Updates on David

It’s clear that the key to David’s recovery is exercise, exercise, exercise.

We’re picking up a loaner exercise bike later this week from a friend. David has been walking with the therapist using a four legged walker that stands to the side, not the traditional frame.  Today he did about 40 steps back and forth in the kitchen.  His core stength is increasing and this makes is lots easier to transfer him to and from the car and the bed, little by little.

Today my Aunt and Unclee came to visit and we had lunch in the back yard in the fantastic sunshine.  A green salad, a little italian angel hair pasta, fresh diced tomatoes, toasted pine nuts and roughly grated grana padano. This was followed by some strawberries on pound cake with balsamic vinegar and creme fresh.  I got all the praise for the food, but it was really David’s organizing, I just did all the work. A little on the job training if you will.

Tomorrow we’ll be heading to the neural therapy doctor to work on David’s arm and to make sure we’re on the right path with his leg exercises.  We also plan to visit SVMH and say hello to everyone that helped David in those early days.

I will fill you in later.,..

Drew

Walk this way, Walk this way, …

You’re supposed to imagine the music in your head of course.

Daid has been working all week on exercises and taking steps along the kitchen counter with the physical therapist and the PT assistant.  All told David is doing more than three hours a day of exercise and therapy so it’s pretty tiring for him but he’s really motivated.  The good part for me is that when he is tired he then sleeps through the night which lets ME sleep though the night too.

 One great side affect of all this is we’ve made lots of new friends (doctor’s offices, therapists, pharmacies, care givers, etc) and have even more excuses than before to reconnect with our  old friends too.

 With David being a bit ‘homebound’ it’s a great reason to enjoy the garden a bit more now that the weather is nice.  We’ve been trying to get to town every afternoon for at least an hour or two to do the shopping, stop by the store or to eat out.  David has gotten pretty good in his wheelchair and in standing up with his own muscles during the transfer toand from the car.

 We’ll have quite an experience in a few weeks when we go to SF for a few days and attend the RETAIL 2020 event sponsored by “The Gourmet Retailer”, the magazine for which we are on the advisory board.  This is just before the Gourmet Show on the following weekend, but we’re planning two nights at home in-between to make sure he keeps up with his therapy.

Thanks for all your support.

What a difference a week makes.

Got home very,very, very  late Friday night (you would think that after 30 years of flying home in the summer I would remember that the late flight gets fogged-out)  and was very happy to see David at 2 in the morning.  The past month of 24/7 is even more intense than when we travel together, so it was both a relief to be away for a few days and then sort of tense wanting to make sure everything went smoothly at home.  The caregivers were terriffic and David came through the whole experience really well.

David went out with one of the caregivers on July 14th to Christine’s Bistro to celebrate the French holiday.  He also did a LOT of physical therapy and exercises.

David is able to start controlling his left leg more and more.  He can hold his left thigh up with his hands (when lying on the bed) and move his calf and foot up and down.  It’s great.  He can lie on the bed and, with both knees bent, keep his knees and legs steady (as opposed to the left leg flopping over to the side).  It is all about muscle control and building strength.  We are hoping his left arm starts along the same path soon.

Yesterday he walked about 5 trips of 6 steps each along the kitchen counter.  Today, he was able to do 10 repetitions without leaning, but actually standing and only holding the counter for counterbalance when stepping with his right leg while standing on his left (affected) leg.  Most of his standing up (from the wheelchair, for example) is HIS muscles now.

It is a long road but he is VERY encouranged.  What is helping a lot is that in addition to the PT sessions we have an assistant here the other days drilling him on the assigned PT exercises much more than he can do with me.  The additional exercise therapy  is not covered by the insurance but probably the most important thing in his recovery at this point.  As everyone has said to me along the way, PT, PT, PT and  that is what he is doing.

I am trying to build his stamina by scheduling errands and other tasks every afternoon for a couple of hours, just to keep him out of bed in the afternoon.  That is the plan for the next couple of weeks anyway so you may catch us at the store from 4 to 6 some days. His next meeting with the stroke rehab doctor is next week so we’ll plan the next phase of his recovery after that.

Drew

Heading back from NY today.  David is doing well in PT and exercise this week.  I will get a good idea of how much progress he has really made when I get home tonight (well, tomorrow really since it will be midnight before I get home, assuming all the flights happen on time!).

I am working on getting a stationary bike for him to pedal from his wheelchair, so if you know of once locally we can borrow that would be great news.

More this weekend.

Drew

I am in New York this week and David is at home with the help of the 24/7 home assistant(s), his physical therapist, his regular weekly home assistant(s) and the comfort of some friends coming by to visit.  He is doing fine.

I was a bit anxious about leaving him for a week, but it seems he is keeping up with his exercises and even made a trip to town for dinner at our friend Christine’s French Bistro for July 14th!  I am waiting to hear how that went when he wakes up later this morning.

We’re on the prowl for a used exercise bike to borrow for a month or two, one that David can sit in his wheelchair behind the bike and pedal the wheels (the tire has to be in front).  If you know of one, email me so we can get it for him as soon as possible.  The physical therapist feels this will help him get his leg strength back quickly so he can start standing and walking again the soonest.

More later this week!

Drew

He’s not walking yet. But his spirits are high

Thursday was mostly a stay at home day with no scheduled therapy.  Got to rest up for Friday.  Marge and Maggie came over for lunch on the deck in the fantastic sunshine.  It was a great day all around.

Friday we made it to the Antique Auction in PG for the Tri Tip BBQ and the KIDD remote broadcast after his doctor’s appointment and on the way there we stopped off at the store to do some work.  When we got home David did all his PT and stretching homework exercises and then his NEW PT exercises. so it was with good reason that Friday night we barely made it to bed completely exausted.

Today was another rush since we had to finally get all the stuff out of our warehouse.  Finally done!

Today is the day we got organized for the training of the new assistant that will be here for a week taking care of David while.  My flight is in the morning. It was one thing to get organized to take care of David myself, but then to try to explain it to someone else is even more of a pain.  To be honest, I finally gave up and will leave it to her to learn it with David as it happens.

By now I should be packing my suitsase since my flight is at 6am!  I will write some more tomorrow and see about getting people lined up to visit with David this week while he is pretty much homebound at home with the assistant.

Thanks for all the support along this long journey. He’ll get there.
Drew

For those of you that have had the chance to catch up with David in person on our various theraputic outings you’ll agree with me that it is great to have him home and recovering.

The wedding on Saturday at the Carmel Mission Basilica was, of course, beautiful and the weather worked out great too.  I suppose after all that coverage of the California Missions in grade school I should remember when the mission was built, but whenever it was they were not thinking wheelchairs at the time most likely.  It was okay though since I was there to be the ‘brake’ going down the courtyard toward the mission (and the ‘little engine that could’ on the way back to the car afterwards!). 

Normally we are there at the mission for the services on Christmas Eve with the choir and all the pagentry of the season so it was nice to be there also for a more personal event.  David had a good time (comfortable) and it was not quite as complicated getting him into a suit and tie as I had thought it was going to be.  Not something we’ll do every day though!

The reception at the LaPlaya was also great fun and surprisingly wheelchair friendly.  We ran into Yan Lusseau on arriving (he was delivering the wedding cake, of course!) and caught up with him as he had not seen David since the stroke.

Afterwards we went nearby to Charlotte’s house for a rest and to say hello to her annual 4th of July guests.  Being the youngest ones there ensured that we got lots of supportive comments from everyone who had gone through various health issues in the past and were there to share their experiences.  The food is always good too.

Needless to day Sunday was a significant rest day.

Monday and Tuesday we were without in-home help so David had a pretty quite day up until his PT time in the afternoon and then some errands with me, stopping at the store to say hello in the late afternoon.  We made it to the Golden Tee on Monday evening to meet up with our long time friends Connie and Tony who were in town for a few days and then on Tuesday at Jose’w for Mexican food.  Every day we get a little bit more back into the old routine and it is helping a lot.

Wednesday was mostly at home with in-home assitance and a lot of exercises.  David has a new sit/stand/squat exercise that he does from the wheelchair holding the footboard of the bed.  It is a lot of work, but a LOT of exercise and is helping a lot with his standing and transfers.

We’re getting ready for my trip to New York next week and David is planning to make a lot of progress while I am gone.  We are ‘signing’ up people to come by the house and keep him company from time to time while I am gone and he is here alone with the 24/7 care giver.

I’ll fill you in between now and then!

Drew

It has been a busy few days.  We’ve got David’s home care all figured out finally, and we have a full time assistant for the week I am working in NY.  Just need to organize all his activities, food, and household routine o that the caregiver(s) can replicate everything. Sounds like a reality TV show to me.

Today we did the rest of the cooking for the beef stew we started a few days ago.  In the end it will have three quarts of rich veal stock in it so what could be bad?  It is in the slow cooker now and will be ready in the morning.

Gearing up for a lot of therapy tomorrow.  For me that is.  I think I’m going to need it by the end of the day.

Our plan is to attend Les and Virginia’s daughter’s wedding at the Carmel Mission in the nmorning, then the reception at La Playa, then to Charlotte’s house for a small get together for July 4th, as we do every year. In all seriousness, the transfers and use of his chain in public is actually good physical therapy for him, not to mention the mental therapy to be out in the world and interacting with real life.

David has a new set of PT exercises added to the list as of today, working on building strength in his ‘strong’ side also.  I spent the day working on our shower to make some adjustments to improve it for David’s use.  With the door removed and several handles added it should be easier tomorrow for his shower.

More after the weekend, have a great fourth!
Drew

Four days have passed and things are still getting better each day.

In his inimitable style, David made Lemon Cake from lemons on Tuesday night.  Someone brought us some lemons from their tree and so he got the idea to bake some rich little ‘weekend cakes’ which we have been snacking on all day.  It’s a French recipe which is sort of like a pound cake only even MORE rich.

Anyway, the key to this is that HE wanted to make them with as little help from me as possible.  He especially wanted to STAND at the mixer and supervise the consistency of the batter, which is something I am not that good at (okay, terrible).  The whole thing took a little coordinating since we had not done the ‘mise en place’ ahead of time (measuring everything out first) so I had to frequently set him back in the chair and get this or that and then help him to stand.  His left side is still very weak and unstable so I had to be his left side for him.

Needless to say the cakes came out great and I am sure I have gained 2 pounds so far already.

When David gets bored he cooks so last night he baked a great beef roast larded with garlic (well, I peeled the garlic and did the larding, but he did the instruction and the baking guidance).  We used the remote meat thermometer so David had the readout with him in his wheelchair and could monitor the roast in the oven from all over the house. Very high tech.  I roasted some of the little potatoes from Costco and it was delicous.

Tuesday was also the farmers market in Monterey so we loaded up the car and headed over to buy some fresh berries that were great on the cakes he baked.  Yum.

We’re getting organized for going to a wedding on Saturday and a few other social events. Great therapy. I will be travelling to New York in a few weeks and we’re going to be having someone live in for a week and stay overnight to help take care of David.

More news in a day or two.  Thanks for all the support.
Drew