Author: LT

First up with the good news for today: the speech pathologist assessed Mum this afternoon and said she is able to move to normal fluids, including a normal cup of tea. Mum was obviously happy with that, although she’ll still use some thickened water sometimes. The day started out a bit ordinary with some staff…

Another quiet day today as rehab starts tomorrow and Mum was quite exhausted from her good day yesterday. She was glad to have a visit from her daughter-in-law Jennifer and granddaughters Caitlin and Claire. She also had a visit from Carol Olsen; the wife of Ross, Dad’s long-time friend. My brother Doug arrives tonight and…

It was Mum’s first day in rehab today but, of course, being a Saturday there wasn’t a great deal of rehab going on. Mum was a bit despondent when we got in this morning but by this afternoon she was propped up in her chair in the common room having a cup of hot thickened…

Mum moved to rehab today and is now in bed 20A of the Gunnamatta Ward at the Mornington Centre. We had a family meeting with Mum’s health team at the hospital this morning and were very reassured that Mum’s fatigue and general listlessness are normal and can last for several weeks. No word yet on…

Unfortunately, we’ve had a bit of a reverse today. For the last few days, Mum has been extremely tired and far less conversational than usual and we’ve been assured this is normal. However, today Mum became even more unresponsive and even listless and we’re now concerned she does have an infection of some kind. The…

A short update this morning as we’re still waiting for Mum to move to rehab. Maureen Sullivan (Moogie) has come down to see her today and hopefully Mum will be awake enough to enjoy her company. The speech therapist came to see her this morning and, while Mum can’t read, it seems she can still…

Some (comparatively) good news today as Mum has finally been cleared to move from the Acute Stroke Unit at Frankston hospital to a rehab facility. Ever since the stroke, Mum has wanted to move back to Brisbane and to attend rehab at the Mater. However, while the medical staff have determined she is stable enough…

Mum had a great night’s sleep. Stroke victims are often exhausted, both from the neurological damage and from the effort it takes for them to do even simple tasks so there’s nothing better for them than uninterrupted sleep. Mum slept peacefully all night; even being turned during the night didn’t disturb her. The nebuliser probably helped…

Mum has been in the Acute Stroke Unit of the Frankston hospital for one week now. She did not have a great day yesterday. Since the stroke Mum has had a bad headache that seems to have progressed to severe. Of course, Mum is allergic to all morphine-based painkillers and cannot take any Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory…