Dougs home visit on Christmas Day went very well indeed. It was a bit emotional (quite understandable really!) and nearly proved disastrous when I tried liquidising tomato soup!!
We always wanted to change the colour scheme in the kitchen anyhow ............
Seriously though, it was really a very nice day - quiet with plenty of time for Doug to get used to the home atmosphere and settle into a different atmosphere.
He has been quite overcome by the good wishes for Christmas from all his friends - cards, emails and FaceBook posts, all of which really helped to make this Christmas quite memorable.
We returned him to the hospital at around 7.30pm, more or less intact (!!) and absolutely bushed but so happy. The staff tell us he slept like a babe (even through medication injections in the tummy!!) and woke up talking about his visit.
We plan to have him home on New Years Day though sadly medication, feed regime etc. mean he could not be with us to see the New Year in. I suspect that, given his propensity for calling folk on his mobile, some of you may just get a shout!!!!
Otherwise things have been ( and will be) a bit quiet until after the New Year holiday when the physio etc. all restarts. I sincerely hope that the home visits will have given added incentive to work hard at the programme since the biggest contributor to getting better is Douglas himself.
Douglas, Sheena and I all hope that you had a very happy Christmas and that you will all have a happy and prosperous New Year when it comes.
Iain
Friday 26 December 2008
Friday 19 December 2008
Things they are a moving ...........
This is just a quick update to let folks know that, at long last, we have got the go ahead for a 'day release' for Doug on Saturday 20th.
We'll be picking him up at around mid-day for a home visit of up to 4 hours!!! Whoopeeeeeee :-)
In honour of this he took delivery of his spanking new wheel chair to-day (although he's already talking about mods to fit a 500cc power pack - harum).
From this you will have gathered that he has not only recovered his upbeat mood but has been doing very well at physio, occupational therapy and speech and language.
He has put up with his somewhat hesitant parents trundling him out to the car park and loading him into the front seat of the car (whenever the rain stops that is!!) As he says - "guess who's the dummy for this dummy run!!"
He is now dealing with semi solid food (creamy mashed potato consistency is the thickest he can manage) and routinely has soup, main course (pureed), sweet and coffee. Absolutely brilliant I say!! He can't consume very much of anything as yet 'cause it is quite an effort to swallow but this is improving the more he does it. He really relishes re-discovering the taste of food; something he has not experienced since April.
We just have to be a little careful to ensure that he sits up for at least 30 minutes after eating (to let gravity do its work) in order to avoid regurgitation. Mind you, its a pointer for us auld yins who often complain after eating very late and then collapsing in bed - yeah well ..........
He has really been doing very well although, as always with Doug, it's never quite fast enough! Never the less I do get a sense that he has established a better understanding of how he is improving and consequently seems a bit more at peace with himself.
A very happy (and nervous!) Pappy!!
Iain
........ must apologise to anyone who had planned to visit the glories of the Astley on Saturday but we only had final confirmation this evening of the visit. All rather weather dependant and, so far, looks OK.
We'll be picking him up at around mid-day for a home visit of up to 4 hours!!! Whoopeeeeeee :-)
In honour of this he took delivery of his spanking new wheel chair to-day (although he's already talking about mods to fit a 500cc power pack - harum).
From this you will have gathered that he has not only recovered his upbeat mood but has been doing very well at physio, occupational therapy and speech and language.
He has put up with his somewhat hesitant parents trundling him out to the car park and loading him into the front seat of the car (whenever the rain stops that is!!) As he says - "guess who's the dummy for this dummy run!!"
He is now dealing with semi solid food (creamy mashed potato consistency is the thickest he can manage) and routinely has soup, main course (pureed), sweet and coffee. Absolutely brilliant I say!! He can't consume very much of anything as yet 'cause it is quite an effort to swallow but this is improving the more he does it. He really relishes re-discovering the taste of food; something he has not experienced since April.
We just have to be a little careful to ensure that he sits up for at least 30 minutes after eating (to let gravity do its work) in order to avoid regurgitation. Mind you, its a pointer for us auld yins who often complain after eating very late and then collapsing in bed - yeah well ..........
He has really been doing very well although, as always with Doug, it's never quite fast enough! Never the less I do get a sense that he has established a better understanding of how he is improving and consequently seems a bit more at peace with himself.
A very happy (and nervous!) Pappy!!
Iain
........ must apologise to anyone who had planned to visit the glories of the Astley on Saturday but we only had final confirmation this evening of the visit. All rather weather dependant and, so far, looks OK.
Sunday 7 December 2008
A period of mixed blessings ..........
Sorry for the delay in posting an update but I was holding off pending the outcome of Dougs eye tests on Friday 5th.
Like so many things recently, the results were good and not so good. Unfortunately it was decided not to remove the last stitch in the left eyelid at this point because the blink reaction had not improved sufficiently to ensure that the eyeball would remain fully lubricated.
This was a very great disappointment to Doug, who I fear had really been setting his heart on its removal. In consequence he was really quite upset on Friday evening but by Saturday afternoon he appeared to have rationalised the situation in his own mind.
The plus part concerned the fact that both eyes are essentially in good condition and any vision issues are nerve related and therefore subject to gradual improvement. The vision in his right eye can (and will) be improved by a pair of glasses; the vision in his left eye will remain slightly blurred mainly as a result of the eye ointment being used as a replacement for tears (the natural lubricant). However, when the blink response comes back it is possible that a less viscous ointment can be used, thus reducing the blurring effect.
He also had a series of swallow tests using fluoroscopy techniques and this showed that, although there was a continuing improvement, he really had to do more swallow related exercises. Never the less he is able to have his occasional cup of thickened coffee, which goes down a bundle!!
He is presently working on bed - chair - bed transfers aimed at hopefully getting him home on a day pass. I guess it'll not be a full day, given that he still needs peg applied medication and fluids, but even a couple of hours would be great!!!!!!!
If this works, we can think of a repeat at Christmas time but we are NOT building our hopes too much at this point.
His other physio is coming along, although as the physios say "he has great potential, if he could just get with the programme" - Doug of course agrees that he is lazy and needs to get his backside in gear :-)
I continue to be impressed by Doug ....... I'm not at all sure I could have dealt with the eye test business as well as he has done. I just hope that there are going to be some real positives in the near future. He badly needs a confidence builder to boost his morale. Having said that, he generally manages to talk a storm when visitors come in - so much so that they have difficulty getting a word in edgewise!!
Thanks to everyone ................ Sheena and I don't know how we could cope without you all.
Iain
Like so many things recently, the results were good and not so good. Unfortunately it was decided not to remove the last stitch in the left eyelid at this point because the blink reaction had not improved sufficiently to ensure that the eyeball would remain fully lubricated.
This was a very great disappointment to Doug, who I fear had really been setting his heart on its removal. In consequence he was really quite upset on Friday evening but by Saturday afternoon he appeared to have rationalised the situation in his own mind.
The plus part concerned the fact that both eyes are essentially in good condition and any vision issues are nerve related and therefore subject to gradual improvement. The vision in his right eye can (and will) be improved by a pair of glasses; the vision in his left eye will remain slightly blurred mainly as a result of the eye ointment being used as a replacement for tears (the natural lubricant). However, when the blink response comes back it is possible that a less viscous ointment can be used, thus reducing the blurring effect.
He also had a series of swallow tests using fluoroscopy techniques and this showed that, although there was a continuing improvement, he really had to do more swallow related exercises. Never the less he is able to have his occasional cup of thickened coffee, which goes down a bundle!!
He is presently working on bed - chair - bed transfers aimed at hopefully getting him home on a day pass. I guess it'll not be a full day, given that he still needs peg applied medication and fluids, but even a couple of hours would be great!!!!!!!
If this works, we can think of a repeat at Christmas time but we are NOT building our hopes too much at this point.
His other physio is coming along, although as the physios say "he has great potential, if he could just get with the programme" - Doug of course agrees that he is lazy and needs to get his backside in gear :-)
I continue to be impressed by Doug ....... I'm not at all sure I could have dealt with the eye test business as well as he has done. I just hope that there are going to be some real positives in the near future. He badly needs a confidence builder to boost his morale. Having said that, he generally manages to talk a storm when visitors come in - so much so that they have difficulty getting a word in edgewise!!
Thanks to everyone ................ Sheena and I don't know how we could cope without you all.
Iain
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