Recent Visits 11/2 and 10/31

Kim, my twin sister, was in town and we visited Alison twice. Per below and from my previous blog, the meds they are trying to address Alison’s anxiety when she is alone are causing cognitive and physical set backs. On some days, she is back to the level when she fist got moved to South River and is unable to move or talk. They need to get the meds right ASAP for Alsion to get back on track with her recovery.

Below, are two blogs starting with the most recent visit.

Saturday Nov 2

They have started Alison on a new medicine to try to control her anxiety as she is still crying out whenever she is alone, day and night. From her sister Renee, I hear that the psychiatry staff is visiting her every day to assess the impacts.

BUT, in addition to the new anti-anxiety med, the head nurse, Stephanie, said they are sedating Allison. Today we find her VERY confused and not able to move her arms and legs except sometimes her right arm. She keeps saying she wants to go home. She keeps her eyes shut and is also having a hard time swallowing. We were able to feed to her butternut squash soup we brought from home. Can we find out what they said sedated her with please? And for how long? We had to feed her lunch and stuck to apple sauce, soups and ice cream – things that were easy to swallow.

Thur Oct 31

When we first arrived, Alison was confused but much less so than two days ago when she first was put on Seraquil. It appears she is acclimatizing to the Seraquil. She knew Kim immediately and quickly settled down with us. That is not to say that the meds are not confusing her. Alison still asks for us to sit her up so she can “walk”.

She (and the nursing staff) said she had just had a visit from a lawyer who was presenting Alison papers to allow Renee to become her legal custodian.

As previously reported, Alison has been using her left arm less and less until now there is very little (no) movement. Kim, a physical massage therapist, worked with Alison very slowly to find out if Alison’s left shoulder was frozen from the fall two months ago. We helped Alison move onto her right side and placed a pillow along her front, between her legs and along her back for comfort. The Knim slowly moved her arm to loosen the shoulder joint. Alison kept reassuring Kim that it did not hurt but felt stretched. After 10 minutes of Kim’s work, Alison could against begin to move her left arm. I will need to teach Kim’s technique to Amy so that we can keep Alison ambidextrous.

And thanks to Mary Pat for visiting again. Mary Pat has been sick for 3 weeks but felt well enough for a visit.