Saturday, January 31, 2009

Yesterday was a very difficult day, but it looks like things are working out. It all started when Tommy was at rehab and I was down the street grocery shopping. One of the therapists called me on my cell phone and said they thought Tommy might be having a stroke; he had complained of pain, seemed weak on his left side, and wasn't speaking. The next thing I knew I was following the ambulance up the ocean highway to Beebe hospital in Lewes, talking with my sister on my cell phone for moral support. But although the hospital has kept Tommy overnight, the doctors think he's okay. What a day, sitting with him in a little emergency-room cubicle for nine hours. Thank goodness it was pretty apparent to me within a short time of arriving there that, whatever had happened, he seemed basically okay--he was talking to me and was responding appropriately (although he did tell the neurologist that he's 53 and left-handed...). The results of the CAT scan and MRI that he was given during the afternoon showed no sign of new damage. This morning, he will be given another CAT scan and MRI, and if the results are the same he will come home later in the day.

Wednesday, January 28

Something weird happened around the time of the tooth-fragment-that-didn't-get-pulled fiasco in December; life at Lazy Lagoon seems to have gone into warp speed. Now it's almost the end of January and somehow I'm still turning the corner into the new year. Tommy continues to go to therapy at Millville rehab--three times a week for two hours. He is improving slowly but surely--more overall strength, better appetite, same salty sense of humor. On Sunday, Tommy's sister Elaine and her hubby Alan visited, and we had a nice, low-key afternoon of reminiscing and comparing notes about Medicare hassles. Although Tommy listened to the conversation, he didn't have a lot to say (my theory is that he clams up when he's confused, which happens fairly often but doesn't last too long).
Meanwhile, there's been a huge change in the way we eat. Since Tommy's stroke, he has been on a low-sodium, low-fat, low-sugar diet, and since he came home in November we have both been eating that way. In order to give him this diet, I began reading the FDA-mandated labels on all packaged or processed food at the grocery store and was floored by how much sodium, fat, and sugar all the "foods" contained. My first question was: What is this "high fructose corn syrup" and why is it the main ingredient in so many foods of other names (answer: it's cheap unhealthy filler, aka junk). As a result, we now eat what I will call "scratch" foods--almost nothing from the cans and boxes that fill those middle aisles of the store--and instead of sugar Tommy gets Splenda and I get Stevia (an herb derivative that Tommy finds bitter). The result is that Tommy's blood sugar has improved so much that he no longer needs to take medication for Type II diabetes (he was diagnosed as "borderline Type II last spring, a couple of months before his stroke). Of course, it surely must also help that he no longer drinks beer. His drink of choice, believe it or not, is now perhaps the healthiest beverage a person can drink: Decaffeinated green tea. Go figure. As for the sodium dilemma, I have discovered that a seasoning called Spike (the non-sodium mix) is great as a substitute for salt. I showed Tommy a photo of the two of us from two years ago, and we both looked like a couple on the road to trouble--fat 'n saggy. So, in many ways, we are healthier now than we were back then.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Yesterday, we made our first "social visit." We went to see Mary and Al, up in Harbeson, a forty-minute drive (very long for us). Al had a stroke a month after Tommy did, and we got to be good friends at Ren rehab, where we'd often be a foursome for dinner. At first, Al couldn't talk other than saying "No no no", which he did often and loudly; and--as he got better--he started to make short mumbling sounds that sounded like "Rr rr rr" to Mary and me. What's funny is that Al and Tommy both have great senses of humor, and when Al would say something funny, Al and Tommy would look across the table at each other and laugh out loud--something neither had done since their strokes. I will never forget the evening that Mary, for the first time, understood what Al was saying. She and I had been talking about the presidential race (we were on different sides), and Al looked across at Tommy and, with a big smile, said "Rr rr rr"; and the two laughed. Mary turned to Al and said, "You just said we sure talk a lot, didn't you?!" He nodded yes, with great big nods, and we all had a good laugh.

Thursday, January 8

Tommy is now officially enrolled in what I'll call Millville rehab. A well-staffed and -equipped storefront gym, it's a branch of Beebe hospital in Lewes, which is about 45 minutes away. (Millville rehab has some sort of proper name, but the names that these health-care facilities have are almost never descriptive and almost always forgettable.) Thankfully, Millville is Sussex County's closest town to us, and Millville rehab is only about five minutes away in the small shopping center next to the Food Lion.
Yesterday morning, Tommy was registered by David, the therapy aide, and then evaluated by Jennifer, the occupational therapist, and Tim, the physical therapist (this is Tommy's second physical therapist named Tim; it was Tim at Ren rehab who got him walking in the hallways). Tommy was responsive but tired. He went through a series of interesting tests with Jennifer that involved squeezing and grasping various precision instruments that looked like something a surveyor would use. Toward the end of the two hours, he walked the length of the compact gym with his walker (he's still a mid-assist, which means he walked with Tim assisting and David following with the wheelchair). Today, he has an OT session, tomorrow a PT session, and then for several weeks we'll go there three times a week.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

It's 2009? You're kidding. Where did Christmas go? Yes, Matilda, the second half of 2008 is kind of a blur. Let's review: Tommy had his stroke in June; then he was a week in the hospital; then he spent a month at an acute rehab center an hour's drive north (where I stayed all day every day and often overnight while our friend Irv ran and fed the dogs for us); then he had three months in a rehab place a half-hour drive north of here, where I went every day; and then he came home at the beginning of November and we had home therapists every day for several hours (during which time Steve and Jill took our rambunctious dog Sandy under their wings); and then he had his teeth pulled (except for a fragment that gave him trouble right up until Christmas); and now, today, Tommy begins outpatient therapy at a facility only five minutes away. Whew--what a long haul. We have had a lot of family and friends come to visit, and Tommy continues to receive phone calls and cards, so we've had a lot of support. A "big party" for us these days is what we did the other evening--our friends Patti and Irv came over for dinner and a movie, and the main course was a venison tenderloin that Irv brought back from his autumn hunting trip to West Virginia. We were in bed by 9 p.m. '-)
Yesterday was a typical day for us. Tommy spent eight nonstop minutes (a new record) pedaling the cycle exerciser, and he also did a number of other exercises with his legs and arms that are based on the t'ai chi form that I practice. He walked the length of the living room using the walker, with me assisting. He is still on a "mechanical soft" diet, so anything I cook for him gets a quick run through the mini-Cuisinart that Patti gave me for Christmas (thanks, Patti!). As soon as Tommy's new schedule is set up with the Beebe outpatient folks, I will schedule him for a visit to Dr. James, the dentist who will fit him for new teeth. As for me, my heart is still stuck at Thanksgiving, my new favorite holiday. And the Christmas cards I send every year? Hah! I do believe this is the year that I will send Chinese new year cards.