2 days worth of update

Originally published on Multiply November 14th, 2007

I was so tired on Tuesday night that I just couldn't get to the computer and stay up to blog an update. I came home at 11pm, so I just couldn't stay up any longer and went straight to bed.
I'm at the point where when I get home that's all I want to go is hit the sack. (Right now my eyes are almost closing, but I have to do this)

I was going to post a blog this morning, but by the time I would have been ready to do it, I was running late, so I postponed it until now.

Yesterday we had the OT (Occupational Therapist) and the PT (Physical Therapy) people over. For the physio all she did was move and exercise Tony's arm and leg, for a start, she didn't press Tony to make an effort to try to move them. I repeated some of those exercises today myself with Tony. The OT was checking on his reflexes to swallow to see if he could start eating. She started that with a pudding and water, and it went very well, so she suggested he be put on a puréed diet, since he was able to swallow very well and didn't choke in doing so. Yesterday I fed him the pudding myself, but today he ate by himself. And the food is so completely unappetizing. Tonight for instance, he had mashed potatoes, puréed waxed beans (yellow) and puréed salmon pie with dill sauce, oh it looked so disgusting. He had a few spoonfuls. The soup was a puréed zucchini soup and the dessert was apple sauce. He had the soup, a little bit of the main course and all the apple sauce.

Yesterday (Tuesday) I got him to start saying a few words, the first one was "water", because he was thirsty a lot, and was drinking a lot of water, but he had to ask for it. It is an effort for him of course, but he was able to make himself understood a bit, he couldn't form complete sentences just yet though and some words are just too hard for him right now.

Today he talked more and was a bit more clear. The speech therapist came, and worked with Tony, doing some vocal exercises, and also with a book where she had images and Tony had to recognize what she was showing him and say the word. The first 2 pages she showed him were colored blocks and he had to say the color of the blocks, he did fine with that. Then she had a couple of sheets of different actions, and he had to say what the action of the image was, he did pretty good with that too. The next ones were pictures of animals and he did great with those. She did a lot of exercises with the mouth, stretching etc. He had to say the alphabet - the only one he pretty much skipped over was the W - that's a tough one to say by someone with a stroke. He counted to 10, had to say the months of the year and days of the week. He did pretty good with all of that. She also said that he probably has aphasia, I looked it up and this is what I found.

"Aphasia is a condition characterized by either partial or total loss of the ability to communicate verbally or using written words. A person with aphasia may have difficulty speaking, reading, writing, recognizing the names of objects, or understanding what other people have said. Aphasia is caused by a brain injury, as may occur during a traumatic accident or when the brain is deprived of oxygen during a stroke. It may also be caused by a brain tumor, a disease such as Alzheimer's, or an infection, like encephalitis. Aphasia may be temporary or permanent. Aphasia does not include speech impediments caused by loss of muscle control." But I'm not sure that it's all of that, because he has no problems understanding what people say or ask him, obviously he has difficulty speaking right now, he did have some difficulty recognizing 1 or 2 actions, but I think it's because the images weren't all that clear, I even was questioning it myself. Anyway she will be back on Friday.

He also had a second CT scan today, because the first one they did was when the stroke had just happened and those don't always show what happened, but the one from today definitely showed he had a stroke, which we already knew. The doctor said that he's now ready to move to a regular floor, and he would be moved tomorrow or the next day, depending on the availability of a bed, they are just so full, it's incredible. So the therapists we saw may not be the same ones that go to the floor where he will be moved, it remains to be seen.

Today was a complete zoo in the parking lot, there were no parking slots available, you had to drive around and around until someone finally left. I've never seen it this full before.

Well I've been up for way too long, I'm so exhausted, I need my sleep, so I will leave you now, by thanking all of you for your continued support and your prayers, I'm sure that's why he is where he is today.

Goodnight all! And have a pleasant tomorrow!

kandaphati wrote on Nov 15, '07

Oh dear, Mo, you both had a tough day. Take care, rest well, and cheer up.
I did not tell you, L O N G time ago I majored in occupational therapy, but I gave it up upon graduation. At that time I thought it too tough for me as a long-term job, a too challenging job. These days, however, I often find myself applying what I have learned to my daily life! Wish we were near. I could have come over to help you and Tony....

moezie wrote on Nov 15, '07

thanks so much for posting mo, but please take what lil time you have for yourself :o) i would imagine at the early stages of a stroke tony is doing well with his speech and i hope it only gets better for him, and in turn you ... i pray that the next few days go well for you both and please rest as much as you can xoxox

mkinwa wrote on Nov 15, '07

Oh my dear friend.
My heart goes out to you both!

gpsyqueen wrote on Nov 15, '07

I continue to hold you and your husband in my prayers. May God bless you during this tough time in your lives...

latonya61 wrote on Nov 15, '07

Keeping you both in my prayers.
Asking God to give you both strength and courage to make it through.

God keep you and Tony is his tender, loving care....not just for today....but always.

Love and friendship......Latonya

moscreations wrote on Nov 15, '07

Thank you Kanda, definitely OT is challenging, but I think that physical therapy is even more so, you sure do have to be very strong to do that job, I try to do what the therapist does with Tony so speed up the recovery, but I find it very hard, and my back is quite sore tonight. That therapist was there today.

Thanks Moe, he is progressing pretty well, but has so much more to do to be understood. He should be having another session tomorrow with the speech therapist.

Thanks Barbara, I took the opportunity tonight to leave early, because he was sleeping like a baby, even the nurse didn't wake him up to clean him up.

Thank you Mary Kay, Leah and Latonya, I appreciate all the good thoughts and prayers. And I appreciate the friendship and support you are giving me.