the rehab.
Mom was awake in bed looking sort of up at the TV. She responded well when we got there, and was immediately talkative. She was very bright eyed, very lucid and clear. Her face had no droop, and she in fact looked fabulous.
I asked her some questions about the day, and she didn't remember much, but was very aware that she is out for periods of time. She called it "off the map". She talked on and on about how amazing it all is, that she is alive, that she can do what she can, but also how it is that she can tune out like that, and then come back and understand everything. She explained this very clearly. She was able to say that she is very much in the now. I asked her questions we have asked before- date, place, where she lives, kind of car she has, who is Lizzy's fiance, where does John live, etc etc. She got everything right. She seemed in awe as though she feels herself coming out of a deep sleep. That's the way she sounded and the things she said were so coherant. I brought in some lace with some French writing on it, and she read it and translated it. Overall, just very remarkable for me, but it seemed as though she realized this too. I mean it. She did mention in the beginning that she didn't really like it there though, because she said often she was alone and no one ever came to see her. She said she couldn't do anything about it, if she was cold or wanted to contact someone. That part she still couldn't get a handle on.
Anyway, dad showed up and she was sooooo happy- really excited to see him. Very cute. Throughout the evening, we reminded her that people had come to see her such as the doc and the pastor, and she did not remember. She is aware of the fact that she cannot remember this tho- and when I ask if that concerns her, she says yes. I remind her that its going to get better, and to keep in her head that we are all, visiting all the time. After awhile, she was tired and decided to go- the nurses tuck her in.
We came back this morning [Wednesday]. She was awake. A little subdued, but still really with it. Almost like she is playing a game with us- like she knows the answers. Anyway, she had on some electrodes- they were doing muscle stimulation with her- a treatment that sends currents to her muscles - helping the brain to make new pathways to her muscles, to them moving. This was on her right upper arm. Anyway, the nurses cleaned her up and and PTs come to the room.
Together, the two girls got her up in a wheelchair- she did well- now drooping and falling over. Then a session of almost an hour I bet, of leg exercises, arm and feet exercises, neck and shoulder. And sit up straight. She was unbelievable attentive and successfull. The PTs were thrilled and complementary. We thought she was pooped, but then the speech therapist (ST) came by quickly to do come swallowing with her. We got her apple juice and yougart. You would not believe how enjoyable this was to watch. She was totally awake and cooperative. She laughed at our cheers and her progress. She had about 8 spoonfulls of yogurt and 6 sips of juice, of which she held the cup at the end. The ST asked about her food preferences and said in the end, that by the end of the week, she thinks she might be able to get a tray! She is coming by tomorrow to eat a watery lunch with her. We were able to share the info about how she eats very slow, and her issues with that. Nevertheless, the ST was impressed. After all of that, she was tired, but not that zoned-out tired.
The nurse aid came in, and mom was put to bed for a nap. We have left to have lunch at home. So far, so good!
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Tuesday 3-26 Pictures
Grandma in physical therapy in the morning.
Working on bending and stretching legs.
Feeling kind of tired after physical therapy in the morning.
After being woken from a really deep sleep!
(Sometimes I wish I could sleep that deeply...!)
While this was another pretty sleep day, hopefully Grandma has some more alert days ahead. This weekend is Easter and it would be wonderful to see her happy and alert for that. <3
Tuesday 3-26
Grandpa said that in the morning Grandma was kind of sleepy and not saying much.
Two therapists (Susan and another lady) dressed her in pants and a tee shirt, put her in one of those narrow straight back wheelchairs, rolled her to the exercise room, and withed with Grandma on bending her legs. Grandma had trouble holding her head up, was kind of tired. Grandma was able to see Grandpa's car out a window in the exercise room. :) Eventually, Grandma wanted to go back to bed so the nurse helped Grandpa take her back and get her settled, and she took a nap.
When Grandpa returned from lunch, Grandma was still sleeping.
The speech therapist came, but they couldn't wake Grandma so she said she would come back. Grandpa put on some loud music, and tried to get Grandma to wake up, but she still slept...! The therapist came, and then a nurse, as everyone started to get a bit worried. Her vital signs were fine. Ultimately there were about 5 people in the room (including the Chief of Nursing Grandpa thinks), unable to wake Grandma, and then someone tried opening her eye and shining a light in it... which finally woke Grandma up to everyone's relief. When this was later explained to Grandma, she said she felt bad about it, didn't know that was going on, but Grandpa reassured her and said that everyone was just happy that she woke up.
Grandpa put on some André Rieu music (cute classical stuff Grandma likes) and kind of danced with the laptop to the music, back and forth. Grandma I'm told said to Grandpa, "You better not do that." Grandpa asked why not, to which Grandma said "you are not line with it," meaning Grandpa's rhythm was off. Ha! They watched some more music videos on YouTube (great for Grandma; she loves music so much and I'm sure it helps with her brain's recovery) and then Grandma took another nap.
Unfortunately no speech/swallowing therapy again today.
The dietitian came in to introduce herself; Grandma would have been interested in this (since she keeps up on nutrition, etc.) but she is still asleep. The dietitian's only message was that Grandma's feeding has been adjusted for the high blood sugar -- I guess this is something that has come up recently but I'm not sure.
It's difficult to put together these overview posts from all the emails and messages and other snips of information I get. I usually write these just before I shower and go to bed and sometimes I'm so tired and I just rephrase and edit these emails so I apologize if the posts are sometimes a bit choppy. Hopefully at least gives you an idea of how things are going... It's a lot easier to write when I've visited in person, which I might be able to do this weekend.
Thanks. -Christina
Thanks. -Christina
Monday 3-25
Grandma was awake when Grandpa arrived early in the morning.
Physical Therapist (Michelle Wilson) came in for an evaluation. She had Grandma sit up with support, bend her arms and legs, etc. Her right side is still weak, but hopefully that will improve with time.
Two other ladies from the facility came in: Tiene A. Gruber, Director of Nursing and another (Director of Social?) Grandpa said one of these women came regarding Joyce's phone call and said she would investigate the issue the day before with the improper meal. Grandpa said both of these ladies were very friendly. (Joyce says she spoke with Missy Epps, the hospital RN and then Lisa McDonald, a Director of Nursing, maybe at the hospital? So many names to keep track of, but I'm putting them in there in case we later need to know who spoke to us about what...)
A nurse's aid came midmorning to clean up Grandma, and help her into pants and a tee shirt! I'm sure it was nice to have some real clothes on for once...
Grandma took a nap for awhile after that while Grandpa met with Marcia Matthews, Admissions Coordinator. Grandpa discussed with her that we had heard Fairfield was better but were giving HH a try to see how it goes because of its closeness to the house. She said someone from the Heritage Harbor Health Group (another medical facility where G+G have received checkups from time to time) would be there Wednesday for some kind of meeting.
At some point, Grandpa asked Grandma about putting on the TV, but Grandma shouted back, "No, I thought we were going home!" When Grandpa explained that she was not ready yet, she said "why not, why can't we go home," and Grandpa very gently explained that they have to first make sure you can walk, etc. So then they watched Grandma's show, "The Price is Right."
Not much else to report from Monday; Grandpa said they kind of sat around "waiting for things to happen," but not much. I've been trying to think of some things Grandma might enjoy doing on days she's a little more alert... She's not able to do her cross stitch, she doesn't like to read or watch too much tv... Hmm. Let me know if you think of anything.
Sunday 3-24 Evening Pictures
Sunday afternoon, Grandma was moved to the Heritage Harbor (HH) rehab center again. Those nurses there, well, I haven't seen for myself, but they seem to be a pretty flakey. (Good thing Grandma has Grandpa, my mom, my aunt, and other visitors staying on top of these people! Man!)
Apparently there was some sort of mixup -- When Grandpa arrived that evening right after the move back to HH, he found that Grandma was given a meal that evening that she definitely cannot eat -- As I understand it, she is still only cleared for pureed foods and honeythick liquids with the supervision of a nurse (in case something goes down the wrong pipe), but is receiving most of her nutrition through the stomach tube, which should be very clear in her file. But they plunked down a fish sandwich, fries, and veggies for her!
**I think Joyce is trying to get in touch with the Director of the place to find out who messed up.
Grandpa complained to the nurses who apologized and said there was some kind of mistake (not sure how you mess that up). Grandma was "very alert" and "took everything in stride." Two nurses also got Grandma all cleaned up for the night, and Grandpa helped Grandma figure out the TV remote, the remote with which she can call a nurse, etc.
Grandma also complained of a dry mouth and while it took awhile to obtain them, Grandpa managed to get the nurses to bring some of these sponge-on-a-stick things they use so Grandma can get some water without worry of choking (on say, a full glass of water). Yay, Grandpa; a hero!
Grandma also said something to Grandpa ("this thing is quite an ordeal") which he took to mean that Grandma is likely becoming a little more aware of her situation.
Lots of love and hugs for Grandma's recovery, and Grandpa's heroicism and wonderful, sweet support! What a wonderful man Grandma married. 
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Sunday at Hospital, Then Back at Rehab
Here is an email my mom sent earlier this evening. -Christina
From: Rosemary Bolton
Date: Sun, Mar 24, 2013 at 6:43 PM
Subject: Today at the Hospital with mom
Mom was in room 440. This was the neuro floor and wow, what a great place. All brain injury patients. When I arrived, mom was relaxing but not fully awake. She just looked quiet. Then we started talking and mom perked up, wanted to know the time, she knew it was Palm Sunday I am sure dad told her earlier.
Well, around noon mom's hospital doc, Dr. Farooq came in and said that he was discontinuing the antibiotics he was giving her. Her white cell count was down he said, I do not recall that he gave me a number. He also discontinued the oxygen. I asked him why she had that and he says they strap that on 90% of the patients that come in the ER -- almost standard procedure. haha
He said that Dr. Chopra at HH [Heritage Harbor rehab center] had already started mom on augmentin [an antibiotic] and that he would have to be the one to discontinue that. So, this Farooq guy was really nice. He thought mom looked great, said her recovery is going very well, yes, there will be drowsy days and weak days, and very good days. He said mom could recover from this, he said "she just needs lots and lots of PT" [Physical therapy] Her BP still gets high so he added hydrochlorothiazide, a low dose diuretic. Also a daily vitamin K with that.
The only thing mom said to me in regard to her recovery today, early early on when I just arrived, and she might have mentioned this to you Joyce, she said "I am concerned about being connected to all of this equipment" I told mom that the oxygen she did not need, she was not going to be getting any more IVs, (she has a port thing in now. I am not sure if they will pull that out) She was getting fed with a tube into her PEG. [her stomach feeding tube -CHA] She has the foley catheter. I told her she was going to get rid of all of this stuff and eat on her own over the next few weeks. Every day was going to get easier and better. She was really alert and perky. She needs her teeth in. Anyway, she seemed satisfied with my answer.
Daddy brought in some cute photos for mom to look at, she liked them, able to identify everyone. Interesting, today she seemed to have more trouble with words and naming things in the beginning of my visit when she was just relaxing, but as the day went on, and Particularly after PT, she was very chatty, asking questions, she listened when the doc came in as well (which was before PT).
So then, some cute girls came in, two PTs. Oh my gosh I loved them. I asked them if they could give mom PT forever, but they said they had to work at the hospital. drats! These girls made mom do some exercises with her feet and legs. She had to flex and extend her ankles 15 times each, she was counting sort of, but the right side, that is WORK for mom. Then the PTs had mom flex and extend her leg at the knee (one leg at the time). Left leg worked fine of course and the right leg was a struggle. Mom is so funny I was watching her and she was trying with all her might to get that leg to bend, she was making some huffing and puffing noises and really trying. The PT helped her a little -- so this side also was to be done 15 times. I think mom only made 9 or 10. It was really hard, the part that made me laugh though was when she would get her knee up to a point, she would reach over with her left hand and try to get hold of her right knee to "help" pull it up, which was not what the exercise intended but it was cute. She never could really get hold of her right knee anyway but I was impressed with her strength on her left (good) side that she was able to reach up and over. They also put one at a time, each knee on top of a big pillow and had mom lift her foot. The PTs were impressed with moms strength.
Okay, after that, the PTs got her on the side of the bed and had her sit with her legs hanging over, feet on a pillow that was on the floor. They brought in a mirror so mom could see herself and try to get herself straight. She did well, but for her right side, it is hard work. Mom tells me she does not feel fully on her right side, just some areas. So she might have numbness, or just altered sensations on the right. Her muscles are good. Mom told the PTs some time early on "I used to be able to do that" and they assured her that she will again.
I gave both of her legs a good massage after the PTs left. Mom looked pooped. Well, then the nurse came in and said that the paper work was being processed to get her out and back to HH. She could not give us a firm time for that.
Daddy and I were ready for some food. So we thought mom would conk out and we could go to the cafeteria. Mom did not conk out, so we just told her we would get something to eat and be back. We came back 40 minutes later and when we walked in, mom said "Hey you are back!"
Then there was a lot of talking going on with the three of us about going back to HH and mom seemed happy about it.
I showed her pictures on my ipad of some of my sewing projects, then daddy discovered a bunch of great old photos on mom's olden iBook, lots of great pictures of Brussels, and Greece, WOW, mom was a total snazz in her adorable outfits, goodness. She LOVED looking at the photos and she was remembering things. It seemed the more photos we showed her, the more she remembered. Daddy had these old pics of mom helping gramma DeLeeuw (daddy's mom) do the knitting projects, and also fitting garments that mom made for gramma. Adorable pictures. I have to say, daddy's mom just loved mom. She thought mom was amazing that she could do so much, so many incredible things. I see a lot of Dolley in these old pictures of mom. Face shape, nose, eyes. Dolley would have been a beauty now in her 60's.
So I am hoping -- guessing that mom made the move in the "Limo" back to HH. Daddy I hope the move went well.
I guess the only concerns I have at this time would be that:
- I hope the PT's at HH communicate with the "nurses" at HH about proper positioning in chair and bed. The PTs at AAMC said mom should not flex her right knee like that all the time, try to keep her leg and hip anatomically straight and do that with the aid of pillow or roll.
- Some one needs to rub and massage mom's legs. hahahahaha she loves it. I think it helps her fidgetty left leg, and stimulate her right leg. She should have her arms massaged too.
- Will Dr. Chopra at HH discontinue the Augmentin? I think Dr. Farooq was hoping he would.
- Mom needs to start wearing her teeth during the day… start slow if we have to, few hours longer every day if she is having trouble with sensations. We do not want her to get sores from her dentures because she has not had them a while.
- Mom needs a lot of GOOD PT, and good nursing. Not just GOOD PT and babysitting by nurses. I do not want falling asleep in a wheelchair half the day.
- Daddy, you can tell the nurses at HH that mom used to be a volunteer, maybe she can help them... [hahaha, wow, that would be hilarious... -CHA]
It was a great day. Mom seemed happy, she and daddy are so cute together. Daddy is really so supportive and attentive. That is endearing.
Daddy, can you think of anything here that I did not cover?
I hope every one had a great week-end. I enjoyed this visit with mom and dad a lot today.
Love, Rosemary
__________
More from Saturday from Joyce:
From: Joyce DeLeeuw
Date: Sun, Mar 24, 2013 at 9:06 PM
Subject: Re: Today at the Hospital with mom
Great summary of the day!
I am so sorry all that I didn't do it yesterday-- I actually wrote a huge long thing with too many detail, and went to send.... and it wouldn't connect. I lost it. Then too tired to write. But it was very similar to Rosemary's description.
She was sleepy in the AM, woke later, and was really talking a lot mostly about knowing that things were different now. But she said over and over that what is now, would be different in an hour, or the next day. That told me that she had a handle on the fact that she has these different "states" as dad likes to call them--- sleepy state, talkative making sense state, talking making no sense state, lethargic and dopey looking, or a panic look. She seemes to move into and out of these states. But maybe gradually, the changes won't be so apparent and pronounced. Don't know. She also had PT yestereday- very similar as today- very cute, very hard for mom, but so fabulous, I applauded and cheered when she got in that sitting position. It was like scoring a point! I also liked this doc Farooq and it occured to me, dad, when we went to the Fairfield yesterday, he was the doc sitting at the central station - they said his name, I just didn't put it together, he didn't have his lab coat on. [Dr. Farooq also works at the Fairfield rehab facility]
Regarding the concerns, I think we need to write this stuff down, as I agree there are things we need to stay on top of. Remember dad you were going to bring some familiar things to HH? Are you still going to?
Anyway, how can we make sure we get our communication to the staff? How about a binder in color. oh yuk. whatever.
Anyway, dad have a great day tomorrow- now you are so close that hopefully you won't get so worn out with travel. See how it goes. I am really hoping for the best. We are a pretty good team I think!!!
love joyce
From: Rosemary Bolton
Date: Sun, Mar 24, 2013 at 6:43 PM
Subject: Today at the Hospital with mom
Mom was in room 440. This was the neuro floor and wow, what a great place. All brain injury patients. When I arrived, mom was relaxing but not fully awake. She just looked quiet. Then we started talking and mom perked up, wanted to know the time, she knew it was Palm Sunday I am sure dad told her earlier.
Well, around noon mom's hospital doc, Dr. Farooq came in and said that he was discontinuing the antibiotics he was giving her. Her white cell count was down he said, I do not recall that he gave me a number. He also discontinued the oxygen. I asked him why she had that and he says they strap that on 90% of the patients that come in the ER -- almost standard procedure. haha
He said that Dr. Chopra at HH [Heritage Harbor rehab center] had already started mom on augmentin [an antibiotic] and that he would have to be the one to discontinue that. So, this Farooq guy was really nice. He thought mom looked great, said her recovery is going very well, yes, there will be drowsy days and weak days, and very good days. He said mom could recover from this, he said "she just needs lots and lots of PT" [Physical therapy] Her BP still gets high so he added hydrochlorothiazide, a low dose diuretic. Also a daily vitamin K with that.
The only thing mom said to me in regard to her recovery today, early early on when I just arrived, and she might have mentioned this to you Joyce, she said "I am concerned about being connected to all of this equipment" I told mom that the oxygen she did not need, she was not going to be getting any more IVs, (she has a port thing in now. I am not sure if they will pull that out) She was getting fed with a tube into her PEG. [her stomach feeding tube -CHA] She has the foley catheter. I told her she was going to get rid of all of this stuff and eat on her own over the next few weeks. Every day was going to get easier and better. She was really alert and perky. She needs her teeth in. Anyway, she seemed satisfied with my answer.
Daddy brought in some cute photos for mom to look at, she liked them, able to identify everyone. Interesting, today she seemed to have more trouble with words and naming things in the beginning of my visit when she was just relaxing, but as the day went on, and Particularly after PT, she was very chatty, asking questions, she listened when the doc came in as well (which was before PT).
So then, some cute girls came in, two PTs. Oh my gosh I loved them. I asked them if they could give mom PT forever, but they said they had to work at the hospital. drats! These girls made mom do some exercises with her feet and legs. She had to flex and extend her ankles 15 times each, she was counting sort of, but the right side, that is WORK for mom. Then the PTs had mom flex and extend her leg at the knee (one leg at the time). Left leg worked fine of course and the right leg was a struggle. Mom is so funny I was watching her and she was trying with all her might to get that leg to bend, she was making some huffing and puffing noises and really trying. The PT helped her a little -- so this side also was to be done 15 times. I think mom only made 9 or 10. It was really hard, the part that made me laugh though was when she would get her knee up to a point, she would reach over with her left hand and try to get hold of her right knee to "help" pull it up, which was not what the exercise intended but it was cute. She never could really get hold of her right knee anyway but I was impressed with her strength on her left (good) side that she was able to reach up and over. They also put one at a time, each knee on top of a big pillow and had mom lift her foot. The PTs were impressed with moms strength.
Okay, after that, the PTs got her on the side of the bed and had her sit with her legs hanging over, feet on a pillow that was on the floor. They brought in a mirror so mom could see herself and try to get herself straight. She did well, but for her right side, it is hard work. Mom tells me she does not feel fully on her right side, just some areas. So she might have numbness, or just altered sensations on the right. Her muscles are good. Mom told the PTs some time early on "I used to be able to do that" and they assured her that she will again.
I gave both of her legs a good massage after the PTs left. Mom looked pooped. Well, then the nurse came in and said that the paper work was being processed to get her out and back to HH. She could not give us a firm time for that.
Daddy and I were ready for some food. So we thought mom would conk out and we could go to the cafeteria. Mom did not conk out, so we just told her we would get something to eat and be back. We came back 40 minutes later and when we walked in, mom said "Hey you are back!"
Then there was a lot of talking going on with the three of us about going back to HH and mom seemed happy about it.
I showed her pictures on my ipad of some of my sewing projects, then daddy discovered a bunch of great old photos on mom's olden iBook, lots of great pictures of Brussels, and Greece, WOW, mom was a total snazz in her adorable outfits, goodness. She LOVED looking at the photos and she was remembering things. It seemed the more photos we showed her, the more she remembered. Daddy had these old pics of mom helping gramma DeLeeuw (daddy's mom) do the knitting projects, and also fitting garments that mom made for gramma. Adorable pictures. I have to say, daddy's mom just loved mom. She thought mom was amazing that she could do so much, so many incredible things. I see a lot of Dolley in these old pictures of mom. Face shape, nose, eyes. Dolley would have been a beauty now in her 60's.
So I am hoping -- guessing that mom made the move in the "Limo" back to HH. Daddy I hope the move went well.
I guess the only concerns I have at this time would be that:
- I hope the PT's at HH communicate with the "nurses" at HH about proper positioning in chair and bed. The PTs at AAMC said mom should not flex her right knee like that all the time, try to keep her leg and hip anatomically straight and do that with the aid of pillow or roll.
- Some one needs to rub and massage mom's legs. hahahahaha she loves it. I think it helps her fidgetty left leg, and stimulate her right leg. She should have her arms massaged too.
- Will Dr. Chopra at HH discontinue the Augmentin? I think Dr. Farooq was hoping he would.
- Mom needs to start wearing her teeth during the day… start slow if we have to, few hours longer every day if she is having trouble with sensations. We do not want her to get sores from her dentures because she has not had them a while.
- Mom needs a lot of GOOD PT, and good nursing. Not just GOOD PT and babysitting by nurses. I do not want falling asleep in a wheelchair half the day.
- Daddy, you can tell the nurses at HH that mom used to be a volunteer, maybe she can help them... [hahaha, wow, that would be hilarious... -CHA]
It was a great day. Mom seemed happy, she and daddy are so cute together. Daddy is really so supportive and attentive. That is endearing.
Daddy, can you think of anything here that I did not cover?
I hope every one had a great week-end. I enjoyed this visit with mom and dad a lot today.
Love, Rosemary
__________
More from Saturday from Joyce:
From: Joyce DeLeeuw
Date: Sun, Mar 24, 2013 at 9:06 PM
Subject: Re: Today at the Hospital with mom
Great summary of the day!
I am so sorry all that I didn't do it yesterday-- I actually wrote a huge long thing with too many detail, and went to send.... and it wouldn't connect. I lost it. Then too tired to write. But it was very similar to Rosemary's description.
She was sleepy in the AM, woke later, and was really talking a lot mostly about knowing that things were different now. But she said over and over that what is now, would be different in an hour, or the next day. That told me that she had a handle on the fact that she has these different "states" as dad likes to call them--- sleepy state, talkative making sense state, talking making no sense state, lethargic and dopey looking, or a panic look. She seemes to move into and out of these states. But maybe gradually, the changes won't be so apparent and pronounced. Don't know. She also had PT yestereday- very similar as today- very cute, very hard for mom, but so fabulous, I applauded and cheered when she got in that sitting position. It was like scoring a point! I also liked this doc Farooq and it occured to me, dad, when we went to the Fairfield yesterday, he was the doc sitting at the central station - they said his name, I just didn't put it together, he didn't have his lab coat on. [Dr. Farooq also works at the Fairfield rehab facility]
Regarding the concerns, I think we need to write this stuff down, as I agree there are things we need to stay on top of. Remember dad you were going to bring some familiar things to HH? Are you still going to?
Anyway, how can we make sure we get our communication to the staff? How about a binder in color. oh yuk. whatever.
Anyway, dad have a great day tomorrow- now you are so close that hopefully you won't get so worn out with travel. See how it goes. I am really hoping for the best. We are a pretty good team I think!!!
love joyce
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