one of the best thing about rehab was the people i meant there, the nurses,aids,therapists, etc - and the other patients - i had two great roommates - and there were a few other standouts - when they finally decided that the only reason to send me to speech therapy was to get me to talk less, they sent me to a speech/rec group instead, basically it was 4-5 of us playing board games, along with a speech therapist and a rec. therapist, the idea being that people would need to practice thinking, pr
things proceeded, in ot i started dressing myself completely - bypassing socks and underwear that were too hard to get on.... they didn't approve of my transfer method - i never got why one of them kept saying "take tiny steps as you turn" if i could take steps i wouldn't need the chair!!! - i finally got them to agree that my rotate and plop method, while not elegant, worked for me and they altered my "orders" at first to only needing 2 people there when i transferred, and then just 1 to hold
the next day started off ordinary;but certainly didn't stay that way... breakfast was the usual scrambled eggs that id told them i wouldn't eat (they actually printed the "scrambled eggs,apple sauce" right above the bright red lettering saying "no eggs") ... ot was fine, although it didn't take me long to learn to hate the question "where's your hand?" although i hadn't yet gotten to the point where i was ready to snap back "right here, connected to my arm, even if i cant feel either of them....
the first full day of rehab was a blur,first thing in the morning our schedules were brought in, i had ot at 9, followed by combined ot and pt, then more of both in the afternoon and was told others might come in and add or change things all day, so keep checking the sched - ot consisted of learning out to sit up, get dressed (another difference between rehab and med unit, you got to wear real clothes!!!) it was all really hard and i needed lots of help;but was a start - pt was standing with ho
life on 2-center was a whole new experience - it started off with meeting my "team" - each patient on the unit is assigned a primary team, a dr, supervising nurse, case worker, social worker, psych, pt, ot, speech t, rec t, etc - these were just your primaries, you'd likely see others in each category during your stay;but these were the ones that did your initial testing and treatment plan, went to the weekly and/or emergency mtgs to discuss your case,treatment,progress,release, etc - so there i
ok, you've waited long enough.... ultrasound results were that i'd developed a clot in my left leg, so i got started on coumadin and iv heperin and taken off the pt rotation, i hated that part, how would i get better ? well, the heperin was an interesting experience... i was all excited when it replaced the fluids iv id been on because the bag lasted longer so way fewer instances of being woken up by the "beep beep beep"... of course they set it up so it still ran out at 3 am, and they didn't wa
i must've been sending out signals when i posted mentioning the med student i really liked - out of nowhere i bumped into her today - shed gotten an offer to intern here and is finishing up her second year, she was impressed with how much movement i have in my arm, that i could stand, and mostly that i've been living alone for 20 months since when she first saw me they thought id be sent to a snf possibly forever - was very cool seeing her, ok - we now return to our regularly scheduled program,
life continued on 3-center, lots of oddities, like why do the give you sleeping meds at 11 pm and then wake you at midnight to take vital signs ? and why does the lab pick 5 am to get blood ? when you're half asleep and someone whispers in your ear "i've come for your blood" it leads to some rather creepy dreams,btw..... and why do they rig up iv bags to run out and beep like crazy at 3 am ? anyway, pt and ot continued in slow motion, i learned how to change gowns myself;but needed the nurse to
i think the hardest part of my hospital stay was the four weeks after i got out of the neuro observation unit - i was transferred, a week after the stroke, to a medical/surgical unit - it was frustrating having to ring and ask the nurses to roll me over or change my position every few hours, especially since every time i did they'd say i had to wait cause they needed help, i also really hated all the bathroom stuff.... why do educated nurses, talking to adult patients, feel the need to talk abou
the transfer went pretty smooth, i remember this ambulance ride a little better than the first, and the trip through the new hospital while they were lost and trying to find the right building and floor, valley med being a much larger hospital than el camino, i'm thinking that tour through the hospital is the reason the ambulance bill for the hospital to hospital transfer was twice as expensive as the trip from my car to the er.... i felt a lot less invisible at the new hospital right from the s
i still don't know how they got me out of my car or into the ambulance, i was just worried that my friend would forget to lock the door or take my purse,glasses and keys.... the ride was a blur, too, cause i wasn't wearing said glasses that i've worn since i was 2.... the er itself was a bit blurry, too, i mostly remember wondering why they were asking me such silly questions like "whats todays date" ever notice that they always ask that one standing next to a calendar ? "is this sharp or dull ?
grrr - made the mistake of trying to type two handed and just wiped out the almost complete entry id been typing - too tired to redo right now, will try later today... oh well - whoever said this recovery thing was easy... someone who's not been through it, i think, lol
well, i'm thinking that the place to start a stroke recovery story is with the stroke itself.... it was an ordinary september day in northern california, bright,sunny, and warm... i met my friend amou for lunch (oriental chicken salad at the country gourmet), and exchanged bags of books (did i mention she is also my reading source, since we've the same taste in books) - had a great time, normal day, felt fine.... decided to go see a movie before heading home - about half way through "second hand
