The emotion displayed yesterday over the shoes may, in fact, be a sign of progress. It may also indicate a common stroke by-product: depression. Likely, it is both.
It showed up again after breakfast this morning, during a speech therapy session. Liz had her print her name. (I was amazed that she could do it, and with quite good left-handed penmanship.) But after she had spelled out "B E T T I E", she sat and looked at it for a few moments, then put her head down and began to softly sob. To me it looked like she was grieving over a friend she used to know, but now was gone.
If that theory is correct, it means she is more aware, and that awareness includes greater awareness of her current plight. Progress like this is a good news/bad news sort of thing. But we take what we get.
When I returned, just after lunch, she was in good spirits and having a nice visit with a dear old friend, Barbara Funk, a classmate from elementary through high school. Barbara is a retired RN, and did a lot of her career right here in Auburn General, as the hospital was called then. I value her positive appraisal of Bettie's progress, which was borne out by Dr. Sultana, who came in during the visit.
More good news from the doctor: the gall bladder drain is doing it's job, the infection and inflammation are down and the bladder will not need to be removed, unless there are complications later on. The drain stays in for six weeks.
At dinner time, I found a new roommate had moved in with Bettie, so she got acquainted around the two community tables in the kitchen. During dinner I was chatting with the wife of the only male patient on the ward. I learned that his stroke occurred in April and he was almost completely paralyzed: no movement and no speech. Now he is quite talkative and his speech seems pretty normal to me. The wife said that Bettie is way ahead of where he was at this stage. Very encouraging.
After dinner, I took Bettie down to the lobby atrium to enjoy the sun. We talked, I quizzed her on things like her name, my name, etc. She eventually came up with "Bettie Aitkins" for her and "Just plain Bill" for me.
So, this is Just Plain Bill, signing off ... with a smile.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
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We felt the same after our visit yesterday. It was the first time she cried and showed real frustration, at least in front of us. We agree that it must mean she is getting better as she realizes her situation.
ReplyDeleteBettie said something like "prayed" several times. we tried all the P words and then I asked her if she meant "pray to God". She repeated it many times so we did pray to God. We are pretty sure she meant something else so, are we causing more confusion when we guess what she is saying? I can't wait to talk to the speech therapist and get ideas on how to help and NOT hinder.
We will miss her while we are away. We love her and you too!