Levi was having a little difficulty breathing. He was up to 51 breaths per minute. It turns out he was obstructing. His tongue was in the way. They put a plastic device in his mouth to keep his tongue from falling back and his rate went right down. Prior to that they gave him some pain medicine to try to relax him. They gave him the full dose instead of the half dose they sometimes give. He is having a good albeit short sleep now.
The nurse said she is hoping that his scan, which they will do tomorrow night will still be at least stable so the dr. might let them go to checks every 4 hours instead of every hour. I'm guessing that some things have got to be affected by sleep deprivation.
I have decided to try my own rehab program for him. We are getting a couple of baby toys with textures for him to play with. We noticed how much he plays with pillows, sheets, gown, tube, etc. I tied a knot in a washcloth and gave it to him. Within about 5 mins. he had it untied with just his left hand. So, I tied it again and he untied it again.
I also want to get a board/page and put pictures of the children and grandchildren on it then see if he can identify them.
Tomorrow when the children come we will do some reminiscing and see if he remembers any of it.
The frontal lobes control movement, memory, reasoning, behavior, personality, and intelligence. So exercising the memory is easy to figure out. Movement, get a ball for his right hand to squeeze. Intelligence, reading to him and listening to music. Reasoning, this is a littler tougher. I think untying the knot in the washcloth took some reasoning. As for personality and behavior I thought we would just have to wait and see. Then I thought we could read the peaceful parts of the Book of Mormon, maybe some Emily Post/Miss Manners. lol Any suggestions on any of these points?
Thank you everyone for your comments. It really helps us to know you are there and I tell him about each one. If you have something you've done or are doing that we can tell him about that would be great. My cousin is remodeling her kitchen and I can tell him about that. Did anything funny happen at work? Or home? Send him a joke. And please keep praying.
Maybe when he gets into rehab we can set up some times for people to come read to him. If you have an interest in this let me know and we will start a list. Maybe our children can read their history and english assignments to him! ooooh fun.
Well it's midnight so I'm going to bed.
Thanks again for all your kindnesses.
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7 comments:
you have some really great ideas, I do think they will help. tell him about conference talks since he missed them. also he likes hiking and the outdoors so much, put up pics of scenery. oh and cookies, if he liked his job! bring stuff from home that will be comforting.
be sure to take care of yourself as well, it looks like it's going to be a long journey for all of you. love you, laura
I've wanted to post a detailed comment for some time, but it's always too long. So I decided to write up a quick blog post of my own, done in my own fashion and style. Feel free to read it to him. A few parts will make him grin :)
http://woundedpossum.blogspot.com/2008/10/my-friend-levi.html
Hi Kelly-
I just read your whole blog. All I can say is wow and I'm praying for your family. Did you get the card from us girls at Farnsworth? I'm praying for a full recovery for Levi. I know it will be a very long road. Does Levi have any hobbies that you can talk to him about and maybe help him plan when he's able? My mother-in-law has frontal temporal dementia which affects, among other things, her personality. We keep trying to encourage her to keep up with her hobbies because her personality has changed enough that she is no longer interested in any "fun stuff" she used to do. She needs reminders of what she loves to do. So maybe you could try that approach with Levi. Kelly, I know your life is very busy and stressful right now, but don't forget to give your body regular rest so that you can more readily deal with everything. Love ya!
Rebecca Fellows
Great ideas - Go Kelly! We continue to pray for his full recovery at least twice a day.
Doug White
It has really been great to read about the progress the past couple of days. We are very encouraged. You continue to be in our prayers (even at meals which are at least three times a day).
Now for an appropriate joke. Why do blonde nurses take red magic markers to work with them?
Answer: In case they need to draw blood.
Kelly,
This is the third time I have tried to make a comment. Hopefully it will work now.
I have tried to tell you that I use to work with USDB and through that I have some ideas and books on how to work with them and different things to get them to respond. I will bring it up next time we come up. Lisa M
Kelly,
I haven't been able to keep myself updated the last several days so it was good to see that he is doing much better. I think my 2 uncles might have some knowledge about rehab places. I'll ask my Mom. If you want to tell him about people/test his memory, you could let him know my parents are celebrating their 40th anniversary on Sunday. (we did a small party for them last night, thus my lack of checking Levi's blog.)
Best of luck to all of you. Hang in there!
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