Lets get some not so good news out of the way first. Pain or sensitivity in Martha's right arm has increased to the point that it is interfering with her therapies. Last Wednesday I took Martha to see a specialist at St Marys. The hope was he could add something to her meds that would help. The problem is that giving her a pain killer in the morning before her therapies would make her drowsy. This would not be good especially for speech. Hopefully there was some kind of procedure that they could do to block the pain only in her arm. These exist but the side effects of these may not be good for her to regain the control she needs to use the arm. The tone in her arm is so great that efforts to extend the arm and stretch the tendons and work the joints is very painful. The doctor opted to add a half dose of something in the morning. This would alleviate the pain and still allow her to function otherwise. The first days results were not too hopeful as she was indeed too sleepy to pay attention. I ended up putting her to bed. She did better in the afternoon. She may get used to the new med and do better later. The jury is still out.
Sunday was a good, good day for Martha. I brought her home for the now usual Sunday feast. During the course of the day 15 or 16 people visited . Some to eat and some just to say hello to Martha. Our old friends Gil and Noreen from the "Y" group showed up to see and wish Martha well. Gil sat down by Martha and immediately started briefing her on his latest cooking adventure. In no time at all he had her laughing. Gil has that affect on Martha (and others ). The St Cyrs were in town and dropped in to say hi and show her their new grandson, Jacob. Martha couldn't have been more delighted. Mike Spano and Julie arrived with a whole baking pan of Italian sausages and a mixed berry dessert. Kate brought another dessert. (there goes my diet again) Margaret, my friend from work and family filled out the day.
I include a lot of info in this blog about all the therapies Martha goes through at the hospital but when I see her here at home surrounded by friends and family, smiling and talking I think this may be the best therapy of all. To see her face light up when a friend, new or old, comes into the room makes my day. It's a long road back but with a support group like this she is gonna make it. Thank you all. Dave
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Yesterday, Martha was the most engaged yet. In the past, she'd sit on the couch, watch what was going on around her and interact with you if you started up a conversation. Yesterday she was sitting forward on the couch, participating in the conversation to the best of her ability. A couple of times she even got a case of the giggles. It's good to see her making her way back.
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