Mom’s First Field Trip – Monday, July 3

Mom had a great weekend visiting with Cyndie who came down to spend time with her. Lots of laughing, a little PT, and a visit from R definitely helped her pass the time. I think Cyndie is always surprised at each visit with what mom is able to accomplish because she seems to be improving so much in between those visits. Cyndie will be back in just a little over two weeks. I’m curious to see what new things mom is able to do by then.

Today was actually a big day for mom. We took our first trip out since she’s been there. It’s been over a month and a half already! We had an appointment at INOVA Loudoun. Since her stroke, this is the first time we had a planned visit into a hospital (you may recall that she’s been sent to Stone Springs a couple of times in the past due to some issues she had while at HealthSouth). She got to ride in a wheelchair van – so much better and a lot more comfortable than being transported on a stretcher! I got to ride along with her and I think that helped keep her at ease.

Why were we headed to INOVA Loudoun? Well – lemme tell you. Mom has been eating pureed food for the last few weeks and the speech therapist and nurse practitioner agreed that it would be smart for mom to have a “modified barium swallow” study done. She had one done before coming to Ashby, but it was tough on her. She wasn’t eating any food at that time and was really limited to ice chips with supervision. It was failure after failure with each sample she was given to try. Very defeating and didn’t help her depression. Today’s test was much different. We know that she can handle pureed foods with no problems. We took in some “mechanical soft” foods for her to try. I got to stay in the room while the test was done, which was actually very cool. Basically mom was getting x-rayed as she swallowed food and drink so we could see how her muscles worked. She did AWESOME!! The speech pathologist said soft foods are not an issue for her. However, she’s not ready for regular liquids yet. She is to continue on with nectar-thick liquids. Because she’s getting her meds crushed up in apple sauce now and her bolus feedings have been discontinued, there really is no reason for her to keep her PEG tube in. WHAT?!?!? This is the BEST news! When I came home to update our speech therapist she agreed that we can expect a plan/order to have that removed soon. They’ll need to monitor her weight for a couple of weeks at least to be sure she’s maintaining her weight. If she’s dropping that means that they may need to supplement with bolus feedings again. We definitely don’t want that to happen. I am keeping fingers crossed that she’ll be tube-free by month’s end. Wouldn’t that be fantastic!?!?

After lunch she worked with both PT and OT together and they worked on a little bit of walking again. She made it about 14 feet today. She was disappointed since it was not her longest distance but I reminded her that it was more than the last time she tried to walk. I left in the afternoon so she could spend some one on one time with her friend, H, but Sam and I went back to tuck her in. She was in good spirits and had saved some giggles for us. We’re almost at exactly 3 months since her stroke. She has really come such a long way and I honestly don’t see her nearing a plateau yet. She’s in a great place mentally and I truly believe that is making all the difference. I don’t know where she will end up (our house, assisted living, or independent living) and it is really too soon to even guess. She has defied the odds so far. I am learning not to make assumptions about her. Even though she’s not ready to live in an apartment by herself yet, that’s not to say that she won’t get there. She’s very determined, she’s strong, and she’s stubborn. Based on the type of stroke she had, she started out facing really tough odds with not much hope for a full recovery. So far she has been proving to be the exception and I couldn’t be prouder!