ChloeWatts.com

Thursday, March 4, 2010

We set a record last night. She was up once for a bathroom run but no suctioning for 12 hours! She was getting extra water so I think it thinned everything out enough that it cleared naturally. I’ll be speaking with the doctors in the morning if tonight is back to business as usual. Troubleshooting is a constant here but it’s also rewarding at times.

The schedule was about as full as I’ve seen it. We didn’t stop from 8:30 am until 6 pm, except for 30 minutes at noon.

Kim was impressed with how well Chloe was able to take care of herself first thing in the morning. Picked out cloths, got dressed and tied her shoes. If you had told me she would be doing this a month ago I would have called you nuts. Gym rounds was next. That’s where the doctors and therapists converge on the gym area to talk about and witness how well all the patients in rehab are doing. We passed.

Jenny and I spoke at length about the swallowing situation. We need this stimulator to work so, again, troubleshooting was the agenda. We are going to try putting it on Chloe and me at the same time. I can then voice what I am experiencing. We will experience the same sensations at the same time. The intensity may be different but the actual type of feeling will be the same. We also discussed the new voice machine that Larry has found. It may be something we can use. We’ll have 30 days to see.

We had an OT from Bridlemile School come by to see what Chloe has been working at. He will be there to set the program up for her at the school and then will work with her about one day a week. The rest will be up to us so I can see us setting up a complete program for all of us.

Our noon hour was cut in half by the wheelchair rep. Chloe tried a couple different setups and decided on one similar to what we now have. She picked Teal as the color for her new ride. It will fit her well. This one will also have a place for the suction machine to ride. It is light weight and should fit well in Dana’s car with the wheels and back off. They remove easily with quick releases. As usual we have to fix Dana’s car first. We have to put new lift bars on the tailgate. Right now you have to be 3’8” to get under it when it’s open.

Katie took Chloe to the art room as I waited for the pole to be fitted with a new feedbag. I quickly followed with the suction and pole. After I got to the room I realized I needed to go back again for something else. Just outside the door of our unit the fire alarm went off and all doors slam shut. So Jessica, Jen and I stood there waiting for 15 minutes. Glad I didn’t really need to get back ASAP.

School with Julia is always productive. She did her math work and actually had fun doing so. The computer has been a wonderful tool for her in both speech and in her schoolwork.

PT/SP were combined with Jewel and Jenny. Chloe works well with two of her favorites in these fields. Jewel even had her in the stairwell and did two assents of the first nine stairs. She did well, even though it made her extremely nervous. Then we walked back to the gym and her trusty wheelchair.
After a brief visit with Dr. Margaret we were off to group activities and painting. She painted a new peace sign with suns and happy faces all around it. We will finish it in the room as she was redirected by the girl from yesterday who is a never-ending question. Chloe typed her history from 2 years ago until today, into her speech program. Then she played it for everyone in the room. It got very quiet in there as the computer spoke of Chloe’s trials and successes, and her challenges. Everyone was amazed.

Tonight is Gray’s Anatomy so we aren’t doing much. I checked out a movie but it will probably have to wait for a day or two. Then tomorrow there is family training for Dave from 8:30 until 10. I hope to be back with Dana before noon. She is doing all she can to get her energy and health back so that Chloe will have her Mama back.

Be well,
Ron