Monday, December 29

This week is the official end of the Beebe home health people--Linda, the nurse, has been coming once a week to make sure Tommy is coming along okay; and Reva (sometimes, Gail) has been coming twice a week to give Tommy his showers. Now it's just Tommy and me for the showers; but I have learned a lot from watching Reva, an 18-year veteran, so I feel confident we'll do fine. We'll miss you, Reva!

December 24, Christmas eve

Oh boy. Sometimes you can tell that there's a problem but it takes a while to figure out what it is. That was the case beginning a week or so after Tommy's remaining lower teeth were pulled. It was supposed to take two weeks to heal, at which time Tommy would revisit his new dentist, Dr. James, to get molds made for his new plates. Not.
The problem was where the teeth had been removed, but it was unclear what it was. Tommy had no infection, no elevated temperature, no sign of any problem other than the fact that chewing was uncomfortable along the far right end of the lower gum. The visiting nurse, Linda, and I agreed that a puree diet was in order, and it did help. But, finally, the day before yesterday, we learned what the problem was--on awakening, Tommy showed me with the tip of his tongue a tooth fragment sticking up like a tiny iceberg. Until then, it had been covered by a thin layer of skin, so we hadn't see it hiding out under there. I touched it very lightly; it was very sharp, and Tommy said, "Ow!" In the afternoon, Linda confirmed that it was a piece of tooth or bone sticking up. I called the oral surgeon's office, and they fit him in the following afternoon. I was relieved that the surgeon was seeing him so quickly, but I was also filled with trepidation that the tooth was only the tip of an iceberg and the surgeon would have to open up Tommy's gums again. Thank goodness, it turned out to be only a fragment of tooth that somehow the surgeon had missed, and within ten minutes we were leaving the office (this time, without a stop at the front desk to pay).
We are now ready for a nice, relaxing Christmas. Tonight, Tommy will supervise Marsh and me as we put the ornaments on the tree (our family tradition is to decorate the tree on Christmas eve, although I jumped the gun with the lights a few weeks ago). If you are reading this blog, Tommy would love to hear your voice on the phone (me, too '-), so give a call at 302-539-8079. We will send out cards, but they will be late. For now, we're here quietly celebrating, with thanks in our hearts for all the wonderful things that family, friends and health-care folks have done for us this year.

Thursday, December 18

After days of gray skies, wind and rain, we again have bright sun this morning--yay. This means that, while Tommy is doing his cycling this morning, we will be able to sit in the sun and enjoy the scent of our Christmas tree and the many bright orange blooms of the hibiscus plants that my pals Susanna, Nancy and Laura brought me last spring. Tommy is temporarily between official treatment plans--after many visits during November and December by the Beebe home-health folks, all but two of them have "discharged" him (Linda and Reva, the nurse and bathing aide, will continue to come through December 30). Then, with the new year, I will sign Tommy up for his outpatient physical therapy. This means that, two or three times a week, we will ride over to the Beebe storefront rehab facility right here in Millville, next door to the Food Lion. There, Tommy will spend a couple of hours with a physical, occupational and speech therapist.
On Monday, we took a ride down to the Assawoman Wildlife Area south of town, our first purely fun "outing" since Tommy came home from Ren rehab, and the forests, marshes and boat landings were as lovely as ever. We both were thrilled to make that pilgrimage to one of our favorite places (Penny too, but we couldn't let her get out of the car because it's hunting season and visitors have to stay on the roads!).
Yesterday we had visits from Irv and Frank, and tomorrow Steve will arrive with our number two dog, Sandy. I am so grateful that Steve, Jill and the kids took care of Sandy while all those home-health people were coming and going, because Sandy is still rambunctious and it would have been chaotic to have her here for all that excitement. A huge thank-you, guys!

Wednesday, December 10

We're doing fine here; it's still a steep learning curve for me, but I'm getting the hang of it. Letting a natural routine emerge is the key, I think. That way, things get done naturally. Irv and I got the Christmas tree in from the deck last weekend (Tommy and I had a live tree with a root ball last Christmas, which we bought at the country store south of town, and which spent the better part of this year on the corner of the deck). I already have the lights on it, and Tommy and I enjoy it every evening twinkling out there on the porch. It will be the centerpiece on Christmas eve, when we will have a very casual open house, with the usual suspects coming by as well as a few new friends we've made this year at the thrift shop, library and Ren rehab. And, needless to say, if you are reading this blog, you are invited! Please let me know if you'll be in town and can come (Frank?).
Minor change of December plan: It turned out that, although Tommy's lower gumline healed well, the experience took several days of steam out of Tommy's system. He slept a lot and even now has more trouble than usual getting his right foot to pivot on command, which is a necessary skill during "transfers" from bed to wheelchair, etc. (One of the key problems Tommy has been working on since the stroke is getting commands from his brain to his right leg and arm.) In fact, the whole teeth-pulling project was like, well, pulling teeth. So, Tommy has decided that he wants to wait until after the holidays before doing anything about getting his new set of teeth. He says that he actually likes his ancient and worn upper plate and, not only that, he says that he actually likes using his lower gums to chew (as long as the food is softened, but by now I'm an old hand at that).

NOTE: The best time to call Tommy is now probably between 7 and 8 in the evening. Another good time is between 11 and noon. From around 3 to 5, Tommy usually takes a nap. Of course, any time you want to call, please do (302-539-8079), since you can always leave a message and we'll call back later. We're nearly always home but, if not, leave a message and we'll call back soon.

Thursday, December 4

Our Thanksgiving was wonderful--my sister, Trudy, was in charge of the turkey and stuffing (fabulous) and my brother, Marsh, provided back-up help. During the course of the holiday weekend, Tommy got to say hi to lots of family and friends, including both his sisters and both his kids. Over the past week, Tommy's home therapists have been discharging him from their care, with the recommendation that, after a week or two of rest, he continue therapy as an outpatient. Meanwhile, Tommy now has a daily exercise regimen--swallowing and tongue-strengthening exercises that were written down by the speech pathologist, arm and hand exercises written down by the occupational therapist, and five minutes each of pedal-exercising and walker practice. The last couple of days we've had fun with Tommy's old Erector set (his mom gave it to him for Christmas), which I dug out of the bedroom closet; right now, we're putting together the traveling jib crane (see photo).