Saturday Morning - More Therapy

It's Alison. Dad seemed to do really well his first night alone (and by alone, I mean with at least two nurses who checked on him all night long). I'm quite certain his children have much more anxiety over him being alone than he does. :)

I arrived this morning at 8:00 to find Dad sound asleep still. I tried to let him sleep for as long as possible but, because his therapy schedule indicated occupational therapy at 9:00, I had to wake him up for breakfast at 8:30. I may or may not have smuggled in some McDonald's oatmeal and a cream slush from Sonic. ;)

After a sleepy breakfast, Dad started occupational therapy with Chelsie and Rachel. They were great with him again, very kind and positive. Occupational therapy today consisted of moving to his wheelchair, getting dressed, brushing teeth, washing his face and combing his hair. This sounds simple enough, but took the full 45 minutes. Dad did great and, while still very sleepy, was very obedient and cooperative.

Right after occupational therapy, Collin showed up to take Dad to physical therapy in the gym. He did some leg stretches, which is painful because my Dad's right leg is VERY tight and stiff. Then, Dad practiced sitting unassisted on the edge of a table, with Collin trying to push him over so he could assess my Dad's strength and balance. Dad did great. During therapy, I asked Collin if recovery and treatment differs significantly between those who have suffered a hemorrhagic stroke (like Dad) vs. the more typical ischemic stroke (caused by a blood clot). He said that they don't see as many hemorrhagic stroke patients because it is fatal much more frequently than ischemic strokes. But, he said, those who do survive usually have the potential for a better recovery. This made me even more grateful for two things -- 1) that my dad is still here with us after we have learned more and more over the last week about how serious his type of stroke really is and 2) that his long-term prognosis is hopefully much better than we are seeing right now. There is truly some light at the end of this long tunnel, even if we can't see it right now.

After therapy, we headed back up to the room. Collin had moved Dad's afternoon physical therapy appointment up to 11:15, so we only had 45 minutes in between. He said he would prefer if Dad stayed in the wheelchair until he came back, so they wouldn't lose any therapy time doing the transfer into the wheelchair again. Dad agreed to this, but within one minute of Collin leaving, Dad was dozing in the chair. I asked if he wanted to lay down and he said yes. So, we moved him to his bed and he was able to get in a few minutes of much needed rest.

Ryan showed up for his shift just before Collin came back to take Dad to therapy again. Dad did some amazing things during his second physical therapy appointment. Ryan has promised to do an update this time, so you should be able to read about it later.

I'm so proud of my dad. He was so tired and worn out today and maybe a little more down than he has been. But he still worked as hard as I've ever seen and did everything that was asked of him. He knows that it will take hard work to get better and he's willing to do it.

On a side note, Dad's brother Ef called and said that he'll likely be in for a visit tomorrow. Dad has been asking for Ef ever since the stroke, but unfortunately, Ef has been recovering from his own knee surgery and hasn't been able to come in yet. So, I think a visit from Ef is just what Dad needs to have a boost going into his first full week of therapy. I look forward to hearing about their visit. Let's hope Ef speaks Cherokee. ;)

Okay, one more side note. I realize I sound like a broken record, especially for those of you who are also my friends on Facebook. But, if you could please take a minute or two out of each day and send Dad a message or comment on Facebook, it would mean a lot to all of us. After a long, hard day, one of his favorite things is to sit with us and listen to us read these notes. It literally makes his day. So, if you could take a minute or two and do this as often as you can, it would be great. Even just a note about what you did that day would be fun for him to hear. Thank you! Thank you!