Renewed Progress SO VISIT!

Andy Riedy 10/10/13

As Amy said, Alison is pampered by staying at the hospital. The Physician’s Assistant (“PA”) and staff are really paying attention to Alison and her situation. When I arrived, Alison “came alive” though she did call me B… and told the staff to call security to kick me out. THIS WAS OBVIOUSLY a joke to Alison and me BUT we had to explain it to staff… They said she had been in pain and out of it for the last two days and were delighted to see Alison so cognizant and involved. Alison and I explained her tendency to “turtle” when asked to do something and that staff should push her/engage her. The PA also mentioned that Alison’s previous aneurism and stint may cause her to not filter her communications as well.

First good news. Speech Therapy came yesterday and they said to try to have her eat. Alison ate saltines and applesauce. It turns out that Alison only had one speech evaluation while at South River (when she first got there) and had had a hard time with water. The current PA said water is hard to do and needs to be “thickened” to limit the chance of choking (how do they do that?). I gave the PA Alison’s recent history of cognitive and physical improvements and they think Alison is ready to try more food. They will do it in a supervised way, limit it at first to foods that are soft (eg pudding etc), and only do it when she is not medicated or drowsy. They will leave the feeding tube in place until Alison can prove she can competently eat. Alison did repeatedly mention she wanted the Toblerone chocolate bar left at South River (Amy did they give it to you)….

Second good news. The PA is astonished at how far Alison has recovered since the end of July. She had written everything down so each day's and night's staff will understand.  The PA said she would be restarting physical, speech and occupational therapy which were stopped at South River when Alison’s insurance ran out. Alison can roll onto her side, but now gets dizzy when they try to sit her up (because South River stopped putting her in the wheel chair?). PT will help her get this back. The PA feels it is important that rehab be restarted now to get Alison improving again. She said that after 90 days post accident, Alison would be eligible for Medicare (aid?) and that services incurred in the meantime would be covered retroactively. This is something for Reenie to confirm?

Other good news. They have Alison in bed but not in a diaper. This will keep her bum from getting rashes. Alison today brushed her own teeth for the first time and they have ordered medication for the thrush in her mouth. The PA is also focusing on titrating her meds so her dosages are at the correct levels. And they ordered an X-ray of left shoulder that had hurt on and off since Alison fell out of the bed at South River. Alison even tried use the controls on her bed to control the tiling and TV (though this will take more work).

The staff said what was most important is to GET PEOPLE TO VISIT!! Alison is a very different patient when she has loved ones around her. She is at the Ann Arundel Medical Center in the hospital, North Tower, room 536. The hospital does not have any restrictions on visiting hours. We will put out an update if/when Alison gets moved to a new rehab facility.