Monday, March 17, 2008

So Far, So Good...

..that's what dp said when I asked her how the first morning went. According to her schedule, I missed ADL (activities of daily living -- aka 'getting dressed'), Rec, occupational therapy and physical therapy. I got here in time to watch speech therapy, more occupational therapy, and more physical therapy. By the time that was done, dp was pooped, and she's napping now while we wait for the food trays.

Food is kind of a pain right now -- she still on thick liquids and pureed foods. The Speech therapist kept saying 'very good' when dp did all of her tests, but marked her down as requiring 'supervised eating' along with the 'thick liquids' and 'pureed foods.' She also requires them to grind up her pills, which we spent the better part of the weekend getting them to stop. Personally, I think she resents the pun dp ran over her head, to the amusement of the student trainee and myself.

Everybody seems pretty pleased with dp's baseline. She walked again with a walker (75 feet at one crack -- the 140 last week was done in three installments), did four stairs this morning, and stood alone to practice balance.


The occupational therapist told her that her left hand is stronger than her right hand. In the next session, the physical therapist told her that her right leg is stronger than her left leg. Go figure... She does have a tendency to lean to the left, and her right eye is droopier than the other.

Meanwhile, the blog was year old yesterday. With this post, I've posted more in March than in January and February combined. I'm not sure what that means, but I'll note it for your collective interpretation. With any luck, we'll make blogging part of dp's activities of daily living, and then it'll be blog therapy...

dp says: "The rooms are nice. Wish you were here!"

7 comments:

Cranium Man said...

Well, sounds like they have you going now. My goodness! It must be great to have something to have to DO again that's active and in a positive direction.

We're getting done with flu here. Robyn is just tired now and is back at more like her normal speed. I think the tamiflu is holding off my bout. I have felt a little low the last day or so, as is some viral visitor has stopped outside my house and is trying to decide if the alarm system sign is a decoy.

Anyway, I'll be out of quarantine, too. Perhaps you can take a field trip and practice your ADL skills in a real, homelike enviornment! I'll give you the outpatient rate.

Love and regards, Tuna

Kevin said...

btw, Nancy, they tested for two cultures, and dp tested positive at the U for VRE. St. Luke's has tested her twice now, and her nurse said that they would test her in five days, and they expected her to go normal.

Marie's ER Doc called today to say that her culture from Friday had come back, and they would need to change her antibiotic from Cipro. She's been on prophylactic antibiotics for UTI's, so I figured another UTI was going to be resistant to something.

Coincidence?

nancyturtle said...

Yes, coincidence.
I'm sure Marie has resistent "bugs", but VRE is usually picked up in a hospital. She probably has something that is more sensitive to something other than Cipro.
VRE is not as common as MRSA, but it is a problem in most hospitals, hence the tests dp is getting. There are lots of false positives, so now they are just trying to prove that's the case.

Cranium Man said...

Damn. It's good to have a friend who speaks "nursing."

Anonymous said...

All of our friends have a tendency to lean to the left, so DP is in good company.

DP looked really good in her last photo, sitting up and out of bed -- and walking 75 feet!!

That is to say, so far so good.

Anonymous said...

Hola from Spain.xxoo Katie

Cranium Man said...

Well, I was thinking I'd take posession of my kayaks tomorrow and maybe do a little chilly weather paddling, but the wind is howling today and I'm less optimistic. Kevin, that means you should call me about the basement tidy fest. I am likely to be pretty flexible. Bunky.

Katie, I have a feeling things are somewhat more pleasant in Spain. I'd express envy and resentment but that would be small of me, and you probably deserve the break. This last burst of winter is really offensive, though.