Day 47 – A Great Start to the Week – Monday, May 22

After a somewhat trying weekend (some issues with the staff, lack of communication, scheduling), today was a very good day.

She seemed to have slept well. Although she wasn’t dressed yet when I got there, it wasn’t too long after. She had a really good OT/PT session. She worked on standing a few times, got hooked up to the e-stim (for some knee pain), and worked out her weak arm. She actually moved her left arm on her own! Any movement is EXTREMELY significant.

She sat in her chair for a little while rather than getting right back in the bed, which is also therapeutic. It helps her work on her balance and her core.

When the speech therapist came, mom FINALLY got to have a little bit of food. She had some honey-thick liquid (cranberry juice) and a few bites of yogurt. I think she had about 6 small spoonfuls before it made her cough. This was better than the first time she got to try this. I was also given permission to start doing the “Frazier Free Water Protocol”. Basically this means that she can drink as much water as she would like. Sounds great, right? Not so fast. Drinking water is NOT as easy as you think. The liquid is so thin that it’s very easy for it to go down the wrong pipe. We started out with some *VERY* small sips. We tried four times and she coughed each time. I told her not to get discouraged. This is something very new and she has to learn how to drink from a cup. When she first started with pudding and ice chips, she coughed a lot then too but she has gotten so much better. I expect the same for drinking from a cup. As soon as she can handle it, she can drink as much water as she’d like. That will make her start to feel like an independent person again. She can decide when and how much she wants to drink. I bet if I told her that we could put scotch in her cup once in awhile she might be incentivized to work as hard as possible.

One of the sweetest moments was mom telling me that she needs to get better for me, Chad, Sam, and Cyndie. She also said that when she moves into her own place she has a lot of cooking to do. She wants to teach Sam how to make Korean food. I love that she is making plans for the future now.