Decided only to do outpatient (OT, PT, ST). Will not be doing the Walton West program.
Only had speech therapy today.
Went grocery shopping with Sharon. Did laundry with Sharon. Gets tired very quickly.
Physical Therapy:
Balance
Rode bike 5 minutes
Speech Therapy:
Swallow test 2 weeks at earliest
Tried nectar thick apple juice – still hear it in throat 30 seconds later
Ashley (had my mom when Doug & Lauren were in town) kept saying how wonderful my mom was doing.
Read fine.
Math fine.
Knew what most of pictures were
Had doctor appointment with oral surgeon. Said everything was fine.
Becky & Taylor flew back to CO.
Went to outpatient therapy first time at a different building at Walton Rehab. Had evaluations done for ST, OT, and PT. 9:45am-noon.
Understand now that Walton West is day treatment (shopping, play memory games, laundry) and different from outpatient therapy (ST, OT & PT). Not sure if my mom will do Walton West program.
Has dizziness when goes from lying down/sitting up or vice versa.
Dr. Livingston (regular doctor) appointment today 2:45pm. Prescribed medication to settle stomach, for dizziness, and nosespray to help ears drain.
Ate well for lunch.
Washed hair in the sink with conditioner instead of shampoo.
More awake today – didn’t seem as sleepy/tired. Up in the morning for therapies. Up in the afternoon for doctor appointment.
Doesn’t remember things from a week ago. Seems to only remember 3-4 days back.
Becky & Taylor leave tomorrow morning.
Arrived at Walton West 9 am. Sat around until 10:15am to talk to case worker. (So far not impressed with Walton West.) Case worker told mom that will teach her to clean up after fixing a meal. She thinks that is dumb. Of course she knows how to do that. Will go to Walton Outpatient (part of Walton Rehab) tomorrow at 9:45am for evaluation.
When arrived back home, helped me by getting diaper bag out of back seat. Knew which button to push to close garage door.
Rested, but didn’t take morning nap.
Really doesn’t need much help walking anymore.
Cleaned up own dishes after lunch.
Wrote a note to my dad about the house alarm going off due to the storm. Note made good sense.
Didn’t want to go out on deck – said it freaks her out.
To get ready for bed, did everything correctly on her own.
My mom has been thinking about what we need to pack to take to IN. My dad told her we probably won’t go, and she sounded disappointed. I guess we will see. Today has been a good day – which would make me think maybe she could do the trip. Tomorrow could be not as good though – we never know. She gets tired easily, but that seems to be getting better. She will need to be stronger and less sleepy I think before we could make the trip.
When I first arrived, I cried because I was so happy to see my mom up and talking. Today I cried again because she is even more like herself. I talked to her about the stuff I’ve been wanting to tell her for the last 2 months.
Got swimsuit on and wanted to get in pool. Sat on edge and put feet in. Said was cold.
Asked me (Becky) if I called to Tom (Sharon’s husband) to thell him that I was here. I think she had me confused with Sharon.
Good day. Tired still.
Still confused when tired. Put toothpaste on washcloth to wash face.
Got hair colored/styled. Enjoyed that.
Slept well last night. Got up 3 times to use restroom. Fell one time – but was sitting up when my dad got to her.
Breakfast: Ate well – 90%
Seemed to be in better mood/spirits today. Seems much more like herself.
Denny visited at breakfast. Becky & Taylor visisted 10:15-11:45a.
CAT scan: had appointment with neurologist at MCG. Said she is doing well and no CAT scan necessary.
Discharged tonight – exactly 7 weeks since her fall. Sleeping at home for the first time tonight! Will start outpatient day therapy at Walton West on Monday.
Requires a lot more help from Dennis and Becky. She is more active but needs to be watched constantly so she does not attempt to do something that may hurt herself.
Talks well and knows things for short periods and then her brain turns off from overload and she needs to rest. Its seems to be a cycle of active for 20 – 30 minutes and then rests for 20-30 minutes.
Told her about all people that have come to visit her and stay to help. Told her about John & Jim Wirt. Asked where Marsha was while Jim was here.
Knew had a chance of rain tonight, so watned to bring in pool towels.
Talked about what she remembers. Remembers liked to water plants from deck so could see how much water was in the pot before it ran over and made “mud water.”
Breakfast: 1 pancake, 1 banana
Dinner: Only ate 1 ½ strawberries. Told her need to feed though tube then. Said that was fine. Would like to tell “them“ she just wants to eat through tube.
Dietician said yesterday only ate half calories and protein want her to (I was surprised – I thought she was doing well.) I guess she needs to eat more than normal to get her strength back. Dietician made orders 200ml water every 6 hours via feeding tube.
Very tired this morning.
Speech Therapy:
Observed her eating 1 hour (took her half an hour longer to eat than scheduled)
Physical Therapy:
New PT, Rebekah. Walked up and down hall. Walked to gym using claw on end of pole to pick up bean bags.
Occupational Therapy:
Worked on getting up off floor
Home 1pm-8pm.
Looked at 3 photo albums about an hour. Enjoyed it (including album of Doug and Lauren’s wedding.)
Talked about mixing stuff to drink. Got up and pulled out ice trays from pantry, a funnel, and a bottle with Gatorade and an empty Gatorade bottle. Tried to put water in ice cube containers – water ran all the way out – then tried to put in bottle. Said forgot how to make. Not sure what she was trying to make – maybe Gatorade?
We think headaches may be due to dehydration. Didn’t have headaches today.
CAT scan: Probably tomorrow. Need at least 48 hours to schedule and neurosurgeons at MCG get priority (which we totally understand & appreciate).
Medications: Last time got Dilantin (ant seizure) & blood pressure medicine at 8pm.
At night, blood pressure good and blood sugar good.
Kevin and Sammie returned to Colorado. Becky & Taylor stay until July 30. Sharon McCormick (Carolyn’s sister) arrives Saturday night 6:35pm Atlanta & stays until August 7.
Breakfast: Ate all oatmeal at breakfast. Not much scrambled eggs. All tomato juice.
Lunch: Ate almost half
Dietician said getting feedings through tube at midnight and 4am. Will stop 4am feeds and see if she eats more in the morning. Wants us to write down food and amounts she eats at home.
Physical Therapy:
-Rode bike.
-Bounced ball with Becky.
-Sitting marches with ankle weights.
Speech Therapy:
-What these 3 things have in common? Did well.
-Talked about 4 ways to remember things. Related all her answers to paying bills.
Occupational Therapy:
-Supposed to be 10am-11am. Head hurt. Low blood pressure. Dr. BJ asked questions and did some tests. Said no changes to neuro exam. Dr. Shelton (filling in for Dr. Pam Salazar) did tests for head. Gave 1 cup water through feeding tube. Pushed therapy back until 1pm.
-Made cookies. Frustrated with therapist. Said therapist didn’t do it right and was taking too long.
Home 3:30-8pm.
Visitors: Probably best to visit her at home late afternoon/early evening. Call my dad to coordinate.
Will be discharged on Saturday. Start day therapy at Walton West on Monday.
Dr. Shelton wants to wean off Dilantin (anti seizure medicine). Said clouds thinking of even normal people. Also wants to wean off blood pressure medicine and maybe Amantadine (supposed to help neurons work better.)
Doing CAT scan tomorrow because of headaches.
Ate breakfast well. Liked tomatoe juice.
Brushed own teeth after breakfast.
Physical Therapy:
* Played air hockey with Becky
* Lifted up feet with knees propped up.
* Practiced getting up off floor from knees
* Rode stationary bike for 3 minutes
Speach Therapy:
* Did tongue exercises. Good at swallowing with tongue in between teeth.
* Only could name 2 fruits in 1 minute
* Little difficulty with synonyms
* Will still do honey consistency liquids for next few days. Then will do trial with nectar consistency. (Will not do another swallow test for at least another week. (Last one was last Wednesday.) Don’t want to expose her to too much radiation.)
Occupational Therapy
* Really tired. Didn’t want to cook cookies for grandkids
* Was shown pretend bills – had a hard time knowing who from or how much was due. Kept saying needed to call the vendor.
* Blood pressure low.
* Let quit 15 minutes early to take a rest. Did more OT. Looked for sticky notes numbered 1-10 in hallway.
Has more headaches. Had a bad headache in evening when home.
Notices fluid in ears when swallowing.
Feels sorry for Kevin being home alone with Sammie and Taylor.
Was wondering what to fix for dinner.
Helped clean off dishes from dinner.
Good things:
Occupational Therapy:
Physical Therapy:
Speech Therapy:
Carolyn went home today after her therapies (ended at 2:30pm). She will be spending the night back at Walton Rehab. We hope to bring her home daily after therapy from now on. We also hope she can soon spend the night at home.
You are currently browsing the Weese Family Blog blog archives for July, 2008.
