Just to show that not so good things can still happen ...........
No sooner had I posted the last update than poor Doug caught a bit of a chest infection and is now on a weeks antibiotic course.
Poor fellah now has a really husky voice and a rather sore throat which, given his dodgy left vocal chord, means talking is a bit of a struggle coupled to a bit of a cough. To top it off he has developed a bit of a temperature. So, from having his drugs cut recently, he is now back to paracetamol plus .....
The view of the nurses is that he has been lucky not to have caught anything in the 3 months he has been at the Astley ............. We are not so pragmatic I'm afraid!!
We still plan for a day at home to-morrow (Saturday) but we'll see what the day brings.
Surprisingly he seemed quite chipper this afternoon although it has to be said he was not his usual talkative self.
Hey ho .................
Iain
Friday 30 January 2009
Thursday 29 January 2009
And Douglas continues to improve ...
Well it has been a fairly busy few weeks for all of us, particularly Douglas.
He has been working hard at the business of getting from wheelchair to car and back again without using the bulky and heavy Sam Hall Turner. The new way uses a banana shaped plastic board that bridges the space between seats and Doug has to master the art of sliding himself across this.
So far he has done really well - so much so that we all had our first real day out last week end with a visit to a Roller Derby in the Medowbank Stadium, a shopping trip to the O2 store for a new phone and a few hours at home!!! Absolutely brilliant :-)
I think he felt a little out of place at the Roller Derby, partly because of the seating arrangements (a flat hall floor with banked seating on one side only) which meant that we had to sit close to the exit door (wheelchair issues) but also because everyone there seemed to 'normal', healthy and active. Never the less he enjoyed the time particularly since the two competing teams were all young ladies all togged out in outrageous gear (some fairly scanty!!) :-)))
Oh ..... and he got his new phone too!!
Physio and Occupational Therapy continues apace but, since (in Dougs words) he is a 'lazy git' it is never fast enough for him. He is working on the walking using a small zimmer frame and seems able to manage a reasonable distance although he does tend to veer off to the right a bit - all to do with having a strong right side I'm told. However practice will doubtless straighten things up - it has done with his wheelchair manoeuvres.
He also seems to have mastered the swallowing and chewing side of eating and has progressed from pureed food, through 'minced' food and is now eating normal consistency meals. As a result his PEG feed has been reduced to water only just to make sure he does not get dehydrated.
I suspect the PEG tube will stay in until they are quite certain he can be sustained by mouth.
A great boost is that he now can mix consistencies - no more thickened coffee!!!! Whoopee .....
(Apart from that, Baileys does NOT thicken well at all!)
He is seeing a slow return of feeling in the left hand side of his face although there is a long way to go and the other day he said that he heard me whisper into his left ear! If this is really the case it is terrific news since earlier hearing assessments indicated no hearing at all in that ear!
However we are trying not be overly optimistic about this (chickens and eggs and all that!)
His left eye condition keeps good although he still has one stitch in the lid. He is pinning a lot of hope on its removal and I do hope that this comes true although I have a feeling that the effect of the stroke on the optic nerves may take a lot longer to fix itself. I'm not sure how he will deal with this ...............
Plans are afoot for his attendance at a friends wedding in late February so I guess we'll be getting a flood of instructions shortly regarding suitable dress etc.! He is nothing if not particular in sartorial terms (mind it will mean that he has to comb his hair unless we can get it cut before then!!)
In the meantime the Saturday home visits continue and hopefully we'll be able to go further afield now the car transfers have been sorted.
A big thank you to DavyP in the antipodes who gave him a call the other day ........ he didn't stop talking about it for ages afterwards. It meant so much to him ............. although I'm not sure just how well Davy could understand Doug on the phone since his voice can get pretty raspy when he is tired. Thanks big fellah!!
And big thanks to all his friends who continue to visit (despite being subjected to a film or music quiz when they get there!!). Sometimes you just have to tell him to shut up and listen for a bit :-)
Iain
He has been working hard at the business of getting from wheelchair to car and back again without using the bulky and heavy Sam Hall Turner. The new way uses a banana shaped plastic board that bridges the space between seats and Doug has to master the art of sliding himself across this.
So far he has done really well - so much so that we all had our first real day out last week end with a visit to a Roller Derby in the Medowbank Stadium, a shopping trip to the O2 store for a new phone and a few hours at home!!! Absolutely brilliant :-)
I think he felt a little out of place at the Roller Derby, partly because of the seating arrangements (a flat hall floor with banked seating on one side only) which meant that we had to sit close to the exit door (wheelchair issues) but also because everyone there seemed to 'normal', healthy and active. Never the less he enjoyed the time particularly since the two competing teams were all young ladies all togged out in outrageous gear (some fairly scanty!!) :-)))
Oh ..... and he got his new phone too!!
Physio and Occupational Therapy continues apace but, since (in Dougs words) he is a 'lazy git' it is never fast enough for him. He is working on the walking using a small zimmer frame and seems able to manage a reasonable distance although he does tend to veer off to the right a bit - all to do with having a strong right side I'm told. However practice will doubtless straighten things up - it has done with his wheelchair manoeuvres.
He also seems to have mastered the swallowing and chewing side of eating and has progressed from pureed food, through 'minced' food and is now eating normal consistency meals. As a result his PEG feed has been reduced to water only just to make sure he does not get dehydrated.
I suspect the PEG tube will stay in until they are quite certain he can be sustained by mouth.
A great boost is that he now can mix consistencies - no more thickened coffee!!!! Whoopee .....
(Apart from that, Baileys does NOT thicken well at all!)
He is seeing a slow return of feeling in the left hand side of his face although there is a long way to go and the other day he said that he heard me whisper into his left ear! If this is really the case it is terrific news since earlier hearing assessments indicated no hearing at all in that ear!
However we are trying not be overly optimistic about this (chickens and eggs and all that!)
His left eye condition keeps good although he still has one stitch in the lid. He is pinning a lot of hope on its removal and I do hope that this comes true although I have a feeling that the effect of the stroke on the optic nerves may take a lot longer to fix itself. I'm not sure how he will deal with this ...............
Plans are afoot for his attendance at a friends wedding in late February so I guess we'll be getting a flood of instructions shortly regarding suitable dress etc.! He is nothing if not particular in sartorial terms (mind it will mean that he has to comb his hair unless we can get it cut before then!!)
In the meantime the Saturday home visits continue and hopefully we'll be able to go further afield now the car transfers have been sorted.
A big thank you to DavyP in the antipodes who gave him a call the other day ........ he didn't stop talking about it for ages afterwards. It meant so much to him ............. although I'm not sure just how well Davy could understand Doug on the phone since his voice can get pretty raspy when he is tired. Thanks big fellah!!
And big thanks to all his friends who continue to visit (despite being subjected to a film or music quiz when they get there!!). Sometimes you just have to tell him to shut up and listen for a bit :-)
Iain
Thursday 8 January 2009
A guid New Year to ane an a an mony may ye see
Apologies for the lateness of this update, due entirely to a whole series of minor PC problems!!
Douglas managed to escape for New Years Day and was home with us from mid morning. He tells us it was ace ....... we managed not to burn the parsnips this time!
He is doing rather well although he had a bit of a mood swing on Sunday/Monday which left him feeling very low and useless. However all credit to him, he does seem to have rationalised things and recovered his equanimity (if thats the right word).
He loved seeing everyone over the festive season and has asked that I send a very big thank you to all, with very best wishes for 2009.
He had an optician look at the possibility of getting spectacles to help improve the sight in his right eye on the 5th Jan.. The results were a little mixed in that all the tests showed that his right eye was perfect and that specs would not do any particular good at this time. The vision effects Doug is finding are therefore down to the stroke and, as such, should improve over time. Needless to say this was a bit of a blow - patience is not one of Dougs strengths right now.
His physio and Occupational Therapy work continues apace and, although he finds it difficult to appreciate, he is making considerable strides. His wheelchair control is very significantly better and improving by the day. As he says he's a bit less like a drunken snake even though longer 'trips' are very tiring.
We are planning a series of 'days out' at week ends (all Saturdays) starting with a home visit this Saturday (10th). We'll be collecting him at around 10:30 am and should be home by 11:15 or 11:30 ish and plan to return him (undamaged!) to the Astley at around 7:30 pm.
All of us would like to wish all of you a good new year and hopes that 2009 brings health and happiness.
Iain
Douglas managed to escape for New Years Day and was home with us from mid morning. He tells us it was ace ....... we managed not to burn the parsnips this time!
He is doing rather well although he had a bit of a mood swing on Sunday/Monday which left him feeling very low and useless. However all credit to him, he does seem to have rationalised things and recovered his equanimity (if thats the right word).
He loved seeing everyone over the festive season and has asked that I send a very big thank you to all, with very best wishes for 2009.
He had an optician look at the possibility of getting spectacles to help improve the sight in his right eye on the 5th Jan.. The results were a little mixed in that all the tests showed that his right eye was perfect and that specs would not do any particular good at this time. The vision effects Doug is finding are therefore down to the stroke and, as such, should improve over time. Needless to say this was a bit of a blow - patience is not one of Dougs strengths right now.
His physio and Occupational Therapy work continues apace and, although he finds it difficult to appreciate, he is making considerable strides. His wheelchair control is very significantly better and improving by the day. As he says he's a bit less like a drunken snake even though longer 'trips' are very tiring.
We are planning a series of 'days out' at week ends (all Saturdays) starting with a home visit this Saturday (10th). We'll be collecting him at around 10:30 am and should be home by 11:15 or 11:30 ish and plan to return him (undamaged!) to the Astley at around 7:30 pm.
All of us would like to wish all of you a good new year and hopes that 2009 brings health and happiness.
Iain
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