Bill, Weds. Nov. 6

Bill added some backward steps to his repertoire. Do you realize how much we get used to just moving without thinking? Backward steps are harder than you may think, and he had the therapist assistant who we're --let's see, what is the nicest way to say this -- with whom we're not the most impressed. Yes, you do have to get your weight on your right leg before you can move your left foot. But he said the PT assistant was pushing him so hard, he was afraid he was going to fall over. Overall his movements improved, but it was quite the struggle.

One of Bill's activities in Speech Therapy is to make notes on the days activities. His writing has been very scrunched together. Susan is trying to get him to slow down, to concentrate on the spacing, and at one point had to put her hand on the paper with a "Stop!" Bill is really powering through the task. "Dude, bring out your perfectionist side with your writing. Slow down. Tell us what word you are going to write, and spell out each letter as you write it." It's coming along.

The first session of OT seemed like a waste. She had a handout "The One-Handed Way." Some training on using one hand is fine, but the handout was 20 years old, and she sort of skimmed it and read some things that didn't apply. The second session was much better, including more time with Dynavision training.

Bill, Tues. Nov. 5: walk/fall, discharge planning

Ayn reports Bill had "a good walk this morning, but an unplanned yet gentle trip to the floor. He's fine, just a little frustrated. His left knee just buckled. They think it might be tired from yesterday. More walking this afternoon."

I might not have mentioned every Tuesday is family conference for discharge planning. Now that it's just nine days away, there seems to be so much to do.  And Bill is making so much progress every day, which is super, but it means our ideas on what equipment might be needed at home is quite the moving target!

On Thursday, we will use some afternoon time to get trained on transferring from the wheelchair to my car.  If that works out. I know it would be easier if we still had our minivan -- slider doors get out of the way so nicely. On Sunday, Bill will have a pass to go home, including borrowing equipment to see what will work. He can leave the hospital any time after noon, and will be back by 8:00.  Oh, and Ayn has ordered a blood pressure cuff so hopefully it will come soon and we can have the staff test/calibrate it.

Bill, Mon. Nov. 4: Crane, debate, tribute

CRANE: look quick, short video. Or just watch it again. After walking 43 feet with a cane, and doing great work on controlling the left foot to point forward, then resting and doing it again ... He stood at the bar and did a "Karate Kid," standing on his so-called bad leg. This was his first attempt. I didn't capture his second try, because I was fascinated with how long he held it - a full minute. (hmm, can I do that?)

DEBATE: in speech therapy, one of his exercises was to put a list of 6 task steps in the correct order. For changing a flat tire, he had quite a debate with her on whether he HAD to take the spare out of the trunk before he had jacked up the car and removed the flat. For making a tuna sandwich, Bill put "4" next to "Add spices," but he editorialized the step as "debatable."

TRIBUTE: Bill's sister will be self-publishing a novel this week. She posted on Facebook yesterday: "Back on track. I've been hoping the ebook of my novel will be available by this Friday (11/8) because I wanted to release it on my brother's birthday. A little tribute to him, if you will. And despite some recent hiccups, it looks like we'll be able to hit that deadline. Hooray!!"

Bill, Sun. Nov. 3: walk, streetcar

Once again, I am having problems loading a video. So imagine yesterday's video, but instead of holding the hallway rail, Bill is using a "quad-foot" cane on his right side. And smiling/waving to the camera.

 



In OT, Bill did a couple of interesting activities. One was "Dynavision," a board about 4' x 4' with a starburst of 1/2" push buttons. Just one of the buttons lights up at a time, and Bill has to find it and push to turn it off. Then a new one, and so on. The goal is to minimize the time to find it, and trains him to look to all edges of the board, especially to his left and down.

Another activity was the computer.  He and Ayn have used their laptops, iPads, mini, and cell phones a bit. But in OT he got to roll up to a desktop with a standard monitor and keyboard. Typing is a bit difficult one-handed, so they are going to coordinate with Speech on trying DragonTalk. 

In the afternoon, we went on Portland's Streetcar. That was a fun outing for Bill. I'm not a great fan of the streetcars because they are so darn slow, but that was a good aspect for our trip. It went by their old apartment, and close enough to the new apartment (we could see the slope from a streetcar stop was navigable to the new place). We did the whole loop, covering both ends: south waterfront to Nob Hill (NW Portland, 23rd and Marshall).

Bill, Sat. Nov 2: walking the hall

Forgot walking between some little parallel bars. Let's get out in the hallway! (His daughter "C" is to your right in the video, very excited.)  So what's next, tackling the stairs?

It's about 35 years, almost to the day, since his first steps. He's doing good work, and I'm one proud mama.

Bill, Fri. Nov. 1, walking at the bar

 

This video is from Friday afternoon PT, imitating squats.

 

I missed seeing, and therefore couldn't record, some exciting movements Friday morning. A little background for perspective: his walking in the suspension harness Thursday was so-so. The harness keeps him very safe, for sure, but it doesn't allow for a natural feel of walking. I mean, come on, having tight straps around your crotch and a corset-like wrap on your torso - ugh. Bill's left leg wasn't quite strong enough yet to overcome the harness's pull to the side, and he didn't get a good step down on that leg.

 

But on Friday, first, Ayn described OT as using a vibrating bar on Bill's left arm, and he was able to clench/unclench his fingers a bit. But more exciting:

 

Second, in PT, Andrew had him stand at the parallel bars. Then Andrew asked if Bill wanted to take a step or two. No harness. No problem. He was able to get a much better walk, the distance is about 10 feet, and with a little rest in between he made the trip three times. Bill said it also helped that it was just Andrew, without a second person also giving him too many overlapping directions.

Just venting: problems posting video

I have spent a few unsuccessful hours trying to post video.

 

And I have a new laptop, an HP Pavilion Touchscreen, which was supposed to make life easier. Sigh. Windows 8, hard to back out of things, OR sometimes it "swoosh" goes to the Start screen, leaves things open (supposedly for quick access in future use) but already seems bogged down and slow to respond.

 

The specific video problems: Blogger doesn't want to take in MP4 videos, plus it was over 100 MB. So okay, there are lots of utilities to convert to an acceptable format, but how do I edit the size? Supposedly through Windows Media. Oh, but first look, there's a utility on this new laptop for "CyberLink Power Director." But oh wait, now that I'm into it, there doesn't seem to be an option to rotate -- I took the video in a 'portrait' orientation because it shows Bill standing and walking. Oh, and now wait again, because when I left the utility, it seems to have deleted the video from my phone. So now that I've found Windows Media Player (WMP), I don't have the video. And videos from last week show "0" size in WMP, and won't drag to the playlist. If I pull it up in File Explorer and double-click, it is run using an Xbox utility.

 

So I will keep trying. If I'm there in time for a walking session today, I will at least try a "landscape" video.

 

All Saints Day? I'm not feeling very saintly! Must think happy thoughts, good karma, calm water...