This may be the last guest post for me ... I'm bringing Doreen's laptop and she may be ready to start hammering out her own updates tomorrow. We'll see!
Last night was exciting as Doreen moved to her first "clear" foods and was drinking some apple juice and all-natural soda (carbonated water and fruit). I waited to have "dinner" with her and then returned to the lodge, where I had my own dinner (organic burrito, organic corn chips, and an orange).
This morning was 28 degrees but sunny and beautiful. It really felt like the days I started dating Doreen and would get so excited to see her. I just get a lump in my throat and feel more and more excited with every step and the elevator seems to take ages to her floor. Then the highlight of my day is walking in and seeing her.
She was something else today. Had her glasses on, was sitting upright eating jello and drinking water directly. No more ice chips or sponges/swabs. In fact she got cleared for solids and we ordered her lunch ... hasn't come yet but it's a salad which she likely won't eat and some beef stew which we are hoping she can enjoy the broth. She ate more jello and had plenty to drink.
Physical thereapy came and she did better than any other day with sitting up and then walking. She walked 10 feet the first time yesterday and about 30 feet the second time. Today she walked 80 feet. She then came and sat in the wheel chair. We had a little bit of concern because the nurse mentioned that transport was coming to take her for X-rays. We decided she should stay in the wheel chair and get transported that way. After about 40 minutes though they were not in sight so I paged the nurse again. My concern was getting her back into the bed and then having to turn around and get her out again. The nurse checked and it turns out the X-rays are scheduled for tomorrow morning. I'll check what time to make sure I'm here to help when it happens.
She got back into bed and that was it - the walk and sitting had totally exhausted her. She passed out and this is the first time I've seen her truly sleep since I've been at her side. It was great ... it's getting close to lunch so I'll wait for her food and eat with her and then go to the cafeteria myself.
Her food came and she had a little bit of broth, some nibbles of crackers and some jello. It's a start. I ate and came back and she was sleeping. She woke up and had some grape juice. Then she fell asleep again for several hours. She hasn't been sleeping at night because her roommate was so loud, but they just moved out ... hopefully we'll have a quieter "neighbor."
She was sleeping so deeply that when physical therapy came, we had trouble waking her up. The nurse came in and forcibly woke her to ensure the medications weren't overdone, and now she is relaxing and waiting for her session. We're going to try to walk farther of course. She is due to have catheter and IV out tomorrow. She is also scheduled for x-rays. If that checks out and she does some pre-requisites like going 1 and 2 on her own, then we may be cleared to check her out on Saturday!
We finally got to physical therapy. She did a fantastic job standing up and walking a good distance, then sat for awhile in her chair. I think the first walk wore her out, so we transferred her back to bed and her food came. She is eating far better and had some potato soup and several grapes. Always tough to leave her but decided to head home, get some food and rest and focus on another great day tomorrow!
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