Geez, It's Almost Been A Month!!!!

I know it’s been ages since I have posted last. I keep meaning too, but decide to wait until the latest hurdle had been taken. I did jot down stuff as they came up so I could include them in this post, the funny thing is Bob is so far beyond what I jotted down.

Bob can write his first name. It was really sweet, his sister celebrated her 84th birthday and he concentrated sooooo hard to make sure he wrote his name neatly (sometimes the small “b” is a “d”) and he didn’t want to make that mistake. She absolutely loved seeing his name on the card and it sits proudly on her TV. I had heard that some stroke patients communicate by writing but since Bob can't do that, I tried having him type today. I used my Nook and I think it was hard for him to aim for the right keys. I'll have to bring in my laptop and have him practice with it. Maybe we can get a line of communication going, though I don't want him to stop trying to form words.

We play Yahtzee and Sorry all the time. He beats me most the time and doesn’t even cheat…..well if I get a yahtzee he will reach over and flip one of the dice over LOL.

He can read but it takes him a long time to comprehend anything complex, like a whole sentence, but is good with basic stuff.

One of his biggest hurdles was learning what the nurse call light does. He has finally gotten that down so we don’t have any more issues with him taking off his brief.

He teases his therapy gals all the time, especially Heather, his OT (she is a real cutie so I can't help but laugh at his flirting). One of his exercises is to slip a stack of rings from one side of a high arc to the other, One At A Time. He thinks of ways of distracting Heather so he can do two or more at a time. Yesterday, Nadine, his PT and also a real cutie, was making him bend and stretch out to grab cones from her. When he grabbed the last one and Nadine reached to take it from him, he held it way out so she had to stretch to get it.

He no longer sinks into a deep sleep and when he is woken, is quick to become alert.

He is trying so very hard to talk and keeps on trying even though he knows it’s not coming out right. Every once in a while he will come out with the correct word. After his shower, they always get water on his floor and as we were walking out, he pointed and said “watah”. He will often say Hi back to someone, as long as he doesn’t pause and think about it. The lack of communication is often very frustrating for him….and me. Last Saturday, he wanted me to do something and I couldn’t figure out what it was. We finally gave up and laughed.

When sitting he can bring his knee inward (like to put your knees together) but only a little bit. If one muscle in his leg is wakening, the others may very well waken too. His arm and hand are still not improving. Back when he was in the hospital, his OT thought that he may have a torn tendon in his shoulder and when they took an MRI, they found the blood clot in his arm and nothing was ever said about his shoulder. He has been in a lot of pain and I finally asked that he get another MRI. Sure enough, he does have a torn tendon but is not a candidate for surgery. Since he cannot voluntarily move his arm muscles, he wouldn’t be able to do the PT required after surgery. So he is getting cordizone shots twice a year. If his muscles in his arm ever wake up, he will then get the surgery. At least with the shots he has less pain and they can move his arm during therapy.

One of the biggest improvements in his life is being able to eat normal food. I fought with the Speech Therapist and dietary about cutting way back on his tube feedings. I kept telling them that he was swallowing very well. We finally took him in for a swallow test, which proved that I was right. The only thing is that sometimes really thin liquids will start to go down, before he makes the swallow motion. Because of this, they serve all his meats ground almost into a paste, which really grosses him out. I have started cooking him meals at home……without grinding his meat up…..and he is eating everything I put in front of him. I must add that 90% of the food the nursing home serves is over processed and never freshly cooked. Anything with a tomato base is drowned in sugar, so he would only eat two or three bites. The Speech therapist said that he wasn’t eating well and I told her that he hated the food. When I brought in some homemade cheesy eggs (scrambled eggs with Velveta….sounds gross, but is delicious) and hash browns with onions she was shocked over how much he ate. In the 5 days that I brought most of his food from home, he has gained 5 pounds……he had lost 20 pounds in the month that he was here. He’s lost over 60 pounds since his stroke and doesn’t need to gain them all back, but is too skinny right now. Next step is to get him totally off the tube feedings and have the Peg removed from his stomach. This is going to be a HUGE battle but thankfully, family has final say about this and I’m determined that he will off the tube completely within the next couple of weeks.

One of my other big battles is with the supervisor in Physical Therapy. I can’t stand her any more than she can stand me. She is one of those people that brags about how long she has been a therapist without proving that she actually is a good one….which she isn’t. She has seen Bob only 3 times and then only for 15 minutes at a time and made the decision that he is ready for pivots and turns. Now keep in mind, he is unable to move his right leg which includes not being able to lock his knee so he can bare weight on it. When Nadine walks with him, she has to advance his foot for him and then block his knee with her leg so it won’t buckle. Nadine had no choice, since her supervisor demanded it, but to teach the CNA’s how to get him to stand and turn so they can start having him use a toilet. Now I do like the CNAs but they have no skill doing this maneuver and I have no intention of allowing them to attempt this. If you don’t block his bad leg properly, his body weight causes his good knee to buckle. The last thing Bob needs is to blow out is good leg.

Well, I guess that is everything. Bob is mostly in good spirits and so am I. We do have low points once in a while. I will be so very happy when I can take Bob home. I would love to be able to take a few days off, but I can’t trust the Nursing Home to take proper care of him. I can’t even get them to come into his room to offer him water between meals, when I’m not there, and I won't mention the number of times I've found his bedding soiled. I've offered to pee on their beds so they can sleep on it to see how they like it....sheesh. The CNAs that usually take care of him are ok, but there is such a big turn around that I have to finally get snarky in order for them to do their jobs properly.

I could go on forever with all my complaints about the care people get in a Nursing Home. I've lost count the number of times I've helped a resident because the CNAs ignore them. I have even gone to the Nursing Director. I don't name names, but if one person is doing something I feel is unsanitary or not appropriate, then there must be more of them like that. I know, by how some CNAs improve a LOT, that the Nursing Director is getting after her staff.

OK, I'm off my soap box.

Love to you all!! Be sure to pop in to see Bob when you have time. He will try really hard to yak with you and may even come out with the right word sometimes :0)

Chris