Hand Better - Tummy Worse

Expecting to find Bettie about finished with breakfast, I checked the dining area about 8:15 this morning. "She was fussing with her hair, last time I checked" the nurse told me. I found her in her room, just moving back toward her bed in her wheelchair. She wanted me to help her onto the bed, a task that is getting easier by the day.

She was not interested in going for breakfast, but I could not determine, from what she was saying, whether she had actually eaten yet or just didn't want to. When I finally checked with the nurse, I found that she was scheduled for an ultra-sound of her tummy area, just to be sure yesterday's upset stomach was not something serious. I still could not tell whether she knew she was not supposed to eat or that she just didn't want to eat. Anyway, she was fine with eating a very late breakfast. (I left at 10 a.m. and they still had not taken her for the ultra-sound.)

During my morning visit Dr. Sultana spent some time with us. He is pleased with her progress, overall. However, most of the stuff I wanted to know from him, he also wanted to know. Things like: Does she still have her memory (short term & long term)? Will she make a "full" recovery? How much does she understand? ... etc. A lot of these things we can't know until they happen.

He did say that he expects her total stay there to be about three weeks; which would mean her coming home the last week of July. But again, we can't be sure.

Before Dr. Sultana came, I was trying to get Bettie to move her right hand fingers, which have been mostly immobile from the start of this. The right arm is coming along, but not the hand and fingers.

As I was working with her I was thinking: "I think I'll ask people reading the blog to pray specifically about her fingers."

Then the doctor starts his routine: "Move this; move that; what is your name?" and so on. Pretty soon he gets to her right hand and asks her to squeeze. And she squeezes with her right hand and fingers.

"That's amazing", I exclaim, "I was just doing that with her and I got nothing." Whatever Sultana's magic touch was, I don't know, but he got some pretty promising response in her hand and fingers. Next to communication skills, I think this is the most important recovery she could make.

Just think of the huge difference between being able to use your principle hand and not being able to use it. Try it. Try just five minutes of normal daily activity with your principle hand immobilized and you'll see what I mean. Very tough.

Hopefully, this is more epic stuff.

Tim and family had a nice visit with her during the afternoon, while I finished up the installation of a second hand rail on the stairs into the house from the garage. (Before, it only had a hand rail on one side.)

Later, when I arrived for dinner, our daughter Kim was still there during a long afternoon visit. Bettie was complaining of stomach pain again, but it soon subsided and she was able to eat a pretty good dinner.