Mom started the morning well. Bath, hair washing and getting out of bed for some juice and apple sauce. Then she got really worked up because we didn't understand something she wanted to tell us. It wore her out so much, she pretty much slept through her whole meeting with the speech therapist.
The speech therapist doesn't just work with mom regarding vocalizing, she also monitors how she swallows and her ability to protect herself from ingesting into her lungs. She didn't pass the test the therapist gave her today so they ordered a scope that would show on camera whether or not she was able to do this on her own. She couldn't. This evening they gave her a feeding tube so that they could give her some nutrients she needs. The feeding tube is one more nuisance among the many she notices. She hates her blood pressure cuff, the IV area right in the crease where her arm bends, the circulation socks she has to wear. Hates. Them. She doesn't have to verbalize that to let us know.
The good thing today is that - well, there are lots of good things...
- The MRI shows that this is her first stroke. I think that's good because she doesn't have previous damage that we didn't even know about. The bad thing is that they haven't been able to identify the origination. Might not ever. Or it might be due to plaque build-up from smoking.
- She was moved out of ICU to a "regular" room.
- Since she was moved (about 4'ish), she's been regularly using her right arm. She's twisting all over the place and re-ajusts herself with it. The bad thing is, she's really uncomfortable and has been fidgety pretty much all evening.
- She's out of the critical "danger zone" following a stroke and is ready to move onto getting prepared for rehabilitation.
- They should be able to give her a biopsy within the next couple of days.
The hard thing is that she gets pretty upset and frustrated about not being able to tell us what she wants. It breaks my heart. At one point, during one instance this evening, she seemed to give up, lay down her head and tears came out of her eyes. :(
She finally got some nutrition through her feeding tube about an hour ago. This should take away and hunger pains she was feeling. Her blood pressure had went up to about 220, and they received an order to put her back on her high blood pressure medication. This might be a big reason for her discomfort. Even a headache that she seemed to be telling us she had. The nurse also gave her some Tylenol and took out an irritated IV on her left arm. It's 11:30pm now and she has been asleep for about 5 minutes. Praying that she will rest well for at least a little bit. Counting my blessings for all the good things and that even though she's frustrated, she's aware and alert.
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