There are times where I have to force myself to leave her side and take care of things. Like eating and taking a shower. Today, however, I needed to take care of things. After the shift change this morning, I headed home for a couple of hours. While there, I took a shower, took care of the dogs and got a change of clothes.
Sleep
I’m sensing a pattern here. Lidia needs her sleep. It is a way for her body to heal. She’s done good today. I don’t think she is in to much pain anymore. At least she can bear the pain that she is in and has the ability to now have a more restful sleep. She is able to position herself on her side by grabbing the rails of the bed and pulling herself over.
Brushing Teeth
Today during physical therapy, she brushed her teeth. She didn’t do it perfected and had to have some assistance to finish, but she held the toothbrush and put it in her mouth and made motions as if she was brushing her teeth. This was huge to me. She’s remembering things.
Visitors
We had a few visitors today. Cisco and Arjerie came by and stayed a few minutes. Lady Ada came by to give her support. And of course, Katherine and the kids came by this evening. It seemed that Kaeto was a little rowdy today. It could have been the candy that I kept giving him.
Nurses and Assistants
Our nurses for the day were Haley
Our nurse assistants for the day were Claire and Brooke
Summary
Overall, I felt that today was a good day. We would have liked to see more, but what we did see was a good indication. It is still going to take time.
Lidia needs her beauty sleep. Not really. She is beautiful already. She just needs the rest.
No oxycodone for over 12 hours
We’ve seen that when she received her dosage of oxycodone, she gets really, really tired. We have been experimenting today to see if we can reduce the dosage so that she can be more alert for physical therapy. So, 2am was her last dose of oxycodone. She’s handled things OK with just Tylenol today. The plan is to give her oxycodone as part of her evening meds to help her sleep throughout the night.
Physical Therapy
Every time the physical therapist comes we are hopeful. Sometimes we get disappointed. Today was a little of both. Reducing the amount of oxycodone didn’t really help with her alertness. What we saw today was her being assisted to sit up on the edge of the bed. She balanced herself but used her left hand and arm for support. So, instead of not using her hand and arm, they practiced her leaning down on her elbow and lifting herself up and balancing using her left arm. She successfully did that about three or four times. Unfortunately, she did it with her eyes closed. We want her to be alert for these kinds of things.
Visitors
Today, we had a few visits from friends. Let’s see, Dean Barnes, Bishop Hardy, our neighbors the Lakes, Mary and her family, my boss Brent Daines (thank you for the port barbacoa burrito), and of course Katherine and Zach.
I think Dean came because he had a special message of hope. He came to share that miracles do happen. I’m not sure if I’ll get the full story right, but his wife suffered from a traumatic brain accident as well. She was in a coma for, I think, 6 weeks and they said that if she woke up she would pretty much be a vegetable. (that sounds so politically incorrect, sorry). Anyway, she woke up. She started moving around. 18 months later she’s back to doing things that she loves to do. I think what Dean wanted me to know is that there is always hope. He advised me to have patience. What we have ahead of us is going to be long and hard.
Care Package
Mary Beltran and her daughter brought by a care package. Not for Lidia, but for me. I am touched that Lidia has such great friends. Items within the care package include the following.
Teriyaki Jerky Mountain Dew PopTarts Water A really nice blanket LifeSavers Toothbrush and toothpaste Apples and Bananas Candy bars and other snacks
I am grateful for the love and compassion Lidia’s friends have shown.
YouTube
There was a brief moment where Lidia opened her eyes. I took the opportunity to show Lidia her daughter’s latest installment of her YouTube channel. She stayed awake and payed attention for the whole 8 minutes. I count that as a win.
During this recovery process, Lidia has rubbed her head. With her OCD, she noticed a staple that was a little out of place. It bugged her and she started picking at it. Every time she would move her hand across her head she would notice it. And again, she would pick. Eventually, she had picked half of it out. If you can imagine a staple, one side in her head, the other side sticking out. Anyway, last night she actually got one of her bandages on her wrist snagged on it. I had to hold her hand next to her head while I waited for the nurse’s assistant. She came in, assessed the situation, went back out to get a pair of scissors. We cut the bandage where it had snagged the staple so that her hand can be free. And so, there was this staple, sticking out of her head with a little bit of bandage sticking to it. I woke up this morning, and the staple was completely gone. I have no idea where it went. Lidia must have finished the job through the night.
Outpouring of Love and Kindness
It still amazes me the love and support Lidia is getting. This could be from mutual friends, strangers to me or strangers to the both of us. But because some of you have shared her story, your friends are picking up some of the slack. We all know that Lidia is a strong willed woman and that she would be bound and determined to handle this on her own, but I am very grateful for the support that Lidia has been shown by her friends and their families.
Our first night in Neuro Acute Care wasn’t the best. Apparently there were a lot of new patients and our nurse just so happened to be assigned to all of them. I could tell that she was uncomfortable due to either pain or bladder pressure. I hit the nurse button, but no nurse came. The nurses assistant came in and called our nurse on the phone but with no answer. Finally, about an hour after I hit the nurse button, the chief nurse came in and administered some pain meds.
Physical Therapy
Physical Therapy happened this morning at 10:30 am. She wasn’t as responsive as she was yesterday. Could this be because she wasn’t taken care of very well through the night? We’ll never know.
Bladder Scan
Lidia is unable, at this time, to relieve herself. Because of this, they do a bladder scan to see when she will need to urinate.
Bath and Bed Change
More like a wipe down. A couple of nurse assistants came in to help give Lidia a bath. They changed her linens and were really nice.
Communication
We are still working on communication. It is frustrating when we know that she has something to say, that she can’t communicate with us. You can tell that she’s getting frustrated as well. When she’s tired, everything is no. Sometimes, she nods her head yes. She was able to tell me tonight that she was in pain. This morning, she nodded her head yes when I asked if she loved me. Makes my heart break to see her suffer.
Opinions Change
Today, in Neuro Acute Care, the atmosphere was totally different. Lidia was actually taken care of. It felt that we were no longer just a room number. As this is being written, she is sound asleep. Blood pressure is normal. Heart rate is below 110 beats per minute. The nurse asked if I’m good. In response, I said, ‘If she’s good, I’m good.’ She’s going well tonight.
