Went to see Louise today. She was happy to have company. Her roommate is a sweet lady with congestive heart failure. She seems in good condition, she’s in a wheelchair but very coherent, and she is very kind to Louise. She worries about Louise and tries to keep a watch on her. She let me know right away when Louise stood up that it was not allowed, but did so in a gentle way. I think they get along fairly well.
The confusion continues, though she seems more able to chat each day. Today she got our names right when asked directly. That is something she could not do before last week. I wondered if she could name other things if asked directly so we did a little test. We held up a fork and asked her what it is and she said, “Chair.” So much for my theory. We gave her the word ‘fork’ and then held up a knife. She said, “Spoon.” Though it was not the right answer, it was associated with the fork. It is good that she can do some associations. She was not capable of that just a few days ago…in fact a few days ago she wasn’t even talking. I have to remember that when it seems like things are moving slowly. She has come a long way in a few days.
Her new favorite adjective is weird. She knows what it means and it describes how she is feeling about everything. When you ask her how she is she will say weird. When she got up to look out the window at a bird feeder, I asked her to sit back in bed. She looked at the bed and said, “Who’s bed is that?” It was less than a minute since she got out of it. So she still has a long way to go with the confusion and memory issues, but therapy will work on that with her. She will probably see her own neurologist next week. There is a coordinator that arranges all appointments for her, which takes a load off Ray. He doesn’t have to do all the phone work and scheduling, he just has to take her. (Actually he doesn’t HAVE to, they would do it, but he wants to) Brain recovery is a hard thing to predict, and to watch. Pray for quick forward progress.