Douglas paid a visit to the Opthalmic clinic on the 20th and he was greatly pleased when it was decided to take out the remaining stitch in his left eye lid. It is so good to see the eye open fully again! However he still finds it impossible to fully close the lid when blinking so I guess we'll have a continuation of the ointment to provide adequate lubrication. He hasn't said too much about improvement in vision, so I guess it wasn't quite the magic bullet he had hoped for.
He goes back again in a months time for a further check .............
The other day he was given permission by the Physios to walk unattended using a zimmer frame and to mark the occasion he was given his own personal one, set up for his height!!! This is absolutely great news although he is still a bit cautious about using it alone. The other day he walked up and down the ward corridor and appeared to manage it very well - and in a straight line as well! This means he is able to balance the forces in his arms - previously he tended always to go right.
Unfortunately he has had a couple of falls - overbalance being the issue. Luckily he appeares to have suffered no ill effects - as he says 'It'll just teach me to be a bit more careful in future!'.
This is a common issue with stroke patients during the rehab phase and, provided it does no damage either physically or to confidence, is a valuable lesson.
Next big thing is an evening out on the 25th to sample the delights of a favourite Indian eatery (a birthday treat courtesy of Kay)!!
Needless to say we had to do a 'dummy run' at home to make sure he could manage curry and rice and, of course, beer!!! That went well - particularly the beer :-)
So I guess things are progressing well and, despite having come off Amatryptoline (an anti-depressant) cold turkey, Doug has suffered relatively few damaging mood swings in the last month. We can but hope this improvement continues.
Iain
Monday 23 March 2009
Thursday 12 March 2009
Much overdue update ...............
Things have been progressing moderately well with Douglas over the last wee while.
The much anticipated attendance at Nick and Heikes' wedding was a great boost to Dougs morale and he thoroughly enjoyed being amongst all his friends at such a happy occasion.
I thought he looked rather good all dressed up in his gear!! (Got lots of wolf whistles from the nurses - the female ones that is :-))
I was pleasantly surprised that he lasted so well given that this was his first exposure to a big crowd of people with all the attendant buzz and movement. Unfortunately we had to drag him away before the partying really started - we had a 9pm deadline at the hospital (which we only just kept!!). Staff were out with the breathalyser kit on our arrival but Doug had been very aware of the hazards in drinking thin liquids and had stayed off the booze. Shame in a way but I can not but agree with him.
His physio had been focusing on the possibility of walking at the wedding but, although he has been doing rather well in the hospital at this, staff felt it would be unwise to attempt a repeat given all the distractions, carpeted floors and the like. Poor Doug was a bit sad at this but could see the sense of it.
His next hurdle is an appointment with the opthalmic folk on the 20th of this month and we all hope it will have a positive outcome. I fear he may be somewhat disappointed since he has not really come to terms with how slow the healing process of the nervous system really is. He is doing his very best not to build too high an expectation.
He also will have an appointment with the cardiology folk at the Western for a second look at the root cause of all this ........ the PFO (or hole in the heart). It was recommended that this be 'fixed' at some time in the future (back in June 08) and I guess this is a follow up. I sometimes wonder whether that fact that Doug so easily feels tired may be due, in part at least, to the 'bypass' effect of this, although I would have thought that were it seen as being of such significance, a shorter time limit would have been put on the need for a fix.
I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
We continue with the Saturday day pass and Douglas does say he really enjoys being a home even though it's only for one day a week. The hospital staff feel Doug is getting quite close to the 'week-end out' point, where he effectively leaves the hospital on a Friday evening and returns on a Monday morning. However Doug is quite insistent that he wants to be able to walk better before this happens so I guess we have to be patient.
In the meantime he continues to look forward to visits with all the chat and gossip.
Many thanks you true and faithful friends.
Iain
The much anticipated attendance at Nick and Heikes' wedding was a great boost to Dougs morale and he thoroughly enjoyed being amongst all his friends at such a happy occasion.
I thought he looked rather good all dressed up in his gear!! (Got lots of wolf whistles from the nurses - the female ones that is :-))
I was pleasantly surprised that he lasted so well given that this was his first exposure to a big crowd of people with all the attendant buzz and movement. Unfortunately we had to drag him away before the partying really started - we had a 9pm deadline at the hospital (which we only just kept!!). Staff were out with the breathalyser kit on our arrival but Doug had been very aware of the hazards in drinking thin liquids and had stayed off the booze. Shame in a way but I can not but agree with him.
His physio had been focusing on the possibility of walking at the wedding but, although he has been doing rather well in the hospital at this, staff felt it would be unwise to attempt a repeat given all the distractions, carpeted floors and the like. Poor Doug was a bit sad at this but could see the sense of it.
His next hurdle is an appointment with the opthalmic folk on the 20th of this month and we all hope it will have a positive outcome. I fear he may be somewhat disappointed since he has not really come to terms with how slow the healing process of the nervous system really is. He is doing his very best not to build too high an expectation.
He also will have an appointment with the cardiology folk at the Western for a second look at the root cause of all this ........ the PFO (or hole in the heart). It was recommended that this be 'fixed' at some time in the future (back in June 08) and I guess this is a follow up. I sometimes wonder whether that fact that Doug so easily feels tired may be due, in part at least, to the 'bypass' effect of this, although I would have thought that were it seen as being of such significance, a shorter time limit would have been put on the need for a fix.
I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
We continue with the Saturday day pass and Douglas does say he really enjoys being a home even though it's only for one day a week. The hospital staff feel Doug is getting quite close to the 'week-end out' point, where he effectively leaves the hospital on a Friday evening and returns on a Monday morning. However Doug is quite insistent that he wants to be able to walk better before this happens so I guess we have to be patient.
In the meantime he continues to look forward to visits with all the chat and gossip.
Many thanks you true and faithful friends.
Iain
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