A New Week

Monday is here already as the hospital buzzes with the start of the new week.  Jackie received fluids overnight and was able to sleep in a little.  Sometimes he will say some words before we get him out of bed, but this morning he must have just been tired.  As we normally do, we help him change into his clothes for the day and move him to his wheelchair.  His mood always goes down once he is in his chair.  We try to reassure him that it is only temporary, but I’m not sure if he truly believes it.  He has been in a hospital bed for a very long time with no break.  We were all ready to go home and we never did.  But focusing on these negatives is worthless and a waste of energy.  Today is the start of a new week and each new day can possess possibilities for progress.

Becca is back from vacation and delivered chocolate fudge from the beach which she had promised to Jackie.  She decided to split the session in two, so took Jackie to the sixth floor terrace for the first half hour.  Becca is very good at helping Jackie deal with his TBI by just saying it as it is and letting Jackie say whatever he wants. Although he didn’t speak much she did get him engaged in the session.  The chocolate fudge also helped.

PT was next.  Erin is out all week so Mark, the PT supervisor, is working with Jackie.  We normally go to sessions when Jackie does not have his normal therapist, but we have gotten to know and trust Mark.  He stretched Jackie and also worked on sitting balance playing Pete’s sports game.  This is interesting to Jackie and he knows alot about the topic so it is also a confidence builder.

After PT Jackie was tired so he took a nap.  Becca came back at 1:30 to evaluate his swallowing.  He ate an entire bag of chips and some chicken salad.  PTL  She plans to do another evaluation tomorrow and may be able to change Jackies diet slightly. Since he has a mix of good and not so good days changing him back to a regular diet would be too risky.  After having a little dessert and taking afternoon meds, it was time for OT.  I had mentioned that there are only a handful of people that we feel totally comfortable leaving Jackie with and Paula is one of them.  Jim and I took advantage of the break and walked to Walgreens for some supplies. It was nice to be out in the sunshine, plus Paula has my cell number and could call if she needed us.

When we returned Jackie’s session was just over.  Paula said he was tired for the majority of the session. By this time of day Jackie is running out of steam, even with naps.  Tomorrow she plans to move her session with Jackie to the morning and work on ADLs.

As expected Jackie took a nap and then woke up for a late dinner.  We ran into Chef Ken earlier in the day and asked if he could purée a cheese steak with fried onions for Jackie for dinner.  Even though the eating experience was different, it tasted just as good.

We watched TV for just a couple minutes but it was obvious Jackie was tiring out once again.  After a shave and shower he was in bed for the night. IV fluids were run again as we continue to work with Jackie to drink more liquids.

We continue to make the best out of each day. Jim helps Jackie and I laugh and I rid our world of germs as much as I can which actually makes the boys laugh. I hope you are making the most of your days and laughing as much as you can. I will end today with a Snapple lid real fact: six year olds laugh an average of 300 times a day, adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day.