Stella's Visit

The kids and I took Stella to Alison's physical therapy session today.  When we arrived, Alison was sitting on the edge of her bed with the help (a lot of help) of Jennifer (Physical Therapist).  Alison showed no emotion or said anything upon seeing Stella.  Stella sat by her side and the therapist helped Alison reach for Stella's head.  Alison did move her fingers to pet her a little bit.  After about a half an hour of sitting up, Alison was exhausted.  We put her back in bed and put her hair back in a head band.  She continues to yell out a lot.  Jennifer says this is a natural response and not necessarily a cry of pain.  And that she may not even know she is doing it but that it is important to respond/acknowledge her when she does it..to let her know she's doing it.  Mary Pat had mentioned that she asked Alison before why she yells like that and that Alison said she didn't know.  I told Alison that if she is going to yell "oww" all the time, then she needs to come up with a different word to let us know she is in pain.  I asked her what oww means?  "Are you mad?"  That got a HUGE response:  "Mad! Mad! Mad!  Shit!!"..gritting her teeth and moving her right arm (almost like pounding her fist).  Mary Pat and I said we didn't blame her for being mad and acknowledged that it really does suck but we assured her that we are here for her.  I keep trying to stress that the more she can communicate, the more we can do for her and in the meantime we will just keep guessing.

We set up her CD player and put on Peter Gabriel.  It's hard to say of she liked it but she didn't seem to dislike it.  EVERYONE..PLEASE MAKE SOME CDS FOR HER.  All kinds but soothing.  You can mail them to me if needed.  Amy Principe 1131 Bay Ridge Road Annapolis MD 21403

She didn't talk very much today.  She smiled once at something Soren said.  Mary Pat being totally goofy got no response.  As we were all leaving, she really started yelling so Mary Pat decided to stay a little longer.

I spoke to her nurse today..not Tonya her main nurse but Eric.  He fills in whenever Tonya is not there. He has been giving her Tylenol.  It seems like her neck and shoulder are bothering her most.  I asked him what kind of therapy they were providing her.  He said PT and most likely speech therapy.  She has not been evaluated by the psych nurse yet but I think that has been ordered.  The nurse did say that there will be a Care Plan Meeting at some point soon.