Better day today

Dad was doing much better today. First I stopped by around 10:30 to say Hi, offer him a banana and also to give him an Advil prior to the physical therapy scheduled for 11am. (Dr. Park, ortho doc, had said the Advil would be fine and worth a try in addition to the Tylenol he gets each day.) He went right for the banana, and took the pill with a cup of water. The caregivers reported that Dad had stood for several minutes earlier in the day during his morning hygiene.

I went on a brief errand to deposit Dad's homestead hills check in his account (Wells Fargo now, not Wachovia) and then returned to meet the new physical therapist. Her name is Lucinda. Dad seems to like her. She developed a fairly good rapport with Dad (she asked him about NC...when she asked him what city, he responded "Winston-Salem". Lucinda had done some work at Baptist Hospital and commented on how big that hospital is.)

She proceeded to start with some leg exercises while seated in the chair and Dad participated, even counting. He required some prompting, including physical help with the leg lifts, and also to keep his eyes open, but a definite improvement from Tuesday. We then proceeded to working on standing, which we did utilizing the electric chair to raise him up significantly. He did it 3 times total, but he was leaning a great deal on his right side (onto Lucinda...I was helping him on his left.) He didn't seem to want to stand up straight. After the last stand, we sat him in his wheelchair and again he went right for his lunch at the table with the others. Note that the therapist doesn't think Dad is feeling a lot of pain, and her initial assessment of his reactions when attempting to move him is more fear-based, which she said is quite common.

I returned around 2pm to meet with Haydee with whom I have arranged a schedule of 2 hours (1:30-3:30) Tues/Thurs in the afternoon (she works close by from 8 to 1pm so this works well for her.). When I arrived, she had Dad playing cards on a lap-style table in the recliner and he seemed quite engaged with the activity. I proceeded to show her the same leg exercises the therapist had shown me in the morning. We asked Dad if he wanted to stand, and he said yes. I used the chair, but didn't raise it to it's max. When starting, Dad again expressed concern, but it was more like "Do you think I can do this" as opposed to "I can't do it!" --- with Haydee's reassurance, he did it. This time he stood much straighter than he had in the morning, and even wanted to initiate some steps. He moved a couple of steps forward, and then we had to prompt him backwards to get back to the chair. We did it a 2nd time, and this time he was standing quite well---I went to get the wheelchair (replacing it for the recliner), so he could sit there for awhile. About that time, the home health nurse arrived to do some basic follow ups (BP, oxygen, etc. ) BP was good and his O2 was 99%. She said she will probably come one more time next week and then discharge him. Before I left, I asked Haydee if she would take Dad outside for some fresh air, so that was her plan. I had also brought him some choc chip cookies to hopefully enjoy.

During the leg exercises, by the way, I watched Dad watching Haydee, with a grin on his face. I feel optimistic that her visits will be the right "medicine" for Dad. Also, I heard back from Dr. Gee who agrees with the increase in his prozac from 10mg to 20mg. I also like the new PT. I will try and be there to assist for all the therapy sessions. She is coming back tomorrow, and then we have MWF scheduled for next week.

I have posted an ad on sittercity.com to see if I can find someone to help with the morning shift as discussed in the previous blog.