Kathy: Dad began the day with mom this morning and I am sure she was thrilled about that!! They had breakfast together and then prepared mom for her visit to the neurologist for the botox consultation for her fingers on her left hand.
I met mom and dad at the neurologist’s office just as the doctor was giving recommendations. The examination of mom’s hand had just finished so I was right on time. The doctor said that mom is a candidate for botox in order to improve the spasticity (stiffness) in her fingers on her left hand. The doctor said that mom’s left forearm is responsible for movement of the fingers on her left hand and that this muscle in the forearm is relatively fluid and able to move well. Mom’s left arm bicep is also just slightly stiff (spastic). The doctor recommends that mom receive botox injections once every 3 months in her left forearm predominantly and a smaller injection in her bicep at the same time. The doctor said that injections right into mom’s hand and fingers would be very painful, so that will be a last resort. We all decided to go with the route of least pain on a trial basis first. Then, we can transition to the route of most complication (direct injections into the hand), if need be. The injections will NOT restore mobility in mom’s hand and fingers; but WILL enable easier movement in the muscles of the hand and forearm and bicep, which will enable the ability to exercise her fingers. The hope is that mom will be able to stretch and bend and control her fingers better with the injections. Mom was also told to wear the splint on her left hand in order to keep her fingers outstretched as much as possible. I think there are pros and cons to this. Claudia and I learned that it is movement that creates both memory and new pathways in the brain. A splint will prevent movement. I asked the doctor if mom can use the splint at night and during times of inactivity (watching TV with dad) and the doctor agreed with this plan of action. Mom asked both the doctor and me some really relevant questions about her hand/fingers and what she needed to do to get better.
I left to go back to work and dad went back to the facility with mom. Dad said that mom did well with her therapies today.
Claudia: John and Jean went to put mom to bed. They talked about baseball. John
and Jean came straight form the Yankee game today and they spoke about
Mariano Rivera and how he broke the “Save” record. Mom talked about the
Brooklyn Dodgers. Jean showed mom photos of the new Yankee stadium that
he took with his phone. They watched the red carpet show from the Emmys
and they watched Wheel of Fortune and mom tried to guess the answers.
One of the answers was “handwriting” and mom said, “Oh, I thought that
was two words.” Mom started to fall asleep in her wheelchair and John
tried to get someone to put her in the bed. There was no one around. Her
CNA went to dinner and didn’t come back until after 8:30. By the time
she was done and they came back in the room it was after 9pm. It is a
long day for mom. The CNA apologized and said she would work out her
dinner break so mom isn’t left in the chair so long.
“For I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper and not harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
No comments:
Post a Comment