June 12, 2006Lisa fought the effects of spasticity last week. She expressed her discomfort through the tightness of her muscles and contraction of her fingers. This was readily apparent to those who ranged her during the week as her muscle tone was tight, and Lisa had to work really hard to oppose the effects of spasticity. When Sherry and I arrived with Michael on Friday afternoon, her face was flushed and she perspired as one would from the strain of weight lifting. As an observer, it was difficult to see her struggle with the strain and burden that spasticity makes her bear.
You will recall that a special pump was implanted in Lisa to administer Baclofen in steady, slow, small increments into her spinal fluid. The drug combats her tightening muscle tone. The dosage she receives is carefully monitored by Dr. Bliss and Dr. Kwasnica. Lisa’s Baclofen tolerance allowed the dosage to be increased. At first, it seemed that Baclofen was going to have an easy time knocking the spasticity down, but as if the spasticity had a will; it began to resist the Baclofen. The situation resulted, I think, in causing the discomfort. (As an aside, Dr. Bliss recently slipped and fell in the cafeteria, and required him to have surgery after severely breaking his ankle. Nevertheless, he comes to Lisa’s bedside in a self-propelling wheelchair to manage her care.)
On Saturday Lisa received something for pain management, and began to relax somewhat. At 5:00 o’clock, we all attended Mass in the Hospital Chapel. Lisa, Michael, Sherry, Laurie and I went down to the Chapel for services. The priest was wonderfully compassionate and considerate of Lisa and Michael during the service. He made her really feel comfortable and welcome. It was a warm spiritual experience. Richard called the hospital from Oklahoma. He called from the home of Jack and Napua Davis. There he enjoyed more of Napua’s wonderful cuisine. The telephone in Lisa’s room has speaker phone capability which enables her to hear and respond to yes – no questions. They all spoke to Lisa and she enjoyed hearing from them. She especially liked hearing the music from the sound of Jack’s melodic and haunting flute.
By Sunday morning, Lisa was back, and looked perfectly radiant! The spasticity was beaten down and the battle (not the war) was won. I believe the successful counterattack resulted from the combination of physical and pharmaceutical techniques applied skillfully by her dedicated medical team.
Monday Lisa had more pain which was controlled with drug therapy and she was scheduled to receive more physical therapy today.
Michael
