update

[rm]

Today we managed to do the grocery shop, do the Ikea thing and see my father (twice). We can understand about 80% of what he's saying now, and the paralysis in his face has reduced. We still have no idea when he'll be out of the hospital. Monday at the earliest.

Meanwhile, the update on Soren seem to be good too (reposted with permission from a mailing list:

"The big news is that Scraps is in fact making progress. The bleeding in his brain has stopped, and while there is still swelling, the doctors expect that it’s starting to go down. All of his vital signs are stable, and he continues to respond well to all neurological stimuli. In short, Scraps is pretty much out of the woods, and we can all indulge in a very small sigh of relief. Yesterday, he was very agitated and was able to communicate that we was in pain. The neurologist came in and ordered a shot of morphine, which took about four minutes to work. He has not needed one since. While yesterday he was alert but highly agitated, today he is more alert but much less agitated, which is a good sign. He received a feeding tube yesterday, and now, for the first time since admission, he is receiving more nutrition than can be administered through an IV. The speech pathologist comes by each day to do a “speech and swallow” evaluation, which assesses his ability to swallow food and control his throat. Today, he showed progress and ate applesauce, which he seemed to enjoy, although he couldn’t manage water, and the speech pathologist seemed to think that this was an excellent sign and said that as soon as he can actually swallow enough calories each day, they’ll remove the feeding tube. It should be noted that yesterday, he would not swallow soft food, but it was vanilla pudding, which he loathes.

Scraps can clearly understand much, if not all of what is said to him. While he has not cooperated with some doctors, it seems to have as much to do with cranky preference as ability; today’s neurologist and speech pathologist were both pretty young women. Yesterday, not so much. He tries to communicate, but has difficulty with hard consonants. He can clearly say some words, like “OK,” “No,” “Where,” “When,” “Now,” and “Home,” but becomes frustrated when he tries to put a sentence together. He has been able to communicate what music he wants, that he wasn’t worried about the manuscript he was working on, and when he wants to sit up or lie down. He knows he is in a hospital, but looks somewhere between panicked and outraged when he’s reminded of why he’s there. Today we tried giving him a pad and a sharpie, and he really understood the concept, couldn’t quite grasp the pen. If there are any OT specialists in the house, suggestions on better tools would be appreciated.

He knows when people are in the room, and when they’re talking to him, however, he doesn’t seem to recognize or track on all people. Part of this is because he doesn’t have his glasses and can’t see. Not surprisingly, he tracks best on the people and voices he knows most well. Similarly, he does best listening to Simon and Garfunkel, Paul Simon, Elvis Costello, and other artists he knows note for note.

While his recovery will be a long haul, the preliminary signs for the recovery look good."

I, meanwhile, am still pretty tired and overwhelmed and don't have much to say.

Thank you for your well wishes and putting up with my diminished capacity to do the stuff I do around these parts.

Meanwhile, just watche a rerun of Big Love and had a totally moment about Jack's childhood, that makes me wish I had the energy to write tonight, but I don't.

Comments

[antelope-writes.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear that both your father and friends are out of danger. Best to you.

[nekosensei.livejournal.com]

Today we tried giving him a pad and a sharpie, and he really understood the concept, couldn’t quite grasp the pen. If there are any OT specialists in the house, suggestions on better tools would be appreciated.

I'm not an occupational therapist, but I just wanted to throw this idea out there. What about a laptop? Maybe you can get him to communicate what he wants to say using Word or IM? I know that when my husband's uncle was dying from throat cancer, we gave him my old laptop so that he could use it to talk with his family.

[eac.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear that your dad is recovering and that Soren's prognosis looks better.

[feyandstrange.livejournal.com]

Glad the patients are doing better, and I hope you get enough rest so as to avoid feeling like one yourself.

I really should get over to Making LIght, but an arthritis grip pen like this one might help:

http://www.lifesolutionsplus.com/writing-aids-c-41.html

Ring pens can often be found at larger drugstores or medical supply stores. There's also a sort of Y-shaped pen. The fat rubber grips they put on our pencils as children (and we hated them then) may also come in handy for pens, forks, and other implements. Someone could also just wrap an ordinary felt tip (don't use a ballpoint that requires pressure on paper, that's harder) in a couple of hair ties, a sock, a wad of Silly Putty (which is great for hand therapy) or the like to make a fist-form.

If writing is still too tricky, an alphabet board he can trace a finger along may work.

take care

[newwaytowrite.livejournal.com]

stay well
feel loved

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

Good progress is good. Yes.

Still sending you nice, sane, happy thoughts.

[marchek.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear both Soren and your father are improving.

I'm sending good vibes in their direction.