Updates on David

David is looking forward to soup a l’oignon gratinee for dinner tomorrow.

 When we were at the hospital today we told David that  we were planning on dinner at our friend’s restaurant (Bistro Christine on Alvarado in Monterey) and of course one thing that he wished he had there at the hospital was the wonderful soup.  We have arranged to surprise him tomorrow with some that Christine arranged in a take out,  We are working on how to get it REALLY HOT and with the crouton and the melted cheese (all of which we can manage in the microwave) but charing the cheese is a little bit beyond our microwave skills.  Melted will have to do.

Sunday (today) was a typical slow day, but David was very with it while we were there.  We tried to motivate him to get in the wheelchair and come along with us on an outing to Wendys, just to get him moving, but he was very happy to rest on his day off.  Lunch today was some beef lasagne from the store, and he was very happy to have it to eat.  He preferrs this to the stuff from the hospital of course.

Today it was time for his manicure again so I took care of that for him.  I brought him back all his clean laundry from home and changed out his shirts and things so now he has a renewed wardrobe  for a change.  Pierre Jean and I will be there on Monday for his next therapy session and we are looking forward to seeing his progress from this past week.

French Onion Soup and Cheesscake.  Perhaps we should have them do a pregnancy test?

Talk to you tomorrow.

Drew

Friday and Saturday.

David had a busy day on Friday with therapy and another visit from a sales rep friend that stopped by.  Pierre Jean arrived Thursday night, and I flew home on Friday so David was getting ready for our visit today (Saturday) and more importantly the arrival of the cheesecake David asked me to bring from Carnegie Deli..

Here’s an ‘excerpt’ from Lori’s visit, then I will fill you in on Saturday:

Hi Drew,

Hope your trip to and from New York went smoothly.

I had a nice visit with David yesterday.  I arrived into his room before 11:00 (great directions all around from you!) and there he was sitting in his wheel chair busy on his computer and eating Sees Candy.  How great it was to see him!!  His eyes were bright and his first reaction was “Oh!  Another visitor!”.  Followed by “Oh Lori, I have to be here because I had a stroke and it really sucks”  Our visit had to be cut short due to his having to get ready for his day, plus therapy and a visit from Drew that evening.   That did include going into his bathroom with the nurse so she could make sure HE brushed his teeth, and HE shaved (which David said that Drew usually does so well).

He was clear with his thoughts and his speech was good.  He did explain and show me how his left side does not work and yes, he did tell me about his 2 weeks of being sick.  He seemed comfortable during our visit.

You are so right about the nurses!  They constantly came in checking on him, keeping him focused and on schedule.  They do seem to really care for him—one nurse was telling me she has been with him from the beginning and is SO happy with where he is now — she seems very committed to him (she is the one that was helping him get ready for his day).

I brought 2 newspapers, and a couple of different types of cookies which I just left in his room for all to share—looks like he had lots of munchies like that.   The wall with all of the pictures and cards is terrific!!!  Hope you are well.  Oh–David, of course, wanted to make sure we ordered the Kyocera Tomato Knives…told him we did!

Thanks Drew!”

I spoke with David a few times during the day Friday on my way back from New York, and he spoke with Pierre Jean at through the day also, checking on things at the store and getting ready for our visit Saturday.

Pierre Jean and I arrived at the hospital around noon on Saturday, just after David’s PT session.  Just in time for lunch.  We brought with us a HUGE SPECTACULAR box of cookies, scones and other goodies put together by Mary for all nurses and therapy staff.  They were VERY happy to see us!

We also brought along the cheesecake and some Stonewall Kitchen Maine Blueberry Jam to go with it, but we waited until later to dig into it. After lunch David went on an outing to a bookstore with the staff (therapy) and he bought a San Jose map so he could see where he is in relation to the rest of San Jose.  When he got back we got out the cheesecake and the jam and had quite a feast.  I brought the rest home but am taking him back pieces for him to have over the next few days.  It was 5 pounds of cheesecake after all!

Pierre Jean and I were there most of the day and had a lot of time to catch up with David.  David was convinced that dinner was not going to be his favorite so he got us to run across the street and get him some Taco Bell.  He was very happy with that!

Pierre Jean and I will be back there on Sunday after some chores around the house.  We picked up the dog on the way back from the hospital and now Boudreaux is home and sleeping on the couch.

More tomorrow.

Drew

For Wednesday and Thursday

I received a wonderful email from one of our sales-rep friends that spent time with David on Wednesday.  I thought I would pass it along since it was such a great  story.

We had a good visit and David had a lot of therapy yesterday. The afternoon physical therapy started little late and they had him on the parallel bars and I could tell he was tired after that. But he wanted to sit and look at the catalog anyway. So we sat outside for a short time, and then in the dining room and finally back in his room. His attention span was a little short but I kept asking if he wanted to keep going and he did. I did not see the store inventory list but he went page by page through the catalog and wrote quantities on items he wanted me to order. I have all those notes and will send an order to you to review. But we didn’t quite finish as it was his time for cooking class. So he said he still wanted to look through the end of the catalog.

I was there from about 2:30 to 5:00 with some time out for therapy, bathroom breaks and a run to Wendy’s to get him a cheeseburger and shake ( I insisted, hope you don’t mind). He sure does have some fans in the nurses and therapists. They were so kind and they went out of their way to make me comfortable too. It is obvious that they are very fond of him. And the wall of cards and photos you put up is amazing. He told me that you come every day and he was so grateful.

Anyway, I will send you what we have of the order and perhaps someone at the store can add the things you are out of and really need. Or maybe we can have Pierre Jean do that when arrives. Whatever you want is fine with me. I won’t send it in until you are ready.

Thanks so much, it was my pleasure to see him.”

For Monday and Tuesday.

David has had some visitors over the past two days while I am in NY.  I talk with him a few times a day on the phone and by email with a few of his team there at the hospital.  The break in therapy over the weekend was a little boring for him, expecially by Tuesday morning, but now he has had a day of therapy again he is back to the routine.

During his ‘walk’ today he told me that they are talking about having him try walking with a cane.  This would be consistent with him having a strong right side and increasing strength in his left leg.   His left arm is still a work in progress.  I know this will take a few weeks more to come together, but I can hear his determination in his voice.

The doctors spoke with him today about the timeline for his coming home in a month or so. He said he thought  that was a long time, but the goal has to be for him to get as much out of this part of the therapy as possible.    I know that as soon as he is cleared to get out of bed by himself (still many weeks away) he will not want to be there much longer.

David told me that they are changing him off of the Teen Diet tomorrow and onto the standard hospital diet.   He is pretty tired of the repetition of the Teen offerings, so hopefully this will be an improvement.  In the meantime he tells me he has been sneaking candy from the gifts brought for the nurses to keep his ‘energy up’. He has reminded me twice to bring home a Carnegie Deli Cheescake, or else. 

I will update you again in a few days after I hear back from his visitors how he is doing.  I am looking forward to comiong home at the end of the week and getting back there to see him on Saturday.

More later,

Drew

For Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

It’s Sunday and David is off getting his weekly weight check.  I brought him a Burrito Supreme and some Tacos today (Taco Bell is across the street).  He ate that AND the turkey with gravy and mashed potatoes they brought for his lunch.  Today he was hungry.  When I arrived he told me that I needed to bring him more of the good maple syrup, he had used all of it on his waffles this morning.  I suppose his appetite is finally catching up with all this physical therapy.  He’s gaining back a little weight which is good.

It has been a couple of days since my last update, but today I finally have a chance to catch up.  On Friday Dick and I picked up the car from the mechanic and then went to the live radio broadcast with Mike (Cleary) and Kevin (Kahl) at the 14^th anniversary of the Antique Mall in Monterey. That was fun and I got the chance to update the KIDD listeners about David’s progress and also spend some time talking with Jim, Kevin, Mike (and his wife Maryann too).  Dick brought along his camera and got some great shots (as I told everyone, I brought my own paparazzi).  David and I usually end up with something every year when we go to this event and this time was no different.  I found an antique Tiffany crystal bowl that I knew David would like so I grabbed it (carefully) and brought it to him at the hospital (it’s safely back home now)..

David had his cast on, and was making endless jokes about it.  He seemed to be having a good time.  Yes, it itched.  Thankfully it was only on for a few days.

Saturday was an early start getting new tires for the car.  Now we are set with a car that David can get into easily and has room for the wheelchair.  By the time I arrived at the hospital and I got here in time for David to have just returned from an outing to Whole Foods.  He went in the van with the therapists and one other resident.  The task of the day was to go shopping with the therapists (and have them assess David’s ability to return to daily activities).  Their mission was to buy items for an omelet and fruit salad that David would then (did) make Saturday afternoon.

David has made friends with the therapists of course they all really had a fun trip.  He was explaining all the neat food items and what this and that was for as they went up and down the aisles (I heard later). That afternoon, when doing the cooking of the omelet with the OT folks, he was explaining all the steps and all the little tricks and techniques (like using the egg slicer to cut the mushrooms in perfects pieces).  The meal turned out great, of course, and the staff really liked having the ‘mini-class’ from David.  His omelet was very fluffy and he went through all the steps to explain how to make them that way.

I had to leave before the afternoon therapy (to make it back to the store by 4pm) but David filled me in later.  He got the cast off and his ankle range of motion was greatly improved. David was able to take more steps.  The PT team is now putting his foot back into the cast form for 16 hours a day and expects that by Tuesday he will have even better range of motion.  This will make it easier for him to walk this week.

Back to today, David is now taking his afternoon nap and I am here working on the computer.  My flight is tonight and many folks have volunteered to visit David this week while I am gone.  I will fill you all in with their news as I get it!

Thanks for keeping in touch, Drew.

For Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

The week is flying past and David is standing and taking steps each day.  Today (Thursday) his standing was steadier and more in his own control   His left leg pushes (standing) more easily then pulls (lifting to take a step).

Today Robert came and cut David’s hair for him.  You have to understand that Robert has cut David’s hair for 29 years, so for David this was a really wonderful treat that he has been looking forward to for days.  For David this is a real milestone toward getting back to things as they were before.

After all the whirlwind of activity on Monday with the cooking, etc, I spent Tuesday running errands and getting stuff done at home in the garden.  I have managed to get most of the flowers planted and the watering system back in shape before my trip next week so that everything will be mature and flowering by the time David is home.   I also managed to get my car towed to the mechanic for some repairs in preparation for David’s eventual homecoming and using it as the major transport vehicle.  After LOTS of research I found it difficult to find a car with a WIDE opening passenger door, low seat and easy knee access with a handhold above.  Then it occured to me that my car, which had been in hiatus since we had the Escape to drive, was in fact the perfect answer.  We know the wheel chair fits in the trunk and that it is easy to get in and out of to the wheelchair since John and Barbara borrowed the car for 6 months a while back.

Wednesday was another productive day for David in therapy.  My Aunt and Uncle came to visit and brought along the Sunday paper, which David loves to sit and read.  Their box of Sees Chocolates for the nursing staff made David a very popular stop on their rounds.  David’s therapies ran a little later than normal, so it was about 6 hours in the three hour parking before I got out and on the road, luckily with no ticket.

David is transferring well from the bed to the wheelchair and then to the therapy tables, etc.  He is able to lean and to push/lift with his legs more and more each day.  He calls me on the phone a few times a day when I am on the way to the hospital, on the way home, or finally at home, just checking to see where I am and that everything is okay.  He is asking more and more about things in the store, at home, and about things in general.  He calls the store a few times a day and logs in online to see how sales are going and what is selling.  He definately misses being in the store, but he can tell you exactly how many chocolate chip cookies we sell in a given day!

Friday will be another busy day for him.  The therapists are using a technique of fiberglass casting his ankle for two days on and off with his toes pointed upward to get his calf muscles stretched (his foot is pushed out from the calf muscle being tight) and David was joking that he wanted it left alone so that his high heels would fit better in drag.  Ha!

This all reminds me of why it is so wonderful that David is at THIS facility where they have lots of experience in treating specific symptoms related to brain injuries and the affects this has on your body.  They use many interesting techniques to adapt and treat every little symptom, sort of like a word game or puzzle, to put all the pieces back the way they were before and retrain his body to be in balance and coordinated.   ALl of this is one piece at a time, and some times having to go back and re-do or reposition a piece of training to fit with the progress of the remainder of the therapies.  It is truly amazing and at the same time humbling to realize how fragile even the simplest task can be when you can’t quite do it yourself.

Tomorrow Dick will be joining me at the hospital and we are going later in the day so I will update you after that.

Thanks again.

Drew

I have watched David make his Tart Tartin many times, but now I have an even greater appreciation of the skill required to make caramel turn out JUST right.

David explained that in the process of heating the butter and sugar to make the caramel the sugar goes through more than 400 changes. Controlling the heat and cooking the apples JUST the right amount of time is the difference between a butterscotch caramel consistency verses a Coca Cola consistency (dark and less sweet).

We’re not calling it burnt, just more caramelized.

Everyone that had some thought it was very tasty, but I know David will try it again and then they’ll get to taste it a little less caramelized.  Blame it on the electric stove I guess.

It was good for David to go through this experience though, since just the planning and the activity of it made it a long day and David stuck with it to the end which is great for his endurance.  It helps him to test his limits also, and learn a bit about some special tools in the kitchen that help him with his limited dexterity (a cutting board with nails, for example, to hold the apple while peeling it).

It was a little funny though, since the therapist was concerned that he was leaving the spatula in the pan too long with the hot sugar.  David said “it’s silicone, its made for that” (I brought his own tools too).  He had to convince her that it was okay.  I think that if I had some to sell I would have sold a few to those watching!

More tomorrow, Drew.

Here’s the update for Saturday and Sunday.

Thanks to Gerda’s GPS for finding the closest In & Out Burger to bring David a ‘fresh’ Double-Double for lunch, with fries of course.  Dick used an old catering trick of a cooler filled with hot water to warm it up, then dumped out the water and used it to keep the burger and fries hot for the 10 minutes to the hospital.  You would think he had a heart transplant in it when they arrived and they rushed it upstairs for David’s lunch!

Saturday’s therapies included two group projects, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.  David has always been a very outgoing person so this comes pretty naturally to him and thankfully he’s still got that knack.  By the time I arrived he was just returning to his room after the morning session and getting ready for lunch.  He knew that the burger was on its way so he was looking forward to it.

I had an errand to run on the way to San Jose and happened to run into one of the ICU nurses from Salinas Valley Memorial that had taken care of David during his stay there.  She asked me all about David and how he was doing and all about his therapy, etc. We’re looking forward to going back to visit them there once David comes home from San Jose.

The weather hit the high 90’s here on Saturday so after lunch we ‘retired’ to his nicely air conditioned room.

Gerda brought David a Monterey Herald and he was able to catch up on some local news.  There he was, propped up in bed with his glasses askew (so he was looking through the reading part of the lenses) and flipping through the paper, commenting on this and that.  Just like any old weekend at home in bed reading the paper.

In the afternoon David was part of a ‘wheelchair race’ where PT/OT takes four patients that can move themselves in their chairs on a ‘tour’ of the hospital.  This helps them all learn more about navigation in their chairs and various ‘obstacles’ they have to deal with.  This exercise also develops stamina and attention span.  By the time he got back (yes, he won the race) he was very tired and deserving of his afternoon nap before dinner.

There is no therapy today, Sunday, but we worked on stretching a little bit getting ready for Monday.  He has a really busy day planned since the cooking demo he is planning is now scheduled for Monday afternoon.  I took time this morning to do the entire mise en place for the demo and made sure he has all the right tools and raw ingredients.  It is going to be a challenge, peeling apples with one hand, but I suppose he will figure it out somehow.

That’s the news for today.  Next week should be a lot more progress again.  I will let you know how the cooking demo goes (with a stick of butter, 2 cups of sugar, 6 apples and some puff pastry what could be bad?).

Drew

Here’s the update for both Thursday and Friday.  Today, he walked.

Okay, so it was only four steps and he had three of us all around him, but we dragged him up to vertical and got him to move one leg at a time and he moved himself about three feet.  I can’t tell you how great that was.

On Thursday the big achievement was eating most of three meals.  Today they also brought him an afternoon snack.. I suppose when they have a ‘teen’ menu they figure they need to have an afternoon ‘raid the fridge’ meal added in.  I had ordered him pancakes for today but when I got there he was dissecting some ‘pigs in a blanket’ that were of questionable origin.  At least he had his Raisin Bran and the rest of the meal to enjoy.

Lunch was TWO roast beef sandwiches, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes and some chocolate ice cream.    I helped him fix up the sandwich with the Stonewall Kitchen Horseradish Sauce and some Dijon Mustard and he thought it tasted pretty good.  I had a half of one but made sure to tell the nurse that I had eaten some, lest they think he had eaten it all. He was having none of the carrot sticks of course.  Then they brought him a turkey sandwich around 3 and his dinner came around 6 so he is definitely on the ‘cruise ship’ plan it seems.  The bottom line is he is eating now and that is a big relief.

On the therapy front they have increased his physical therapy and he needs less speech therapy now.  Speech also addresses memory and other cognitive functions so there is still work to be done there, but given his progress the focus is on his left side and getting walking and his arm moving again.

He is getting pains in his left arm now, and can SLIGHTLY affect its motion, but only around the shoulder (which is still healing itself).  The PT work is all about building muscle control, stamina, strength and coordination.  It is slow but he is doing GREAT all the team members say.

The recreational therapist is working on having David do a cooking demonstration NEXT WEEK.  He has chosen to show his famous Tart Tatin (French Apple Tart on puff pastry with caramelized sugar) which he has demonstrated many times before so this will be a good exercise for him.  Well, the exercise is for ME now to get together all his ‘mise en place’ (everything in its place, in French).  You know, it’s all that stuff already put together like on TV where the star just goes to the fridge and there everything is all ready to just mix together.  Does anyone do that for you at your house?  I didn’t think so.  Anyway, it’s a labor of love and I am happy to do it as I sometime do for him for such events and I know he will have a great time doing the demo for the doctors and other patients.

In other news, David has graduated to a different wheelchair designed for him to move it around more easily by himself, and he now uses one leg and one arm to move himself from room to room for lunch, dinner and for his various therapies.  He is able to help with his legs more when he is transferred from the bed to the chair and is now able to transfer in fewer ‘steps’ with only one person helping.  On Thursday the OT therapist, with David’s approval, used him as an example to ‘refresh’their training for  all the nursing staff on the correct procedure for transfers from bed to chair, and chair to toilet, etc.  David said he had never been ‘so moved’ in all his life.  I think he was talking about he physical and not the emotional aspect of all that, of course.

As you can well imagine, David’s personality has now infected all the staff and they just love working with him.  He is very motivated and has just the right amount of humor tossed in to keep it from being boring.  Yes, it is difficult and he gets tired and has to rest, or can’t quite do the needed task all the time, but then the next session he moves past that and on to the next thing.

He reads all the cards and emails and they really cheer him up.  He is always asking who called, what shipments arrived, who is working that day in the store, etc, etc.

Dick and Gerda are bringing him In-n-Out for lunch tomorrow; he is really looking forward to it.  I will fill you in on it tomorrow of course.

I am looking for visitors the week of Memorial Day, especially on Monday since I will be flying back to New York and he will have TWO days in a row with no therapy because of the holiday, so if you want to ‘sign up’ let me know by email (not a post here).

Thanks again of course for all your support.

Drew

Today was the first day that David actually asked me to help him do some exercises in addition to the PT sessions.

In his PT session today he was able to push and pull with his left leg in different positions with the therapist.  He was also able to control pushing and pulling on his left hip (lying on his right side on the therapy table) and his leg in a sort of peddaling/kicking/paddling motion. 

David said that swimming would be a good therapy and I reminded him of the Josephine Kernes Memorial (therapy) Pool in Monterey (our friend Phil Clark is on their board and his mother, a stroke recovery patient was in their recent newsletter!) .  In an odd twist of fate we just did a promotion interview with the folks from the therapy pool program when KIDD was broadcasting live from our store the week before David’s stroke.

David was never much of a pool person since his duty as lifeguard at the Moose Lodge pool those summers long ago.    Something to do with little kids and diapers or something.  Anyway, I can probalbly convice him this is not the same.

David is a few days into his new food offerings.  He’s had chicken nuggets and fries, grilled ham and cheese, and a turkey sandwich with beef ravioli as a side dish.  He asked me to bring the horseradish mustard and the Stonewall Cranberry Horseradish Sauce as fast as I can to rescue him.

He is reading his emails, just not up to typing any replies yet.  He is improving daily though so don’t be surprised if you get an email from him.  If you were holding off on planning a visit there is no longer any reason to wait and I know he would love to have visitors.  His cognition is very good and, with the exception of the time he has to do therapy (or rest from time to time inbetween) he has lots of time on his hands.  If you need directions check the BIG THANK YOU page link  for information.

Our continued appreciation for all your support and good wishes.

Drew