This is Chad back at the keyboard. Kim has been doing a great job with supporting Sue and maintaining the website, but I finally got to spend some time in the rehab center with Sue so I wanted to post the update for today. It will be pretty easy to sum up – today was INCREDIBLE.
First of all, Sue is talking. Like, really talking. Real words, full sentences, and good conversation. This is dramatically different than where she was just last week. It is incredible. Now, it is not perfect – she still has to concentrate, and not everything is clear, but it is still a great step forward. In fact, it is good enough that she wants visitors! I have updated the What Can I Do? page to reflect some guidelines for visiting her in case you want to stop by!
Secondly, she moved her left hand! Not an involuntary muscle movement, but a real twitch in every finger! It is almost imperceptible, but it is there and the implications are huge! She can get that hand back with enough work.
You can download the video if you’d like to see. It shows her moving her fingers, as well as sitting up and talking. (She says “hi” to Cyndie and Wade.) It’s pretty spectacular. Sue Moving Fingers
She is also swallowing better and was approved for ice chips! She can’t have as many as she wants, and as soon as she starts getting too used to them she gets a little overconfident and breathes in some of the water, but for the most part she is doing really well and it is a nice change over just sucking on the sponge.
A lot more happened today – R and S came to visit, Samantha got to spend some time with her, she got to watch both Steve Harvey and Ellen – all in all just a good day. She got her sleepy-time meds early tonight which is a really good thing since she has very early PT tomorrow morning, so we left a little after 6pm and let her sleep.
Sorry for the short post, but hopefully the good news and the video make it worthwhile. We are excited to see what tomorrow brings!
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Hi Chad and Kim, I would love to come visit Sue, if possible and is o.k. I would love to know what time is the best, thanks for all the info, Mary Lynn
Hi Mary,
Most of her therapies are finished by 3:30 or so. The morning hours can be a bit more hectic with shorter windows of time to visit since that part of the day is when she has her appointments. Visiting hours are 9-9.
Hi Kim, thanks for the info, my Dad is in simular situation and I like to keep his evenings for down time, so do you think the weekend would be a better time for short visit ,does she have therapy on the weekend days , if you save this time for family let me know , we will find a good time . thanks again
She is actually getting therapy every day! Unfortunately I don’t get her schedule until the day before (late afternoon or early evening). For example – today she has therapy from 7-8, 9-10, and then around 1:30, I believe. She has been having issues sleeping so she gets help with that – she normally starts getting sleepy around dinner time. Not sure if you can work that in your schedule. I think at this point it might be easier to just take a chance and pop in when you can see her. She sleeps so inconsistently that even if you go in and she appears to be sleeping at first, she should wake up to be able to spend some time with you.