Outside is not all that bad ...............

Doug went for his Ear Nose and Throat consult on the 7th May and the results were a bit like the curates egg - good in parts.
The good news was that it now appears that both vocal chords are working (previously only the right one was doing its stuff) and this should make swallowing more certain. Whether or not it is reflected in his speech remains to be seen. :-)
As for hearing ....... the consultant was not very encouraging although he did not rule out slow improvements. He more or less said that, as Doug has found, it is possible to 'tune out' the tinnitus (white noise) with a lot of practice. Huuuummm
In balance - there was some progress.
Needless to say (and quite understandably) this was NOT what Doug may have hoped for so he was a bit down for a while.

None the less there is progress ..............
We have had bannister rails fitted on the house entrance to the front door and on both side of the internal staircase to the first floor.
Doug coped very well with the outside rails (Sat 16th), getting from his chair on the front path to inside the house with the minimum of assistance and then down the hall on his zimmer. However it was all a bit tiring - pretty good for a first attempt I say!!!! Doug did concede that it was somewhat short of perfect :-)
We are waiting for a high backed chair, the seat of which will be more on a level with the cushion on his wheel chair, fitted with rail arm rests that should make transfers to and from wheel chair or zimmer much more practical.

In the mean time Doug is being worked pretty hard by the Physios on stair climbing (and descending) and is doing very well at this so we are told.

All this is aimed at Doug being able to stay at home overnight at week ends in the short term (like this week end?!), with weekday visits to the Astley for physio.
To help with this we have converted the downstairs dining room into a bedroom for him. Sadly he will have to have his showers between Monday and Friday in the hospital.
The ultimate aim is to have him home full time in around 5 to 6 weeks when his physio etc. will be managed by the Community Nursing system although I guess this will depend on his stair climbing ability.
After a period of 'settling down' in the home environment (around 6 weeks) he will be entered into the Out Patients Rehab Programme at the Astley under Dr Todd.
To be honest, a lot of this period is aimed at 'de-institutionalising' (if there is such a word) Doug and getting the idea firmly fixed in his mind that a return to normal life is what it is all about.

However, on that subject, his friends have been absolutely great especially in the last 10 days or so in persuading him that the great 'outside' is not a bad place!!!!! For the first time for over 6 months Doug actually agreed to go for a walk in his wheelchair (whoopeee!!!) with Nick Stephenson. Nick we are forever in your debt!!
Then, much to our delight he went out in the Astley grounds with Veronica yesterday afternoon.
It all sounds a bit naff I guess, but Doug had set his mind on only going outside in a social sense when he could 'take himself walking' so to speak and we just did not seem to be getting out of the rut on this one. I know several others have tried persuading him without success but PLEASE do not take his refusal as any sort of personal comment - so much depends on how he is feeling at any particular time. None the less, having broken the mould I hope casual outings will become the norm.

So what about visiting I hear you say!!!
For the moment Mondays to Fridays at the Astley from 3 till 8 (but not 5.45 to 6.30 - Meal time) are great.
Saturday and Sunday any time between 2:30 pm and 9:00 pm at home.
I will confirm the week end timings once we have agreed things with the Astley (hopefully Friday this week).
EXCEPTION ........ Friday 22nd Doug will be at home being put through his paces with stairs, handrails etc. etc. so really the 22nd is a no go.

Oh, by the way ......... Kay, if you read this Doug did his extra 3 steps!!!! I have no idea what this is all about but I'm sure you'll know :-)

Iain

Maan ... he's all heart ..........

Douglas went for his cardiac investigation with some trepidation - not so much over the likely result but more over the actual examination itself since it involved swallowing a small ultrasound transducer. The swallowing part has always been very uncomfortable in the past.
However the staff at the Western recognised his concern and really zonked him out for the whole event, so much so that he took around 2 hours to fully come around afterwards.

The good news, if you can call it that, is that he definitely has one hole some 3mm in diameter and around 15 mm in length (a tunnel like defect) which appears to be classed as 'large'.
It was deemed a good candidate for sealing although we have not yet heard which sealing method is considered best. I understand that it will either be the umbrella type or the mesh type and definitely NOT the 'stitch it up' type.

We are all just waiting for feedback on this and on the date for an op (estimated at within 5 weeks).

Douglas had bets on the number of holes and suffice to say I won the bet. Mind you its not much of a win, since I have to give him the stake in the first place ........

We are currently getting set up for a 'home evaluation visit' by the physios and OT lassies to establish just how well Doug can manage at home. This will both set targets for the rehab programme and also give us some idea about any changes that may be needed around the house.
Unfortunately Doug feels a bit threatened by all this .......... they just want to get rid of me sort of thing. I can understand his concerns and Sheena and I have been doing our best to convince him that this is only the first step towards a getting home point sometime in the future. Not at all sure how well we have managed that though?

Saturdays at home continue to be a great favourite and Doug really relaxes when he gets through the front door - its so good to see!! Mind you he gets spoiled rotten (we'll not be admitting that to the OT's!!!!).
He continues with the rehab stuff but still has problems with balance that play havoc with his confidence in walking with the zimmer frame. Never the less he is slowly getting more flexibility in movement.

He agreed a wee while ago to be part of a study into Cronic Fatigue Syndrome in stroke victims and although I'm not really sure how it works, its a comfort to know that it is recognised as an adverse factor in rehabilitation. Whether or not it will all result in any palliatives or even a cure remains to be seen. In the meantime he still gets really pissed off at how easily he runs out of energy.

The next thing on the list is a visit to the ENT clinic on the 7th May. Doug has said recently that he occasionally gets bursts of what he describes as white noise in his left ear. Whether or not this indicates any degree of recovery of hearing on that side I'm not sure. Perhaps this appointment may help provide answers.
I'll pop up another update soon.

In the meanwhile, thanks again for all the visits and for the messages through the blog and facebook. Doug really looks forward to hearing them all.
Iain