Monday, October 20

All went well over the weekend. We had a couple of very pleasant dinners with Mary and Al. It felt like we were out at a restaurant; there were fall-color tablecloths and centerpieces, and one of the aides, Peggy, had discovered a channel that plays classical music--not Handel's Water Music, but close. At one dinner, we were joined by Ralph, the speech pathologist who has been working individually with both Tommy and Al. Ralph has taught all of us a lot about how to prevent choking, and he's good fun, too. Al and Tommy sometimes look across the table and laugh over something that Mary and I have no clue about, and they had Ralph laughing, too. A memorable dinner. On Saturday evening, one of Tommy's favorite aides, Lu Ann, gave Tommy a shower (see photo, above right) in the rehab wing's well-equipped "spa". The spa has a few pieces of equipment that I am now researching, including the grab bars (both the placement and the lengths), and also the shower wheelchair, which I think is really well designed. At Milford rehab, Tommy's bathroom had a long Rubbermaid bench with removable arm rests--also a very good design, and probably better suited for our needs since we don't have a "roll-in" shower (we can line up his wheelchair with the bench, and then, using a sliding board, we can get Tommy across to the other seat).
On Wednesday there will be a care-plan-after-discharge meeting. The social worker, Meredith, told me some weeks back that one of the therapists will also visit the house to see what still needs to be done to make it Tommy-friendly. This visit will probably be scheduled on Wednesday, and the therapist will be able to answer my questions with a good idea of how the house is set up.