August 1, 2006
Gary decided we had another Day Program goal to tell his team about: for us to get enough sleep while on the program! Evidently others feel the same way – Gary told me the discussion on the bus this morning (I took the car so I wouldn’t feel trapped at Shepherd by having to be on the bus schedule) was about runaway caregivers, the discussion brought on by one of the caregiver’s remarks that she needed a break; they all agreed the program was hard on the caregivers. Gary told them we’d only been on the program one day, and already his wife was frazzled (actually, I count from Friday on as being on the program), and I’m afraid I am, not being used to the extra physical work and the sleep interruptions. I guess Gary got somewhat used to “power-napping” in between the nightly interruptions in the hospital, but I am not (and my mood today was not improved by the fact that I got my period complete with cramps, the temple piece on my glasses broke at 12:30 a.m., and I slightly pulled a muscle helping Gary transfer out of bed in the morning). And this bladder thing is a downer, causing extra work (for which Gary apologized that I bore the brunt, as he is not independent enough yet for it to be otherwise) and cutting into both of our sleep times – we were both hoping the problem would go away, but as yet it hasn’t, and I fear it won’t. The latest strategy is for him to do ICs at four hours during the night (10pm, 2am, 6am) and six during the day (12pm, 6pm), which would mean I’d have to get him proned about ten-thirty p.m. and get up sometime between six and seven am, which sounds better to me than my having to get up at twelve-thirty a.m. and seven a.m. as I have been doing these past few days, but we suspect he is going to have to do it every four hours round the clock, so in order to fit in with the Day Program schedule, he’d be doing it and at eight, twelve, and four around the clock, putting me back to the twelve-thirty a.m. prone. The bladder problem interfered with his Day Program schedule today as well, causing him to miss out on his session with the rec therapist (and causing me more physical labor).
The chair problems I mentioned previously caused him to miss out on part of his “scap class” in the afternoon (a class for strength training targeting the scapula). But fixing the chair problem was definitely the more important thing. The theory is that the canvas backing on his chair was tightened too much, which put pressure on his sacrum, which caused the beginning of a pressure sore (which looked better today, by the way). So our supplier loosened the backing, and Gary immediately noticed a difference – now he falls forward when he lifts his hands, just like in his “old” chair. Not that he wanted that (indeed, he would prefer to feel more balanced, as he did in this loaner chair before this adjustment), but it indicates that the new chair before adjustment distributed his weight differently – and in his case, deleteriously.
The supplier also replaced the scissor brakes with the other type that Gary prefers.
Okay, now to the accomplishments of the day, starting with the PT session this morning. As you may recall, Gary wants to be able to transfer independently on his own, using a board, if need be, until he is strong enough to do the transfers without one. Well, he essentially did it on his own with the board (but he is not cleared to do this without my supervision, which means I keep my hands close and at ready in case he runs into problems, but I no longer have to keep in physical contact with him and give him lift or balance). He did nice hops along the board from his wheelchair to the exercise mat and back (and later, during the OT session, to the gym’s hospital bed and back). Then the PT had him go through his stretching routine, and then she had him do pushups using pushup blocks. To get into position for the pushups, he had to first sit up from his supine position, and this was the first time he managed to do that while having the extra encumbrances of pillows underneath him and his shoes on his feet (the shoes give extra friction, which inhibits his ability to push his legs around). She then had him do the pushups while having his legs crossed “Indian style,” pointing out that this would be another good exercise for him to stretch out his tight hips.
After the PT, Gary had a nursing session scheduled, during which the nurse was supposed to go over medicine management with him. She asked if he’d brought his meds. He said yes, and pulled out his one bottle of colace. She asked him if that was it. He said yes. She asked him why were we having this session. We said we’d wondered the same thing ;-). The session did serve one useful purpose, however – she checked his flap and agreed the area looked better than yesterday.
Next came a half-hour session with the rec therapist, who asked Gary what he did in his leisure time. Joking (or probably, at this time, not joking), Gary said, “ICs and bowel program.” The therapist then went over again what Gary would be doing in terms of rec therapy these two weeks – hand cycle, billiards, standing frame ( a precursor to the Easystand). Gary also mentioned he wanted to meet with the guy who could tell him about his firsthand experience with accessibility issues around the world.
In the afternoon OT session, Gary worked on dressing while in the wheelchair. This new OT seems very knowledgeable, and Gary got some tips that enabled him to get much farther along in this process than he had before. She then had him get on the hospital bed in the gym and practice some movements in it, using the electric controls, and so forth, to help him sit up and to change position. It was by no means easy for him, but again, he made definite progress. Whether he actually applies this knowledge remains to be seen, however ;-), as in the evening he preferred to do our usual method of him pulling and pushing on the rails of the hospital bed and me tugging on the draw sheet. I can’t say I blame him, seeing all the effort it takes him to do the position changes on his own.
After the OT session he then went to scap class I mentioned, where they started out with some stretching and limbering of the back muscles, then went into strength training. The first exercises Gary wasn’t allowed to do because they involved bending far over in the chair, and once again, his flap restrictions came into play. But he did the one-armed biceps curls, tricep extension, and punches, and also the seated pushups using the armrests of the chair.
Just before the scap class started, we had a flower delivery – beautiful anniversary flowers from my mom. Thanks mom!
Gary and I have decided to postpone our own celebration of the event until some time after we come home “for good.” There is no time to properly mark the occasion now.
Gary decided we had another Day Program goal to tell his team about: for us to get enough sleep while on the program! Evidently others feel the same way – Gary told me the discussion on the bus this morning (I took the car so I wouldn’t feel trapped at Shepherd by having to be on the bus schedule) was about runaway caregivers, the discussion brought on by one of the caregiver’s remarks that she needed a break; they all agreed the program was hard on the caregivers. Gary told them we’d only been on the program one day, and already his wife was frazzled (actually, I count from Friday on as being on the program), and I’m afraid I am, not being used to the extra physical work and the sleep interruptions. I guess Gary got somewhat used to “power-napping” in between the nightly interruptions in the hospital, but I am not (and my mood today was not improved by the fact that I got my period complete with cramps, the temple piece on my glasses broke at 12:30 a.m., and I slightly pulled a muscle helping Gary transfer out of bed in the morning). And this bladder thing is a downer, causing extra work (for which Gary apologized that I bore the brunt, as he is not independent enough yet for it to be otherwise) and cutting into both of our sleep times – we were both hoping the problem would go away, but as yet it hasn’t, and I fear it won’t. The latest strategy is for him to do ICs at four hours during the night (10pm, 2am, 6am) and six during the day (12pm, 6pm), which would mean I’d have to get him proned about ten-thirty p.m. and get up sometime between six and seven am, which sounds better to me than my having to get up at twelve-thirty a.m. and seven a.m. as I have been doing these past few days, but we suspect he is going to have to do it every four hours round the clock, so in order to fit in with the Day Program schedule, he’d be doing it and at eight, twelve, and four around the clock, putting me back to the twelve-thirty a.m. prone. The bladder problem interfered with his Day Program schedule today as well, causing him to miss out on his session with the rec therapist (and causing me more physical labor).
The chair problems I mentioned previously caused him to miss out on part of his “scap class” in the afternoon (a class for strength training targeting the scapula). But fixing the chair problem was definitely the more important thing. The theory is that the canvas backing on his chair was tightened too much, which put pressure on his sacrum, which caused the beginning of a pressure sore (which looked better today, by the way). So our supplier loosened the backing, and Gary immediately noticed a difference – now he falls forward when he lifts his hands, just like in his “old” chair. Not that he wanted that (indeed, he would prefer to feel more balanced, as he did in this loaner chair before this adjustment), but it indicates that the new chair before adjustment distributed his weight differently – and in his case, deleteriously.
The supplier also replaced the scissor brakes with the other type that Gary prefers.
Okay, now to the accomplishments of the day, starting with the PT session this morning. As you may recall, Gary wants to be able to transfer independently on his own, using a board, if need be, until he is strong enough to do the transfers without one. Well, he essentially did it on his own with the board (but he is not cleared to do this without my supervision, which means I keep my hands close and at ready in case he runs into problems, but I no longer have to keep in physical contact with him and give him lift or balance). He did nice hops along the board from his wheelchair to the exercise mat and back (and later, during the OT session, to the gym’s hospital bed and back). Then the PT had him go through his stretching routine, and then she had him do pushups using pushup blocks. To get into position for the pushups, he had to first sit up from his supine position, and this was the first time he managed to do that while having the extra encumbrances of pillows underneath him and his shoes on his feet (the shoes give extra friction, which inhibits his ability to push his legs around). She then had him do the pushups while having his legs crossed “Indian style,” pointing out that this would be another good exercise for him to stretch out his tight hips.
After the PT, Gary had a nursing session scheduled, during which the nurse was supposed to go over medicine management with him. She asked if he’d brought his meds. He said yes, and pulled out his one bottle of colace. She asked him if that was it. He said yes. She asked him why were we having this session. We said we’d wondered the same thing ;-). The session did serve one useful purpose, however – she checked his flap and agreed the area looked better than yesterday.
Next came a half-hour session with the rec therapist, who asked Gary what he did in his leisure time. Joking (or probably, at this time, not joking), Gary said, “ICs and bowel program.” The therapist then went over again what Gary would be doing in terms of rec therapy these two weeks – hand cycle, billiards, standing frame ( a precursor to the Easystand). Gary also mentioned he wanted to meet with the guy who could tell him about his firsthand experience with accessibility issues around the world.
In the afternoon OT session, Gary worked on dressing while in the wheelchair. This new OT seems very knowledgeable, and Gary got some tips that enabled him to get much farther along in this process than he had before. She then had him get on the hospital bed in the gym and practice some movements in it, using the electric controls, and so forth, to help him sit up and to change position. It was by no means easy for him, but again, he made definite progress. Whether he actually applies this knowledge remains to be seen, however ;-), as in the evening he preferred to do our usual method of him pulling and pushing on the rails of the hospital bed and me tugging on the draw sheet. I can’t say I blame him, seeing all the effort it takes him to do the position changes on his own.
After the OT session he then went to scap class I mentioned, where they started out with some stretching and limbering of the back muscles, then went into strength training. The first exercises Gary wasn’t allowed to do because they involved bending far over in the chair, and once again, his flap restrictions came into play. But he did the one-armed biceps curls, tricep extension, and punches, and also the seated pushups using the armrests of the chair.
Just before the scap class started, we had a flower delivery – beautiful anniversary flowers from my mom. Thanks mom!
Gary and I have decided to postpone our own celebration of the event until some time after we come home “for good.” There is no time to properly mark the occasion now.
posted by Peg Daniels at 6:50 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home