Way more than "baby steps!"
Hi Friends,
I am once again exhausted so I won't write much, but when am I not these days? Hung out with mom pretty much all day today after doing some stuff around the house this morning (I unfortunately wasn't THAT productive, but you will be happy to know I did cook myself eggs and soy sausage!). I brought along with me Tracy's goodies she sent in her care package, including some candy for me and a beautiful quilt that her mother made for mom! Thanks so much, Tracy!!! The quilt REALLY brightens up the room! :) Pam came over fairly soon after I arrived, and we ended up spending the whole afternoon and evening with her. She definitely knows who Pam is and kisses her hand sometimes. :) Pam has a bit of a cold, and so didn't want to come too close, and told mom so much. Mom was very sympathetic and wanted to make sure Pam was feeling okay. An hour or two later, she turned to Pam and said "You're sick, you should go." Wow, she remembered Pam telling her she was sick! Her impaired short term memory doesn't usually allow her to remember this stuff from one moment to the next, so that was pretty darn good, and funny too! Lilly was able to come by again, which was great for mom and me, and mom definitely was glad to see her. :)
On her therapy schedule for today, someone had written in "6:30-7pm PT," and when I asked about it since it was later than therapy usually goes, they thought maybe it was pet therapy...we got really excited, and I wrote it on the white board in mom's room so we would remember and she could look up there and maybe be glad about it. At about 6:15, Pam wondered aloud if we were supposed to bring her to pet therapy or whether they came to her or came and got her or what, since she hadn't had that yet. Mom had been looking very forward to it I think, and had me go ask the nurse what we should do, and actually wanted to get up out of bed into her chair (she doesn't usually want to do this on her own lately because it hurts so much to sit). Long story short, it turned out to be just physical therapy after all, and we told her so but she took it well. The physical therapist came in, and we got her in the chair and brought her to the gym. The plan was to work at the parallel bars practicing standing again and maybe trying some steps. At first, mom really had to be convinced (as usual) and started to put up a bit of a fight. But then she gave in, stood up with almost no help, and again with almost no help except the therapist to steady her in case her legs buckled, she walked the full length of the parallel bars, stopped, realized the wheelchair was not behind her to sit back in, and proceeded to walk backwards all the way to the chair!!!!! She did SO well, the therapist decided to heck with the parallel bars and to get out a walker! So we brought it into the hall just outside the gym and the therapist showed her how to use it. Then mom stood pretty much by herself, grabbed ahold of the walker and walked from the outside of one of the doors to the gym all the way to the other...her door to her room is the door just past this door to the gym and the therapist offered for her to just walk back to her room and then she could be done for the day, but instead, mom turned right back into the gym, walked to the padded table, and plopped down. Pam and I were nearly in tears we were so proud and excited, and I told her this. She reached for me, smiled just a little bit, and we hugged. Then she got back up and used the walker to walk back into her room and got back in bed. Even the therapist was amazed because prior to this, they had just been practicing standing and balance, and she didn't expect her to just walk like it was nothing!!!! SHE WALKED!!!!!!! Wow, we were in awe. I think she was pretty tired from this adventure, so we left shortly after this to let her rest and went to dinner and a movie. We of course toasted mom at dinner, and again talked about how incredibly awesome it was that she walked.
Now we need to get these medical issues she's having under control...she's been having frequent diarrhea and in turn, her potassium levels have been depleted so they've been having to give her some IV fluids and replace her potassium. They're still investigating what is causing this problem, and plan to consult the GI doctors if they cannot clear it up. Also, she had been borderline diabetic prior to the accident, and now they think this whole thing has pushed her over the edge, so that sometimes complicates the healing process. But they're on it, and I'll just have to be diligent about following up constantly. I can't imagine how much better she'd do in her therapies if she wasn't so phyically uncomfortable!
Okay, off to bed...it's WAY past my bedtime. Please, keep us in your thoughts and prayers as always. Much love to all.
I am once again exhausted so I won't write much, but when am I not these days? Hung out with mom pretty much all day today after doing some stuff around the house this morning (I unfortunately wasn't THAT productive, but you will be happy to know I did cook myself eggs and soy sausage!). I brought along with me Tracy's goodies she sent in her care package, including some candy for me and a beautiful quilt that her mother made for mom! Thanks so much, Tracy!!! The quilt REALLY brightens up the room! :) Pam came over fairly soon after I arrived, and we ended up spending the whole afternoon and evening with her. She definitely knows who Pam is and kisses her hand sometimes. :) Pam has a bit of a cold, and so didn't want to come too close, and told mom so much. Mom was very sympathetic and wanted to make sure Pam was feeling okay. An hour or two later, she turned to Pam and said "You're sick, you should go." Wow, she remembered Pam telling her she was sick! Her impaired short term memory doesn't usually allow her to remember this stuff from one moment to the next, so that was pretty darn good, and funny too! Lilly was able to come by again, which was great for mom and me, and mom definitely was glad to see her. :)
On her therapy schedule for today, someone had written in "6:30-7pm PT," and when I asked about it since it was later than therapy usually goes, they thought maybe it was pet therapy...we got really excited, and I wrote it on the white board in mom's room so we would remember and she could look up there and maybe be glad about it. At about 6:15, Pam wondered aloud if we were supposed to bring her to pet therapy or whether they came to her or came and got her or what, since she hadn't had that yet. Mom had been looking very forward to it I think, and had me go ask the nurse what we should do, and actually wanted to get up out of bed into her chair (she doesn't usually want to do this on her own lately because it hurts so much to sit). Long story short, it turned out to be just physical therapy after all, and we told her so but she took it well. The physical therapist came in, and we got her in the chair and brought her to the gym. The plan was to work at the parallel bars practicing standing again and maybe trying some steps. At first, mom really had to be convinced (as usual) and started to put up a bit of a fight. But then she gave in, stood up with almost no help, and again with almost no help except the therapist to steady her in case her legs buckled, she walked the full length of the parallel bars, stopped, realized the wheelchair was not behind her to sit back in, and proceeded to walk backwards all the way to the chair!!!!! She did SO well, the therapist decided to heck with the parallel bars and to get out a walker! So we brought it into the hall just outside the gym and the therapist showed her how to use it. Then mom stood pretty much by herself, grabbed ahold of the walker and walked from the outside of one of the doors to the gym all the way to the other...her door to her room is the door just past this door to the gym and the therapist offered for her to just walk back to her room and then she could be done for the day, but instead, mom turned right back into the gym, walked to the padded table, and plopped down. Pam and I were nearly in tears we were so proud and excited, and I told her this. She reached for me, smiled just a little bit, and we hugged. Then she got back up and used the walker to walk back into her room and got back in bed. Even the therapist was amazed because prior to this, they had just been practicing standing and balance, and she didn't expect her to just walk like it was nothing!!!! SHE WALKED!!!!!!! Wow, we were in awe. I think she was pretty tired from this adventure, so we left shortly after this to let her rest and went to dinner and a movie. We of course toasted mom at dinner, and again talked about how incredibly awesome it was that she walked.
Now we need to get these medical issues she's having under control...she's been having frequent diarrhea and in turn, her potassium levels have been depleted so they've been having to give her some IV fluids and replace her potassium. They're still investigating what is causing this problem, and plan to consult the GI doctors if they cannot clear it up. Also, she had been borderline diabetic prior to the accident, and now they think this whole thing has pushed her over the edge, so that sometimes complicates the healing process. But they're on it, and I'll just have to be diligent about following up constantly. I can't imagine how much better she'd do in her therapies if she wasn't so phyically uncomfortable!
Okay, off to bed...it's WAY past my bedtime. Please, keep us in your thoughts and prayers as always. Much love to all.
Comments
love-stef
Tracy
Love, Bets
Love, Jillian
Kara