April 12, 2006
St. Joseph Medical Center
52 Days into the ordeal
Specialty Care Hospital
Phoenix, Arizona
Richard is back in Tucson at work and spending his off duty hours with Michael a
nd Sherry and me. Quite a few folks have offered to do what they can to support Lisa’s recovery. Two friends of Richard, Suzanne and Bill took time out of there day Tuesday and went to the hospital in Phoenix to help her, and they did by providing Lisa with range of motion therapy.
I had the good fortune to receive a brief e-mail description from them of how they found Lisa and what they accomplished and learned during their visit. Let me share their remarks with you now, this is what they wrote:
“Lisa looks great! She went to therapy twice today and was asleep when we got here. She slept through our Jane Fonda [my emphasis] workout and the doctor’s visit. (Filling in for her doctor, Nurse Carol was happy with what she saw today. Her right side seemed more flexible than her left (or it could be Bill is stronger).” Suzanne and Bill
I misinterpreted the observation by Suzanne and Bill’s e-mail; that the “right side flexibility” was an indication of progress; but in fact it was just the opposite because it reflects a lack of muscle control. My error, as I think about it now, is a good way to get a false story circulated, and there is no room for that in Lisa Today. So then, what does or would Carol, Lisa’s nurse, and her doctor’s use to measure or determine her progress. I learned from Richard how they go about determining if she is responsive and can control her movement. What the medics do is not only smart, but fascinating to me a medically ignorant person. I’ll make a layman’s comparison. The layman would stand beside Lisa and ask, “Lisa move knees together.” The layman would expect movement from her legs. Marty, the physical therapist, would place her own finger tips upon the muscle that controls the knee movement to sense any movement or contraction. An imperceptible effort on Lisa’s part would be felt by the professonal and provide the all-important-confirmation. Another example, with Lisa’s head is on a pillow the layperson would ask Lisa to move her head from left to right. Connie the occupational therapist would hold Lisa’s head upright and Maureen the speech therapist would ask the questions. See? Lisa’s three therapists, Maureen, Marty, and Connie have all reported small, gradual and real improvement by Lisa. Her improvements today were more than yesterday, but we are cautioned that during the process that there will be peaks and valleys and periodic plateaus. Therefore patience and more patience on our part is mandatory.
Sherry and I need to get back to Galesburg, Illinois in order to settle a few matters that require our attention. We intend to depart on Monday with Michael and will return in 3-weeks. Michael’s oth
er Grandmother, Beverly resides in Galesburg and this will also give her an opportunity to meet and be with him.
It is my intention to keep “Lisa Today” current with information I receive from Richard, and hopefully Lisa’s Mother, Carmen. Carmen returned to Phoenix from a brief trip to Oklahoma where she had to attend to some pressing matters. She is residing in Phoenix through the courtesy and accommodation of Sandy Jenzen. Sandy has also opened her home to Richard during his weekend visits with Lisa.
Michael
mlwintory@msn.com
Pictures of Michael were taken yesterday afternoon. He is involved, seriously involved, with his favorite awake activity.
St. Joseph Medical Center
52 Days into the ordeal
Specialty Care Hospital
Phoenix, Arizona
Richard is back in Tucson at work and spending his off duty hours with Michael a
nd Sherry and me. Quite a few folks have offered to do what they can to support Lisa’s recovery. Two friends of Richard, Suzanne and Bill took time out of there day Tuesday and went to the hospital in Phoenix to help her, and they did by providing Lisa with range of motion therapy.I had the good fortune to receive a brief e-mail description from them of how they found Lisa and what they accomplished and learned during their visit. Let me share their remarks with you now, this is what they wrote:
“Lisa looks great! She went to therapy twice today and was asleep when we got here. She slept through our Jane Fonda [my emphasis] workout and the doctor’s visit. (Filling in for her doctor, Nurse Carol was happy with what she saw today. Her right side seemed more flexible than her left (or it could be Bill is stronger).” Suzanne and Bill
I misinterpreted the observation by Suzanne and Bill’s e-mail; that the “right side flexibility” was an indication of progress; but in fact it was just the opposite because it reflects a lack of muscle control. My error, as I think about it now, is a good way to get a false story circulated, and there is no room for that in Lisa Today. So then, what does or would Carol, Lisa’s nurse, and her doctor’s use to measure or determine her progress. I learned from Richard how they go about determining if she is responsive and can control her movement. What the medics do is not only smart, but fascinating to me a medically ignorant person. I’ll make a layman’s comparison. The layman would stand beside Lisa and ask, “Lisa move knees together.” The layman would expect movement from her legs. Marty, the physical therapist, would place her own finger tips upon the muscle that controls the knee movement to sense any movement or contraction. An imperceptible effort on Lisa’s part would be felt by the professonal and provide the all-important-confirmation. Another example, with Lisa’s head is on a pillow the layperson would ask Lisa to move her head from left to right. Connie the occupational therapist would hold Lisa’s head upright and Maureen the speech therapist would ask the questions. See? Lisa’s three therapists, Maureen, Marty, and Connie have all reported small, gradual and real improvement by Lisa. Her improvements today were more than yesterday, but we are cautioned that during the process that there will be peaks and valleys and periodic plateaus. Therefore patience and more patience on our part is mandatory.
Sherry and I need to get back to Galesburg, Illinois in order to settle a few matters that require our attention. We intend to depart on Monday with Michael and will return in 3-weeks. Michael’s oth
er Grandmother, Beverly resides in Galesburg and this will also give her an opportunity to meet and be with him.It is my intention to keep “Lisa Today” current with information I receive from Richard, and hopefully Lisa’s Mother, Carmen. Carmen returned to Phoenix from a brief trip to Oklahoma where she had to attend to some pressing matters. She is residing in Phoenix through the courtesy and accommodation of Sandy Jenzen. Sandy has also opened her home to Richard during his weekend visits with Lisa.
Michael
mlwintory@msn.com
Pictures of Michael were taken yesterday afternoon. He is involved, seriously involved, with his favorite awake activity.
