Long Overdue Update

Alison here. After seeing two comments today alone on Facebook about people missing the regular blog posts, I decided to do one. So... you can thank Phil and Rebecca for this update! :)

The last couple of posts have mentioned that, for us at least, the days all seem to run into each other and so each day seems similar to the last...and the next. But really, as I sat down to think about what I could update on, I realized that there has been a lot of progress and a lot of change over the last two weeks!

First of all, I'll share a little bit about what has become the normal routine with Dad. As you know, we took shifts so that we were with him 24/7 for the first 7-10 days. After that, he seemed to be sleeping better at night, so we stopped spending the night and instead take shifts to be with him from about 8:00am to 9:00 or 10:00pm. 

Weekdays are very busy for Dad. He typically has 5 or 6 therapy sessions, 45 minutes a piece, on weekdays. These typically consist of two physical therapy appointments, two occupational, one speech therapy and maybe one recreational therapy. My mom has been in the hospital every weekday for the past three weeks of therapy. She typically spends about 6-8 hours a day in with him. The therapists all love her, and she keeps copious notes on Dad's therapies and progress. On weekday afternoons, the kids take turns coming in to spend the evenings with Dad. He's usually pretty pooped in the evenings, after a full day of therapy, but it's a fun time to visit with him.

Weekends are a little more relaxed, especially Sundays. Saturday usually brings a little lighter therapy schedule (typically not with his regular therapists either... so the "replacements" don't tend to push him as hard), and Sunday is therapy-free. The kids take turns coming in on the weekends too, and then my Mom spends Sunday in the hospital as well. Side note -- those of you who know my mom know that she loves to walk. One Sunday, I went in and Susan was there. I asked where Mom was because Susan had mentioned they were going to drive in together. She said that my mom had asked to be dropped off at Temple Square to watch the choir broadcast and then was walking to the hospital. Now... if you googled this, you'd see it is "only" three miles (as my mom said), but if you've ever driven to the hospital, you know what a walk it would be! My mom is amazing!

So, my dad still has someone with him most of the time, except for when he's sleeping. This has been helpful because we tend to understand him a little bit better than the nurses and aides, although his speech is improving! (More on that later.)

Dad has had several other visitors as well. Some have asked if visitors are welcome, and I think for the most part the answer is yes. My own personal recommendation would be to try to come on Saturday or Sunday evening if possible. Therapy days are tiring, so he often is sleepy and worn out in the evenings on those days. Weekends, he's a little more alert. And, it may be better to call before coming too. Sometimes, the nurses take him off for scheduled tests, etc, so planning a visit ahead of time is a good idea. :)

So, now to the good stuff... progress. You know, when the stroke first happened, we didn't know what to expect. The doctors were hesitant to tell us what to expect because everyone responds and recovers differently. We knew that Dad's stroke was serious and that he'd likely have longterm or permanent disability because of it. But, it's really just been a "watch and see" sort of thing.

From the beginning, we had the sense that Dad's cognitive ability was largely intact. He has responded well to us even from the first night in the ER. So, that was and has been the biggest relief. He truly seems like he is "all there." And we are thrilled to see that his sense of humor has returned in full force. We love this and it definitely lightens the mood for all of us!

The two areas that Dad has struggled the most are physically -- he has effectively been paralyzed on his entire right side -- and his speech. We have joked on the blog about him sounding like he speaks Cherokee. Also, they think that he suffered some damage from the breathing tube in the ER, or that his vocal cords were temporarily or permanently paralyzed. As a result, when he does talk, it is in a whisper. This whisper has gotten a little louder over time, and he can even force out a louder voice at times (which we refer to as his "Barry White voice" because it is loud and deep). 

So, let me give you an update on these two areas:

Physical - Dad has amazed us with his ability on his left side. He is right handed and, as mentioned before, has suffered from a tremor in his left hand/arm for the last six months or so. So, we were worried about him being able to use his left side. He has done amazingly well! As of today, he eats completely on his own, with his left hand. As part of his occupational therapy, he dresses himself (with little assistance) and grooms himself. He uses the iPad and TV himself. He is very sturdy with his left hand and you would never guess that it wasn't his dominant hand before the stroke. He has drawn a few things in therapy and, again, we've been amazed with what he's done. In fact, here is a picture he drew in therapy two weeks ago.

It's kind of dark, but you can see how great it is. It is hanging in his room now and several people have commented that they couldn't even do that well with their own dominant hand. :)

Dad's strength continues to improve as well. One focus of his physical therapy is to practice standing and walking. He has continued to improve in standing and now does it unassisted while holding a bar. He also does much better in transfers (moving from the bed to a wheelchair, to a table, etc). When he first arrived, they had to do a full assist transfer, taking 2-3 people. Now, this can typically be done with just one aide helping him. Great! He has been practicing walking the last couple of days. Keep in mind that he still has very little feeling and use of his right side, so this still requires a lot of assistance, but he's up and trying it nonetheless. He has been experiencing a lot of pain in his right side, which is a good sign (to us) because it means he can feel something.

Last night, Sharon and my mom were with him at the hospital and all of a sudden he started raising his right leg off the bed on command. This is sort of how things have been happening lately. All of a sudden, he can do something that he hasn't been able to do before. They usually aren't huge steps, but it is exciting to see evidence that the brain is healing and that maybe some of the damage we assumed would be permanent may not be!

SPEECH

This is probably the most exciting thing for us right now. From day one, this has been the most frustrating thing for all of us, including I'm sure, my dad. It has always seemed to us that he knows what he's trying to say and just simply can't say it. Until recently, I would say that he was understandable only about 5% of the time. If he was trying to communicate something, it was typically a VERY long process of yes and no questions to try to get to it, and most of the time, we'd just have to give up. Thankfully, he had a pretty good sense of humor about this, but it still had to be very frustrating for him (and it was for us too because we couldn't help him). 

In the last week, though, we have seen HUGE improvements. I can barely type right now because I'm crying just thinking about it. LOL Thank you SO much for your prayers on Dad's behalf. We have prayed that his speech and ability to communicate would be restored because we knew that this was one of the most important things in his long term quality of life. I would say that Dad is understandable now at least 50% of the time, and is improving every single day. He has learned to talk slowly and deliberately and he can usually get the message across even if a couple of the words in between are a little off. And he regularly surprises us with completely clear, complex sentences. We love it! And he seems to love it too! :)

Well, hopefully that will suffice for an update today. I apologize that we haven't done a better job of keeping this up. We'll do better! I'm glad to know that you all still are interested and care to know how he's doing. It means the world to us.. and to him. 

Here is a final photo... Sharon took this of my dad overlooking the Salt Lake Valley from the Huntsman Cancer Center window (thank you for the tip, Von... he LOVED it!). This is before Karen just gave him a much needed haircut, but it is a great picture of a very peaceful, enjoyable afternoon for him.

Love you all!