The plan is still Wednesday/Sunday for the blog but I had a few things to report on so I though I would write any way. We've had a rough few days here as we try to get Donna off a few of her remaining medications. It is all a balance and we somehow managed to throw it out of balance. She spent the last few days as a bit of a walking zombie, asleep on her feet. Hopefully we have it sorted for tomorrow but we'll know when we know.
Our TIRR discharge date was set for tomorrow September 12. We got the word today that the date has been extended to the 18th, next Tuesday. There are issues still at work here so it is hard to know if that date is firm or not. That is no problem for us because the therapy here is good and Donna is well cared for. It looks as though the stars are aligning for her to move to a nearby rehabilitation facility where she will get intensive therapy specialized for brain injury patients. I have learned so much through this process and one of those things is to stop worrying about issues you can't control. The old Bob would be stressed over the uncertainty, the new Bob cares about tomorrow being a good day and trying to enjoy being with Donna wherever we are.
A great example of the Lord sending some good to ward off the difficult came on Monday which was a horrible day for several reasons. Then when I was ready to write it off as a total loss of a day, Donna woke up a bit and decided she wanted to try an improved technique of walking in her wheelchair. Before you knew it she was down the hall, in the elevator and down the long corridor to the front door. A shorter version of this journey took her 20 whiney minutes a week or so ago, compared to her all of 5 minutes on this longer journey with no whines and many smiles. She knew she had really figured something out.
She had a swallow test today was resulted in upgrading in her liquids. She has only one step to go to be able to drink anything. She longs for that cool drink of water and that cup of coffee. Emily her therapist said she did great and it won't be long. Halleluia!!
Donna has been most vocal about the group sessions she has been assigned to. She openly tells us they are boring and begs us not to make her go. She even articulated this feeling quite eloquently at the family conference with her doctors and therapists (which by the way made her the talk of the therapy community). Truth is, we agree with her and the team has been trying to promote her through those ranks as quickly as possible to get her to a challenging level. This week she was assigned their highest group and she finally came back today and told me she enjoyed it. It is a small group of the strongest patients who spend Monday-Wednesday planning an external excursion and thursday do it. The plan this week is the Museum of Natural History.
On a funny note, I was trained yesterday on transferring Donna to a car from her wheelchair. We used my car as it was just out front. Later in the early evening she said she wanted to go outside and then said lets go somewhere. I asked her if she wanted to go down the street to the hospital where this journey started and she said sure. As we started walking down the street, she stopped me and asked me in a puzzled voice where I was taking her. I told her and she said "no, she wanted to go for a ride". Then I realized she was thinking car and we ended up turning around and coming back. This girl wanted to hit the streets! I can't blame her. She figured what was the point of the car transfer training if we weren't goin out on the town. That will have to wait for another day.
We journey on here, good days and bad.
Bob
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