Today was a big day for Louise. First, to see her regular neurologist this morning, then a team meeting at the nursing home/rehab center this afternoon. Once again, I could be a neurologist. “We don’t really know…and time will tell.” I didn’t really expect much different. He said this could be her new baseline, but then again you never know…she could still gain some back. At least that was my thought. It seems that multiple seizures, like the ones she had, can cause some permanent injury. He upped her anti-seizure medicine again, and will keep an eye on her blood levels to make sure she is not over medicated. We got some brochures for care centers that work with memory, in case we might need them later.
In the afternoon, there was a team meeting. All her therapists came and told how she was doing for them. The speech therapist said she was doing great in speaking, and swallowing. She has actually gained some ability to read a small amount and to write more legibly than before this happened! The brain is absolutely amazing! Her physical therapist said that she is physically strong. Her walking is good, though she is not as balanced when turning, she is fine on multi-level surfaces, like carpet to wood, or carpet to tile. Her risk of fall is mostly due to her quick steps and forgetting to look before she sits in a chair. The occupational therapist said she is independent on all her hygienic needs as well as dressing herself. Basically, she has reached all the goals they have set for her. They feel she has reached her new baseline, and that she will only progress in small amounts from here. This was, for me, the hardest thing to hear today.
Though she can converse, and even joke around some, memory continues to be the biggest issue. She still cannot remember even just a few hours prior to the present. By the afternoon meeting, she didn’t remember she had been to the doctor this morning. She still is amazed every time we tell her that she had seizures. In this way she is very childlike and still very dependent. Bill and I were concerned that they wanted to send her home in this condition, but they have no other goals to reach with her. She is a rehab patient and according to them, she has rehabbed as much as she can. She will have therapist who come to her a few days a week. They feel that being at home would help her memory better than being in a center. I have to agree with that much…however, I am very concerned about the unbelievable stress this will place on Ray. I remember being in this very place myself. It is exhausting and constant…like having an over active toddler. She will not be able to be left alone, even for a few minutes in a room by herself because she could wander off. At the center she wears an alarm bracelet on her wrist that sounds if she gets near a door. At home, she will not have one of those. We asked about options for sitters, or other in home care, but Ray is insistent he can handle it all himself. The decision was made that she will go home tomorrow morning.