Latest message from Heather:
Hi all,
Dad passed the swallowing test today. He had ravioli for lunch just couple hours ago. Yay! However, there are some standards that his food stuff has to meet.
No 7-11 coffee just yet. All liquids need to be thickened to a "nectar" consistency. They have special thickened drinks here at the hospital that we can ask the nurses for if need be. (Of course, they provide these things to him at meal time.) Also, no steak just yet. He cannot have anything that requires a lot of chewing. I.e. Cookies, crackers, apples. He can have things like chocolate pudding, or a burger that is cut up into small pieces. His breakfast, lunch and dinner are now something for him to look forward to and will be therapeutic in boosting morale. His meals will also be a continuation of his speech therapy in that he needs to concentrate greatly and eat slowly to ensure he is swallowing things properly. Eating is hard work for John, even though he feels as though he should be able to just tuck in. This is due to the impulsiveness that is a direct result of the part of his brain that was damaged during the stroke.
So in summary, we all need to be aware of his level of concentration and speed when/if we help him eat. It is perfectly acceptable and also necessary to ask John to slow down when he is eating or drinking. For that matter, it is also necessary in almost everything he now does.
There was also a family conference today with his case manager, Christine, and all of his previously mentioned therapists. As a family we all want what will be best for dad's healing process and whatever will help him regain as much independence as is possible. While at one point we thought going into a family member's or friend's home after acute therapy would be best, we have been reevaluating his situation. If John is to go into a sub-acute therapy setting, he will receive a minimum of 5 days of therapy a week. If he is to go into someone's home he would have 3 days of inpatient therapy a week. Inpatient meaning- therapists coming into the home. We are currently looking into the sub-acute therapy places available to us as the next temperary living situation. Dad's tentative discharge date is September 8th.
There are small steps happening every day here. Today we saw those small steps lead to a huge result.
See you around the hospital.
H
Showing posts with label Kernan Hospital. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kernan Hospital. Show all posts
Friday, August 28, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
Heather's Report on John's Progress - Keep Praying!
Hola family and friends,
There Is a lot of good news from Kernan. As I mentioned before dad is undergoing 3 hours of therapy most days. This breaks down into an hour each of 3 kinds of therapy-physical therapy (pt), occupational therapy (ot) and speech therapy (st). In ot therapy they are mostly focusing on his upper body. Most of the time the leg comes back before the arm. He does feel greater amounts of pressure on his left arm, but cannot feel gentle touches. He also has trouble understanding where his arm is in space, as this is a much more subtle sensation.
In st they are concentrating most on his swallowing at the moment. He had a swallowing study done today where they x-rayed his throat to see what exactly is happening. What they found is that one of the throat muscles, that was damaged during the stroke, is hanging in the way. Not only is it causing a sensation of him having something stuck in his throat, which is why he is clearing his throat often, but it is also blocking the way for him to swallow down the esophagus. Instead, it creates a cavern for it to then flow into his lungs and possibly cause aspiration pneumonia again. They will be starting with electrode stimulation, either tomorrow or Monday, to get those throat muscles working again. For now he still has the feeding tube into his stomach.
During pt they are mostly concentrating on his lower body. As in standing again or learning how to reposition his body. However, this repositioning of the body flows into all of the forms of therapy. His center of gravity is off. Where most of us know how to balance ourselves, dad will have to relearn this. To him it feels as if he is holding himself up properly when he is actually leaning to the right. This is because he has forgotten the left side of his body. So his center of gravity, as he feels it, is centrally located on his right side. As he remembers his true center, and is taught to fight his now natural urge to lean, he will start to reawaken his left side.
Besides the feeding tube, the only other tube he is sometimes hooked up to is oxygen. This is mostly in the evening after a long hard day. It is difficult for Dad to keep his blood properly oxygenated with his left lung being diminished. When he is energetic and able to be more aware of his breathing, his oxygen levels have been fine.
Don't forget:
No eating and drinking in front of Dad, as he is unable to do so himself.
Please be his advocate when you are visiting. If he needs a nurse, you may need to help him get their attention. The call button he has at his disposal seems to work best.
See you round the hospital.
H
There Is a lot of good news from Kernan. As I mentioned before dad is undergoing 3 hours of therapy most days. This breaks down into an hour each of 3 kinds of therapy-physical therapy (pt), occupational therapy (ot) and speech therapy (st). In ot therapy they are mostly focusing on his upper body. Most of the time the leg comes back before the arm. He does feel greater amounts of pressure on his left arm, but cannot feel gentle touches. He also has trouble understanding where his arm is in space, as this is a much more subtle sensation.
In st they are concentrating most on his swallowing at the moment. He had a swallowing study done today where they x-rayed his throat to see what exactly is happening. What they found is that one of the throat muscles, that was damaged during the stroke, is hanging in the way. Not only is it causing a sensation of him having something stuck in his throat, which is why he is clearing his throat often, but it is also blocking the way for him to swallow down the esophagus. Instead, it creates a cavern for it to then flow into his lungs and possibly cause aspiration pneumonia again. They will be starting with electrode stimulation, either tomorrow or Monday, to get those throat muscles working again. For now he still has the feeding tube into his stomach.
During pt they are mostly concentrating on his lower body. As in standing again or learning how to reposition his body. However, this repositioning of the body flows into all of the forms of therapy. His center of gravity is off. Where most of us know how to balance ourselves, dad will have to relearn this. To him it feels as if he is holding himself up properly when he is actually leaning to the right. This is because he has forgotten the left side of his body. So his center of gravity, as he feels it, is centrally located on his right side. As he remembers his true center, and is taught to fight his now natural urge to lean, he will start to reawaken his left side.
Besides the feeding tube, the only other tube he is sometimes hooked up to is oxygen. This is mostly in the evening after a long hard day. It is difficult for Dad to keep his blood properly oxygenated with his left lung being diminished. When he is energetic and able to be more aware of his breathing, his oxygen levels have been fine.
Don't forget:
No eating and drinking in front of Dad, as he is unable to do so himself.
Please be his advocate when you are visiting. If he needs a nurse, you may need to help him get their attention. The call button he has at his disposal seems to work best.
See you round the hospital.
H
John's new home as he recovers
John is at Kernan Rehbilitation Center as he recovers from his stroke. Kernan has an excellent reputation and deals with many different types of traumatic injuries and strokes, etc. It is encouraging to see how this institution operates and to know that John will receive at least three hours a day of therapy. Larry and I will visit for the first time on Sunday.
Swallowing is still a problem and they are doing an X-ray today to see if there is something else preventing John's ability to swallow. Please keep praying for John's full recovery, and especially for his ability to swallow.
Swallowing is still a problem and they are doing an X-ray today to see if there is something else preventing John's ability to swallow. Please keep praying for John's full recovery, and especially for his ability to swallow.
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