Steady As She Goes

Reenie - there are several action items included below.

Alison was asleep when I arrived. But she opened her eyes with a smile on her face when I asked her to wake up. She is a little bit sedated (flat affect) as at my last visit. But right now I am not overly concerned. We had good discussions, and she laughed until she cried as I shared stories about a trip to Europe with my dad where I nearly accidentally killed him four times. She does have a wry sense of humor.

I checked in with Lakshmi from PT who shared she talked to Yolanda who runs nursing about Alison’s eating. Yolanda says she has straightened out Alison’s food. Three meals a day are now being delivered to Alison. And Monica, the nurse on the floor, says staff is feeding Alison. Alison is not too sure that this is happening. When fed, she says they force her to eat (not pleasurable). Alison does not think she is getting peg fed daily but is not sure. We need to monitor this closely.

Lakshmi told me that they had completed a course of PT and OT for Alison on March 7. They have not prescribed any more for the time being as Alison does not appear able to make progress on working on assisted transfer from her bed. They will reassess restarting PT and OT in the future, as Alison regains her strength and weight from when she was in the hospital with the high fever. Speech therapy still sees Alison and assists her with one of her feedings. I am having PT remove the wheel chair from Alison’s room as Alison should only be put in a Geri chair (and the old wheel chair is still there). I cannot confirm whether Alison is put in the Geri chair each day. We need to monitor this too.

Reenie is arranging to have on geriatric caregiver come to see Alison 3-4 times a week to assist her with things like moving her arms and her legs to regain range of movement and feeding her. When I shared this with Alison, she cried. I asked why, was it sad or happy? Alison said it was happy! We will share more news is we know the schedule and who will be hired.

Some odds and ends:

Mary Pat went to see Alison last Thursday. It looks like somebody brought in more lobster bisque on Sunday! Alison said Philip saw her yesterday and gave Alison a card from Joanie and Todd. Mary Pat may go visit Thursday.

I brought in more cheese spread (and some other foods that Alison did not like as much - so they are going home). Today we cut fingernails and toenails thanks to Amy telling Alison to have me do it and then Alison remembering to tell me that Amy had asked me to do it! I also brushed her teeth as the staff have only been using a swab stick. Let’s ask Yolanda to make she Alison’s teeth are brushed daily. Be careful, gums are bleeding a bit due to lack of care.

Alison for a second time asked if she was being moved to the rehab place closer to where Alison used to live near Mary Pat.