About 11 am we arrived at Terri's room at the hospital. Terri was sitting up in a chair, but still tied to the various bits of 'plumbing' you often find attached to patients in the hospital.
I brought Beth's pictures, a note from Chaunte, and a quick composition I did with Kimberly's old avatar and some pictures of hugging I snatched off Google Images. All are either on the wall of Terri's room or in the envelope where personal cards and letters to Terri are kept. BTW, the picture Cassandra provided and the composition I did from pictures Jillieann selected are also on the wall (nice of the hospital to provide a roll of tape so we could post all the pictures
)
There were myself, Andrea, a son, Dale, a daughter Michelle, and a granddaughter Maraiah (5), all packed inside that small room. What can I say about Terri's condition? It's a lot better than last Saturday, though Terri won't win any beauty contests (is it a rule that patients in hospitals must look like $#!^?.) Terri was more alert for longer periods, and was able to answer 'yes' or 'no' to direct questions, but her attention span is still short, and her focus wanders. Andrea said the neurologist said this is typical at this stage of recovery.
I took one of the free purple plastic gloves in the room, thinking I would do a Howie Mandel, but the material that glove was made of was not as stretchy as latex, so I ended up inflating it like a balloon. Tying the 'neck' though, was difficult. I tried for a while, Andrea tried to show me how it was done (but couldn't...) then I finally got it. Terri found this activity interesting. I drew eyes and a mouth around the thumb 'nose', and Maraiah giggled at the 'chicken' I'd made.
Maraiah and I started batting the improvised balloon around. Occasionally it would end up in Terri's part of the court and she would try to catch it or bat it away. I asked Terri if I should include her in the game, and she answered 'no', which got a surprised look and then a smile out of Andrea. Progress!
The stroke also interfered with Terri's legs. Michelle dod some range of motion exercises with Terri's legs, and asked Terri if it hurt. Terri answered 'no', and shook her head. They should be starting physical therapy for her legs within a week or two.
On a previous visit, someone brought Terri a book to read, but it was an adult book with many words and few pictures. Andrea said Terri would need something with more pictures and fewer words for a while. Not necessarily childrens' books, but something easier to comprehend, with less and simpler text. I mentioned that Dr Seuss had actually written a few books in the style of Dr Seuss but aimed squarely at adults, such as "Oh, the Places You'll Go!"
After a bit, I got an idea. I'd been noticing that Terri's hand motions and motor control were more lively and precise than I'd noticed during the previous visit. I looked about the room for a LAN port. NADA. I asked Terri if she'd like to use a laptop computer. Terri appeared interested, but I'm not sure what to make of her reaction -- perhaps desire mixed with the belief/fear that a computer would be wasted on her at this point in her recovery... I just don't know.
We bid our goodby's (Terry was hard to hug, sitting in that chair,) and made our way back to the parking lot.
Dale said he had a laptop he wasn't using. It works, but needs an external keyboard. It should be adequate for wordprocessing duties. Terri should be able to at least hunt-and-peck with it.
Andrea said they were talking of moving Terri to some form of convalescent facility soon ('when' isn't known, just 'soon'.) She also said the neurologist had said it will take Terri 6 months to a year to adequately recover from the strokes. I got the feeling everybody was getting ready for that long slog to recovery.
Please keep your cards, letters, wishes, etc., coming. They do brighten Terri's days, and will help speed her recovery.
Haz
