Mom saw the neurologist today. He said that he is “very pleased with her obvious progress” compared to how she was when he last saw her back in late September/early October. He said that the biggest improvement he sees is that “The light is now on.” She is now present, here, aware. He doesn’t know where she will end up but that mom is going in the right direction and that he sees progress. He said that he sees a big difference in her progress between the first time he saw her and now. He asked me to report on mom’s progress and where she’s at now. I told him everything mom can do and that we have videotape of her a month ago and now and he would look at it. I told him that mom is still not conversational though and that she doesn’t use our names. He said it is common to for people like mom to understand more than she is able to express---expressive aphasia (he isn’t saying she has this, but that it is possible). Basically, she is in a good, hopeful place. She certainly isn’t at a dead end by any means. She will be slow to heal but we can expect progress and recovery. He quickly examined her and then also reviewed all the EEG and CAT scan results. He told us that her EEG showed that there was no seizure activity and that her CAT scan looked good as well. He said that her damage at the site of the aneurysm was in the frontal lobe which controls attention, cognition, decision making, personality…When I asked about mom’s attention and the possibility of mom needing attention medication, he said it was too early to determine that. He said that mom is a clear example of “brain plasticity” which is the ability of the brain to rewire itself so that damaged areas stay damaged and other areas take over the jobs that the damaged areas once did. This is also called ‘neuroplasticity.’ I told him about all that we are doing with mom and he said that is GREAT! Keep working with her the way we are now and to even work more steadily with her and more often because she is now in a window of opportunity after an aneurysm or stroke---over the next 3-9 months we can expect to see a more rapid brain recovery in both pace and quantity especially if we continue to work with her as we have been. After this time frame, she still can continue to progress but at a much slower pace and not as much in quantity at once. It’s not that she will not progress or plateau just at a slower pace. He spoke about the sleep apnea and he feels that it is obstructional sleep apnea and not central sleep apnea because she has no brain stem damage which causes central sleep apnea. I told him about mom writing lately and he said that’s good but he asked if she was writing sensibly and I said no just copying now. He said this is good. He wants us to work toward communicative interactions – speaking, pointing, writing… He stressed the importance of working with mom as we have been. He asked her to raise her left arm (weak side), bend her knee, track his face and hand, and asked her what month, day, date it was (we don’t and haven’t worked on that yet). Mom looked him in the eye and reached to shake his hand when he greeted her. When he asked how she was, she mouthed, ‘Fine.’ When I asked him again about mom’s attentional deficits, he said her attention is fine for someone this far into recovery and that no medication is needed yet because of the side effects of drugs. He wants her on no drugs as long as possible. He said that it is hard to assess her fully without the ability to speak. He said that based on what we have told him about her, she is going forward and progressing and that he sees it as well. He said that we can have every expectation that mom will recover more and progress further based on her current recovery (brain scans…) and our reports of her recovery and progress. He said that he will eventually do an MRI with contrast but not in the near future due to mom needing to recover more first (it can be risky to do if mom’s brain isn’t ready). An MRI will show specific details about where the damage is and how much. He said that based on her EEG there is definite brain damage but how much or what kind is still unknown and this is a good thing---because it means mom can progress from here as per what the doctor said. The damage that is evident relates to an overall “slowing down” of the brain’s functioning. Mom is processing things much more slowly right now…but this too can change. He has every hope that, based on her current progress and reports, she will continue to progress---how far, is uncertain. He said that he wants to see her every 3 months right now. He asked or commented, “She’s getting Occupational Therapy, physical therapy, and speech, right?” I told him no, just physical therapy and he asked why not. I told him we fought for physical therapy and got but no luck with the speech and occupational—it’s is something they won’t agree to. He said that once she can obey more commands, they’ll give it to her. He wrote her a prescription for physical therapy because he wants her to get that. He said she is in a place of hopeful progression and recovery. He couldn’t stress enough the importance of us continuing our programs with her and working with her as we have been. He’s attributing much of her—if not all of her—progress to what we are doing with her.
Today, Lenny started the day with mom before school. He washed her face, put her hearing aids in and glasses on, opened the blinds, turned on all the lights and set up her bed tray and placed activities on the tray. He said that he asked if she wanted her purple blanket and she said yes out loud. She reached to touch his beard and he commented that he grew it again. He told her that her legs were getting muscular and that she’d be running races with him soon. Then he made a muscle in his arm flex and mom felt it like she used to and made the same face she used to as well. He said that they worked on throwing and catching and mom ACTUALLY CAUGHT THE BALL!!!! OVER AND OVER!!! AND SHE EVEN THREW THE BALL!!!!!!! This is monumental!!!! She usually doesn’t let go.
Anthony, Con, Dad and I saw her before the neurologist visit. Anthony had her laughing again. And when she and I were in the ambulance waiting to go into the doctor’s office, she got angry at me and grit her teeth at me, grabbed my hand and mouthed/yelled, “STOP IT NOW!!” because I was trying to make her stop opening the medical cabinet in the ambulance. She kept giving me the “eye” too because I was stopping her from doing this. She is too funny!!! I sternly told her, “Look at me. NO touching” and she smiled and laughed!!
Lenny tucked mom in tonight after dad left her.
We have hope.
"Hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us" Romans 5:5
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