Recovering on Liquids

When Bettie checked in to Acute Rehab on July 1st, she had her two-bed room all to herself. The second bed remained unoccupied for the better part of the next week, giving Bettie a lot of peace and quiet. Then she got a roommate...so much for the quiet. Not that the roommate herself was loud, but she had a lot of visitors that were.

Yesterday the roommate was transferred to another facility, and once again Bettie has the room to herself. I think it's better, not just for the quiet, but she is free of the "pressure" to carry on a conversation with a chatty neighbor, while still struggling to find the right words, just to sound intelligent.

I had hoped that when I arrived at 11:30 today, I could take her to the kitchen for a hearty lunch. But as I left the elevator and passed by the daily activity board, I saw the notation in Bettie's column: "Bed therapy only, doctor's orders". So that's where I found her, dozing in her room, alone. She had already had one guest this morning, pastor Art Palecek. She did seem glad to see me ... but not so glad that she felt like keeping her eyes open all the time. I forgave her :)

And the "hearty lunch" turned out to be just liquids, plus that all-time hospital favorite: Jello. Since she was eating in bed, it required a little more help that usual. At least I thought it did. She did not concur. A couple of times she gave me that very stern, "Will you please stop touching my food" look. I love it. That kind of independence goes a long way in therapy.

When I returned to visit her several hours later for dinner it was a different story. I found her in the kitchen with the rest of the girls (there are now six female patients ... And, I think, just one lucky fella, in Acute Rehab). When dinner was served, I got permission for Bettie to have some of her favorite apricot-mango yogurt from Trader Joe's, which I had brought for her. She had four of the eight ounces of that, plus a bowl of tomato soup, and small cups of chocolate pudding and vanilla ice cream. Funny how she seems so hungry; it's only been two days with hardly anything to eat.

I can't say there has been any progress the last two days, other than determining why she hurt inside and getting a fix for that problem in place. Missing two days of therapy is bound to slow things down. Knowing her, I'm sure she is anxious to get back to work: dressing, walking, welding. You know, the usual stuff.