After a rough week with me, mom ended up having a GREAT weekend with Cyndie. I know mom was really happy to see her since the last visit was over Christmas. Cyndie spent a lot of time with her on exercises and even took her out both days. It was so nice that they were able to get some good quality time together. I know it means a lot to Cyndie as well since she doesn’t get to be here as much as she’d like. It was also wonderful to see mom laugh as much as she did over the weekend. It’s been awhile since she’s laughed so hard. Although it has only been a couple of months since she was here last, Cyndie commented that mom has improved a lot even from the last time she saw her. Since mom still feels trapped in her body, she doesn’t feel like she’s making much progress at all. Of course that frustrates us all, because we end up spending a lot of time trying to convince her that she’s doing really well and to keep up it up.
Mom was able to meet her new therapist today. She’s on the waiting list for occupational therapy and speech so I have no idea when she might get scheduled for those disciplines. In the meantime, she’ll be meeting with a new one out at Inova Loudoun who is absolutely WONDERFUL. She was extremely encouraging, asked lots of questions, and got mom moving so she could see what mom’s abilities are so far. She was quite impressed! She said that mom has a lot of potential and even in the areas that are very weak, she said that she can feel something going on. When mom first started learning how to get around it, she was taught how to use her strong side to assist her weak side. This goes way back to the very beginning when her left side was not able to do anything at all. Now that she’s regaining some of that strength and actually has movement, “J” has told her NOT to help out that weak side. It’s going to be really frustrating and will take a long time, but for as long as she can try, she should move her left leg unassisted. This means that when she goes to lay down, she shouldn’t hook the bad leg with the good one to swing up. She needs to lay down and try to lift that bad one on its own. Just like how we lay down. Even if it’s hard and she’s struggling, she is telling her brain to perform that movement and that’s part of therapy. Of course at some point she will likely need help to get that leg up but she shouldn’t resort to that immediately. She needs to spend as much time as possible moving her left arm, hand and fingers, left leg, ankle and toes without using her right hand. She can sit all day long and work on it. I told her that I know it’s super boring, but if that’s what will help her get it back then that’s what she’s got to do.
As it turns out, J spends most of her time working with stroke patients. Not only that, she heads up the stroke survivors support group. The support group meets once a month and mom’s appointments happen to be right before that meeting. No excuse not to attend! Hopefully she will find encouragement in others that are going through something similar and can hopefully make some new friends that can introduce her to new hobbies. That first meeting is in a couple of week and we’re planning on sticking around for that.
Before we left, she asked J if there is any hope for her. She said “Of course! There is ALWAYS hope”. That was just the answer that mom needed to hear. As I type this, I can hear her doing some exercises (tapping her foot) in the other room. Let’s see what she’s able to do when we go back on Wednesday!