Monday night
Well, today was a big day. In no particular order, these were the events.
At 1:30 this afternoon, Linda had a swallowing test. They gave her thinner liquids to try and a few pieces of fruit and bread. Her swallowing is much faster and more coordinated, so she can now have liquids as thin as she can tolerate. She is also starting to have some food ground rather than puree. She had some ground sloppy joe tonight. The only thing she wasn't so great at is drinking thin liquid from a straw. Straws deliver a lot of fluid fast, and that can be hard to handle. She can use a straw, but she needs to really concentrate on taking controlled, small drinks.
Linda almost got her peg tube out today. The doctor wrote the order and came by in the late morning to remove it. The procedure is simple. Water is removed from a bladder that holds it in place and then the tube is slipped out of the hole. She gets a bandage, but otherwise it just grows closed faster than you would expect (like pierced ears when you don't wear earrings).
Unfortunately when the doc got to the "slip it out" part, the tube was stuck. They tugged a bit, which you can imagine Linda didn't like and had one of the senior nurses give an opinion. In the end, they decided to go with the conservative treatment. They left it in, and they are sending her back to the surgeon who placed it to have it removed. We already know the procedure that will be used. It's straightforward and goes by the title "pull real hard." They just want to be careful, so they're sending her to the experts.
All of the therapists were delighted with Linda's wheelchair work. The physical therapist found some grip foam to put on the wheels so Linda can hold them better and we pumped up her tires. She is doing better than ever. Everyone encouraged her to practice all she wants, although they disagree on the details. The PT suggested that she use her legs a lot, "walking" her chair. The OT suggested that she use her arms a lot. I suggest we lock them in a room with boxing gloves and see who wins. I'm sure Linda will do both.
Well, today was a big day. In no particular order, these were the events.
At 1:30 this afternoon, Linda had a swallowing test. They gave her thinner liquids to try and a few pieces of fruit and bread. Her swallowing is much faster and more coordinated, so she can now have liquids as thin as she can tolerate. She is also starting to have some food ground rather than puree. She had some ground sloppy joe tonight. The only thing she wasn't so great at is drinking thin liquid from a straw. Straws deliver a lot of fluid fast, and that can be hard to handle. She can use a straw, but she needs to really concentrate on taking controlled, small drinks.
Linda almost got her peg tube out today. The doctor wrote the order and came by in the late morning to remove it. The procedure is simple. Water is removed from a bladder that holds it in place and then the tube is slipped out of the hole. She gets a bandage, but otherwise it just grows closed faster than you would expect (like pierced ears when you don't wear earrings).
Unfortunately when the doc got to the "slip it out" part, the tube was stuck. They tugged a bit, which you can imagine Linda didn't like and had one of the senior nurses give an opinion. In the end, they decided to go with the conservative treatment. They left it in, and they are sending her back to the surgeon who placed it to have it removed. We already know the procedure that will be used. It's straightforward and goes by the title "pull real hard." They just want to be careful, so they're sending her to the experts.
All of the therapists were delighted with Linda's wheelchair work. The physical therapist found some grip foam to put on the wheels so Linda can hold them better and we pumped up her tires. She is doing better than ever. Everyone encouraged her to practice all she wants, although they disagree on the details. The PT suggested that she use her legs a lot, "walking" her chair. The OT suggested that she use her arms a lot. I suggest we lock them in a room with boxing gloves and see who wins. I'm sure Linda will do both.
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