Day 176 – Friday 21st October
Long, but great day today.
kp, normally not vaguely conscious before 10am, was up at 8.15am today. I arrived a little late (rush hour traffic) to get her in the bath for 8.30am.
We met up with the physio who walked Karen into the Ward Flat so she could try walking on carpet.
dp:- It’s not exactly a thick pile carpet is it
Physio :- This is the NHS you know.
The carpet was more like carpet tile and was probably 1mm taller than the normal polished floor. kp had no bother walking on it with the physios help.
Following the guided tour around the flat, kp did a full circle tour of the whole ward and I estimate she did about 150 steps holding on to the physio’s hand.
This reminds me of something I omitted from yesterday’s blog. When the main man was lifting kp’s left leg in to all sorts of unusual positions yesterday, kp felt constantly like she was losing her balance. At one point, she grabbed hold of the lady physio’s trousers and nearly pulled them down. We were all in stitches.
With the physio over, the next thing was the neuropsychologist’s (NP) visit at 11am.
On a friday, we are always keen to get away early to enjoy the weekend to its fullest, so to avoid the long wait we had the other week for kp’s morphine patch, I asked the Sister if we could get it early, but because it is a controlled drug, we couldn’t get it until we were ready to leave, so we had to ask again after the NP’s visit.
The NP arrived and reported on all the tests she had done. There were no big surprises. kp’s stroke has had a “significant, but subtle” affect on her brain activity. I can’t recall all the problems, but things like
- she has a smaller working memory
- she needs to be given lots of facts slowly
- her brain doesn’t work as fast as it did
On the plus side, her long term memory is unchanged
There was lots more, but I can’t recall them at the moment. It could have been so much worse, so we are pleased at the subtlety of kp’s stroke effects.
NP over, all we needed was the patch. I asked the Sister and we waited for a while. After what seemed forever, I asked her again (glad I did, as she had forgot (other things going on)). The patch needs to be countersigned by another qualified nurse and she had just left the ward. More waiting……
When she returned, we found out the patch wasn’t in stock and we would need to wait for it to come up from pharmacy. kp was so keen to get away, we opted for coming back a bit earlier on Sunday to get the patch applied.
Adele was cleaning our house when we got back, which gave kp and I a chance to have a snooze. We had about 90 mins.
kp:- I don’t think I fell asleep.
dp:- You were snoring.
kp:- Oh, I must have then.
It was then time to get ready for the meal out with Tommy and Eileen, which we thoroughly enjoyed before coming home for bed.
October 21st, 2005 at 11:50 pm
HI KP and David,,,so no shenanigans in the ladies tonight….(at the restaurant ) …..ha ha lol …..I hope you have a great weekend MR AND MRS P,,,,lots of love lyd xx
October 22nd, 2005 at 11:02 am
Hi ya Karen,
I’d just like to say than none of us has the same brain function that we used to. Jane says she can only remember up to 3 things that she has to do in any one day, anymore and you can forget it. I was suppoosed to visit my friend Judy the other week and totally forgot. I mean totally. So don’t worry, we’re all in this together as we get older. Do you remeber chatting the other week and you being astounded that I couldn’t remember your 16th birthday party!!
I was thinking that this Friday I could arrive a bit earlier and we could do hair and make up – just like the old days, what do you reckon. That is, if you get out of out of hospital qick enough, I swear its easier to escape from Wormwood Scrubs.
Really looking forward to the visit and views from your living room lots of cups of tea and chats with Jane and Dp.
Great walking Karen, honestly I reckon you are just showing off now. Remember when you thought 4 steps were amazing and look at you NOW!!!!
Take care
Lots of love
Veronica
XXX
October 22nd, 2005 at 5:40 pm
hey blondie…..how the devil are you???????
well lets get the the point eh…..loops knee’s better be knocking…..40plus(note the spelling lydia darling lol) service……i’l 40plus her…..will i just remind you all out there its her B I G 40…….THIS YEAR…lol
oh dear think i’ve just shot myself in the foot…that will make me older again…lol…(don’t think the service went that well)..lol
ok that over kp your doing so well, sorry havent been in contact for a few days, but will explain all when we next meet….which wont be long…hopefully…
i dont know mrs P…you have a personal nurse(sister P) and now a cleaner…what’s the secret???? does she do house calls?? or should that be flat calls…is she free??? or reasonable…lol…sorry pet only a joke of course…
our victoria is home this weekend and get this is out christmas shopping…..i mean its still only october….god i wish i had her organisational skills,…me i’l be last minute emma this year..lol
kp what you want from santa this year??? bet i could guess…home for GOOD…… well pet at the rate your going you’l have a early xmas pressy allright…
ok im off for a lye down…again thats all i seem to do at the moment…and read books,,,daytime tv is rubbish….lol
have a supper night tonight with pizza and the X Factor…wonder who will be voted off this week….
take care hun and will be in touch soon for a visit as soon as im up to getting out and about…
love to all
debsxx