Monday, July 30, 2007

End of July Update

As the calendar turns once again and Back to School sales are in full swing, it is time to give you an update on Rand. In a nutshell, all is well: his blood viscosity is right on the nose, he's healthy as a horse and has been very good about healthy eating. He will be weighed next week so we can see if there is any weight loss. He is a puzzle maniac and has a stack of glued puzzles completed. A friend made a great suggestion and some of the puzzles are now under plastic and used as placemats at the dining table! The other residents get a kick out of seeing which one they get on any given day. He can complete 300 piece puzzles with a lot of help. One to two hundred pieces are best. I think I've bought every one on eBay!

His physical therapy continues twice a month. He is now walking an obstacle course each time - on uneven surfaces, stepping over objects, stepping up onto platforms and down the other side, using both legs alternately to stay balanced and having to use his sense of distance, logic and experience to get from point A to point B. The obstacle course is set up between the parallel bars so sometimes Rand uses that to support himself and sometimes he uses his quad cane. His walking has improved so much in the last couple of months! In occupational therapy he is required to put a lot of pressure on his right hand/arm. We can see some movement in his right bicep and feel some strength in his lower arm, too, when he does that. The therapist has him using his left arm to do tasks while balancing himself on the right. I'm not sure he really realizes how much weight he is supporting with his right side. Either way, he has come so, so far!! Thuan continues to work with him every day. Every Tuesday morning, Emily, the music therapist works with him for an hour. Rand loves it! Rand continues to be the prize demo patient for Recovering Function so gets a double dose of excellent therapy frequently. He is in the middle of another two hour session every day for eight consecutive days.

Today we met with Jennie, the Speech/Language Pathologist, about the speech generating device we called Mo. Her life has been chaotic the last few months plus she has changed jobs, so little has been done about the grant. I think we are back on track and I hope we can submit the paperwork by the end of August. She will not be working with Rand as a speech therapist any more but she will stay with us through the grant process and on into the training phase. So much time has passed since Mo was around that it is hard to assess where Rand is with the whole notion. Jennie is now in the administrative end of the outpatient treatment program so will no longer be seeing clients. We were lucky to have had her when we did.

Friends from another part of Calif. visited us a couple of weeks ago. It was such fun to have them here. Another couple from So. Calif. will be visiting near the end of August. It has been years since we've seen them also, so it will be great to have them here.

Recently, the husband of a former colleague who now lives near Phoenix, died suddenly and unexpectedly. She asked a couple of us to spend a few days with her. It was a tough time, a fun time, a nostalgic time. There were lots of tears, laughs, serious talks, plus some shopping, plenty of time in the pool. It was a healing time for me, maybe more so than for her. I heard myself in many of her comments, laments, and wishful thinking. Meg told me to use her as a gage of how far I have come. Boy, oh, boy - I have come a long, long way in the last eighteen months. I'm proud of myself and how I have gotten through this life changing event. I still have a long ways to go, but I think I'm doing well.

In about two weeks, Rand and I will celebrate our 44th wedding anniversary! I hope we can do something special that day.

Keep Rand close.

Love,
Connie

Sunday, July 15, 2007

First Half of July

This is a summary of the first half of the month of July.  I know that I said I would put the Epistle on hold for the time being, but so many little things are going on that I decided to write an update.

Rand has been doing puzzles galore!  He wants each one glued, not returned to the box.  There are stacks in his room and I don't know what to do with them as there is no place to display them - now what!?

Thuan became a US Citizen on July 5 and wore Rand's red, white and blue jacket on the big day.  Rand was so happy and proud of him!

July 14, Bastille Day, marked one year since Rand left the hospital for good.  He came "home" that day to the rainbow/Randbo banner from the Fisher School group and took up residence on Antigua Dr. on July 14, 2006.  Last night, returning from an outing with friends, I asked him if he wanted to come home for dessert.   He said no.  That was the first time ever that he has turned down an opportunity to come to the house.  I guess the transition to his new home is complete - this is no longer home to him.  I hate that.

He's watching his weight with that enormous will-power of his.  He chooses fresh fruit over candy, cookies and goodies every time.  I haven't seen a drop in pounds yet, but that will come.  His blood test results are the envy of all of us - cholesterol, triglycerides, etc. numbers are perfect.  His blood viscosity is still variable and the coumadin is adjusted every two weeks.

Rand's becoming a good solitaire player - when I'm there.  He won't try it on his own yet.  He misses some moves and doesn't see all the possibilities.

I've ordered a new lounge chair for him.  It is electric with separate controls for the back and the foot rest as well as a seat lift.  It is made by Zero Gravity and, again it is in blue.  The company is changing the controls to the left side for Rand so it should be here by Labor Day.  I think it will solve several problems that the current one creates such as being too low to get in and out of easily, letting him raise and lower his legs independently without waiting for help and eliminating the separate foot stool- another piece of furniture that gets in his way.  I am concerned about the electric seat lift as I see it as a safety issue - Rand doesn't know when to stop and I fear that he will go head over teacup as that feature catapults him up and out of the chair.  I'll have to figure something out.  His chair from home worked well until recently, but now he can transfer much easier except that he sits so low in the chair.  When he needed two people to help him stand up from the chair, it wasn't a problem.  Now it is.

We had company for a few days.  They are old friends and Rand loved seeing them and every minute spent with them.  While they were here we called another couple that we used to run around with and had a fun, funny six-way conversation.  The photo below was taken during that phone call.  You can see how Rand enjoyed hearing their voices and laughing at old memories!

This week Rand was a demo patient for Recovering Function - he was the only one and the instructor worked on him in front of the class.  Later this month he will again be a  demo patient for Recovering Function for eight days.   We are so fortunate to have him receive this extra therapy by the best of the best in the nation!

My latest resolution is to take a trip every month.  The trip might only be one day, but I will get out of town and have a change of scenery.  I find that I am rejuvenated, relaxed, and have new energy when I get away.  It is good for my soul as well as giving me something to look forward to. I have two July trips planned - one to an Indian casino out in the middle of nowhere!  It is a one day adventure and I will thoroughly enjoyed myself.  The other is to the Phoenix area to spend a couple of days with a friend whose husband died suddenly and unexpectedly this week.  I hope I can offer her some solace and insight - if not, I'll just be there.


Rand enjoying a phone call from far-away friends.

All is well - Keep Randbo close.

Love,
Connie

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

July 2, 2007

Summer vacations have started with a vengeance and I think I will put this Epistle on vacation for awhile, too. Thuan is off to Vietnam, Jennie is on vacation with her family as is Emily, the OT and PT at Kaiser are scheduling Rand in around their time off and our lives are becoming very quiet and predictable. I will start writing the Epistle again when there is something to write about.

In the meantime, you can picture Rand and me spending time together every day, talking, working on puzzles, going for walks around the block, playing cards and eating healthy weight-conscious things! A restaurant called "The Sonoma Chicken Coop" is about to open half-way between our houses. I'm looking forward to taking Rand there for lunch in the near future.

Until then, be well, stay healthy and keep Rand close.

Love,
Connie