Or physio. I should probably be more accurate but Mum did always like that song.
I drove back to Canberra yesterday; a long drive but there were some housekeeping things I needed to attend to and it’ll be good to have a couple of days to get those done. I’ll fly up to Brisbane next week (hopefully!) to help Mum settle into rehab in Brisbane.
Dad reports that Mum had an excellent day in physio yesterday; being “flown” to the sliding machine but then being put on her feet and sitting on it without the aid of the gantry. We’ve also noticed some early signs of movement in her left hand. When prompted to squeeze a finger, she has squeezed with her “bad” hand. It’s quite wonderful.
We’ve had some issues with Mum’s pain relief as always. She can’t tolerate morphine-based drugs nor is she allowed NSAIDs. The doctors had her on Endone, which she had some problems with after her knee operation. They were giving her Maxilon to help her with the nausea and we were hoping it would help her endure the physio.
On Thursday evening, Dad and I noticed that Mum was slurring her words and not able to swallow properly. Concerned the Endone was having negative side effects, we took her off it yesterday; hoping that the other drugs (paracetamol and codeine ) and heat packs would be enough to get Mum through her physio session. Since she had such a great session yesterday, I think we made the right call.
No physio or other specialist sessions for the long weekend; this will give Mum three days to rest and Dad will be there to help her with her word progression exercises and left arm movements. The physio has also given us exercises we can do with her over the next three days.
Overall, it’s been quite a good week. Ups and downs but overall improvement. I think I forgot to mention it but Mum has also been upgraded to a soft/minced diet; meaning her vegetables are diced and soft but her protein is still minced. Now if we could only get her to stop shoving food into her mouth like she hasn’t eaten in years, she may get upgraded again.
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