Rehab Progression

Wow, what a difference a couple days makes! I spent the day with Mom as she went through the different therapy sessions. I was trained on assisting so that Mom can walk to the bathroom and around the unit with the walker when I am present and with me holding the back of the gait belt for balance. Otherwise, she is in a wheelchair for safety with alarms that sound when attempting to get out of the wheelchair or out of bed. The response time to alarms on this unit is merely seconds. Physical therapy is decreasing to 30 minutes tomorrow so that additional time can be spent on speech therapy. A major part of speech therapy is thought processing and memory. Short-term memory continues to be a major problem as well as initiative. Occupational therapy is working on many of the same issues and activities of daily living. Progressing to the kitchen is planned for this week. We had a family meeting this afternoon with the therapy team and DISCHARGE plans are being made for Saturday with outpatient speech, physical, and occupational therapy. The recommendation by all therapists is for 24 hour supervision and strict routine/written schedule to follow. It is hoped that the short-term memory and initiative will continue to improve. She has come a tremendous way in just under two weeks. Today she was talking about getting back to alterations, but I think that one will have to wait for several months. Visits will definitely be appreciated when she returns home. So far, Mom does not have any interest to speaking to people on the telephone. I will be back on the unit for therapy part of the day tomorrow and will return to work for Wednesday and Thursday, then back for continued therapy on Friday. I expect to see lots of progression in this time period.