Tom is sooo... unsteady on his feet. I'm very worried. I thought he would be doing so much better as he enters the homestretch of the 100 day post-transplant recovery period. I have to return to work on Monday and I feel so desperate for solutions. It takes a lot of effort for him to just get off the couch into a standing position - he teeters quite a bit.
Lately, I've been refraining from physically helping him get around. I stand next to him ready to catch him but I want him to learn how to get around the best he can. I remind him to take baby steps and to stand up and wait a couple of seconds before moving forward. He fell in our bathroom the other day and as tempted as I was to pull him up off the floor, I didn't. Instead, I got down on my hands and knees and showed him a strategy to get back to a standing position. We crawled on our hands and knees back into the bedroom. We decided that the wall wouldn't be helpful in our getting off the floor because there is nothing to grab on to. So we crawled to the bed (it could be a couch or any other piece of sturdy furniture), and raised up to our knees, put one foot on the floor and raised up a little, and then the other foot, all the while holding tightly to the bed post. He fell backwards before raising up on two feet but he swiveled around on his bottom and tried again...and made it!
He's been talking in his sleep lately while he's napping during the day and sleeping at night. He says really bizarre things like, "All the Norwegians and Italians face the wall". He'll fall asleep and raise his hands in the air or fumble with them as if he's holding something. Even when he's awake he'll say something strange while we're talking and say, "I don't know why I said that".
5 comments:
My mom had Parkinson's disease and the medicine she was taking caused her to say things very similar to what Tom is saying. She was sometimes hallucinating, other times just off in another world completely with cloned sheep, fires in the basement, people calling who had long ago passed away, and she kept mentioning "the voices . . . the voices have been telling me what to do lately . . . " It was just plain scary but at least she couldn't do anything the voices were telling her to do. At one point a nurse told us, "your mother used to read a lot didn't she? She has a very active mental life which is carrying on even though she isn't engaging with what is going on here where we are."
It was all of the strange medicine and the after effects doing all of that. At one point she saw something that didn't exist and jumped up out of bed, only to find that she was falling and she broke her hip and arm because she believed she could walk but she was wheelchair bound at the time.
I don't think you should worry about it too much because it will subside over time. You should try to keep Tom in reality though and correct him if he misinterprets what he is seeing. You have to help get him back to normal, whatever that is . . . but it sounds like you are doing a great job helping him develop strategies. Can he dial your cell phone number? That may be an important skill for sure.
Get well, Tom! You will be all right, one day at a time, one step at a time. Nature doesn't let us determine our own timetables.
Please let me know if there is somthing I can do to help.
Love,
Chris
Lisa, I have a idea . . . that Tom won't like. If he does not already have one, get him a cane for extra support. Perhaps one of those one with four feet. Sure he'll fight ya, and won't use it. But if Katie decorates it, or you toss some training wheels on it, he may be more willing. Hang in there Tom . . . thinking about you.
When I was recovering from injuries from the plane crash, I was on different pain medicines. Is Tom on any? If so, it's all coming from that. I remember telling s friend who was visiting me about this vending machine that was spitting out hard-boiled eggs, and repeatedly asked him if the limo was downstairs yet to pick us up. I'd kind of come out of it to a more lucid state, and ask him "I'm not making any sense at all, am I", and he'd just say "Nope".
The mind/body connection is strong, until something gets in the way of it, and Heaven knows, he's had things in the way lately. Tell him it was cute and forget about it.
The cane idea is outstanding. I still use mine on rare occasions, but I ain't proud. I figure I can use all the help I can get, and make sure he understands it's temporary. I even have one that has the handle carved to fit my left hand's contours. Since he didn't injure a particular side of his body he could pick what he felt more confident with. These aren't expensive and I think are readily available at Medical Supply places. I just saw a bunch of choices when I Googled "My Left Handed Cane".
Keep a mental picture of Tom in perfect health. It's what I do for myself and that's what's gotten me through my little mishap.
Light and Love,
Dale
Norma has some padded light weight crutches left over from a time she broke her leg. She will bring them just in case one or more of them can serve as temporary tools . . . Daniel's cane idea just reminded us but then I'm not sure what Tom needs most or will use.
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