Day 13 at Shepherd.  No therapy today so nothing to compare to  physical wise.  This morning when I arrived she was in an open area  where all the patients eat having been taken there by her nurse and  given her tray.  She had eaten very little.  You know how a small child  is when they fall and don't really get hurt but as soon as they know  that their patent has seen them they start crying.  Well Jan saw me  coming in from about 200 feet away and immediately started crying.  It  was I want to go home, I am cold, the nurses are mean and lie and make  fun of me and I will do better at home.  Jan did go on and on about how  the nursing staff was mean to her.  What she is basing this on likely  did happen.  Seems at least part of this is based on when they bath her  in the morning.  I have heard some of Jan's end of this from outside the  door.  The other morning they were giving her a sponge bath and she was  very loudly letting it be known how cold it was and that she did not  want it.  She was told that as a physician that she should understand  why what was being done was being done.  Jan tells me she told them that  she did not like their attitude and I am sure she did say that.   It  should be told that immediately before the sponge bath they had tried to  get jan to take a shower but she had adamantly refused.  Again this is  related her brain injury but this defiance has been improving.  This woe  is me went on throughout the morning on and on with the crocodile tears  and thrown in some apologies to me for being so much trouble.   I wiped  the tears told her she was doing great and that it would be ok.  I also  told her the only way she could go home was to work hard with the  therapists to get better.  She responded "I don't want to work hard".  I  had not warned her but Parisa and Kevin came over to Atlanta for a  visit.  It was amazing how Jan lightened up when they walked in.  It was  almost like she had never had any head injury.  All afternoon we  carried on a normal conversation with a lot of smiles.  Jan was even  joking about being dane bramaged.  She did tell them how bad the food  was and asked for a cheeseburger and blizzard from Dairy Queen.  I told  Kevin and Parisa this would get the same response from the hospital food  (which she calls spam and uses the word nasty with every bite).  They  went and got her the requested food, she nibbled it and then did not eat  it and decided it was nasty but laughed about it.  She was obviously  very tired but with Kevin and Parisa joining in to encourage her to work  hard with the therapists she was saying she would when we left her this  evening.  It was a great afternoon and the way she was today tells me  her recovery is accelerating rapidly.    !!!!!!!!! TIGT !!!!!!!!
Please do not ever forget what got her here and she is one of the lucky one that has had this happen.
SHARE THE ROAD, IT'S A LIFE
PUT THE !%@$# CELL PHONE DOWN BEFORE YOU KILL SOMEBODY
GET OFF THE COUCH,  LIFE IS FOR DOING STUFF
SUPPORT BIKE WALK MISSISSIPPI,  TIGT
BRIGHT IS COOL
I Love My Little Darlin, She's back !!!
David
 
I'm so happy she's coming back to you! She has a long way to go, but I'm absolutely amazed at the progress Jan has made in her recovery! She has accomplished a great deal in very little time!
ReplyDeleteSounds like Jan has more and more clarity, that's wonderful! I compare her condition now to your posts from just a week ago and the difference is tremendous. She does have a tough road ahead of here, and it is good you are pushing Jan to not give up, to work at it so she can come home. I know getting her to the point where she can wash herself is the goal, but that won't happen overnight. I read that nursing home patients fight and are miserable when bathed. So in some homes, they give them a sponge bath under a sheet or blanket, and the patients tolerate that much better, less humiliation that way. I'm no expert, and I'm sure NOT criticizing staff nor David nor anyone, I just feel for Jan. I would hate being forcefully sponge bathed by strangers too. Get well, Jan!
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