With progress comes setbacks...

A urinary tract infection has been added to Bob's list of "what else can go wrong". I suggested that a UA be done yesterday, because Bob was feeling such urgency to "go", even though, he had a catheter. Sure enough, a positive UTI. That could explain the "cloudy" thinking yesterday and today.


Bob was in real good spirits tonight. We had a few good belly laughs. It's been a while since I saw him cheerful.


Bob has progressed to using the standing lift to transfer to and from his wheelchair, instead of using the overhead/sling lift. Yeah!


Pray for me to regain my patience, and pray for Bob to willfully move. One day at a time...


*NEW: A PRAYER FOR TODAY from Joel Osteen
Father God, thank You for giving me power to overcome fear. I choose to face fear head on and drive it out of my life. Show me any areas of my life where fear is holding me back so that I can press forward into the life of victory You have for me. In Jesus' Name. Amen."



Have you checked out travel-mobility.com yet? Check out our new website. Pass it on too. We'd appreciate it. If you'd like an online home business of your own, email me.


Jill Bolte Taylor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyyjU8fzEYU It'll make you cry, it's so amazing.


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stroke info
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VA Healthcare System, Transitional Care Unit, 913 NW Garden Valley Blvd, Roseburg, OR 97470 Room 108A

"Cloudy" brain day

Construction on the new addition to our home had to be shortened today. The Oregon rains are starting. It will rain from now until April. It's annoying; but, it's waaaayyyy better than snow!


Bob had a "cloudy" brain day. At least he remembered my name! Most days he remembers; some days he doesn't. On the days he doesn't remember my name, he doesn't believe me when I tell him my name.


Bob is getting very frustrated with his body and mind not working the way he's used to. It's a miracle he's still alive, so I will be patient with his recovery.

Pray for me to regain my patience, and pray for Bob to willfully move. One day at a time...

*NEW: A PRAYER FOR TODAY from Joel Osteen
"Father God, thank You for Your grace and mercy. Thank You for the good plan You have for my life. Help me choose my friends and companions wisely so that I can continue to move forward in the destiny You have for me. In Jesus' Name. Amen."

Have you checked out travel-mobility.com yet? Check out our new website. Pass it on too. We'd appreciate it. If you'd like an online home business of your own, email me.

Jill Bolte Taylor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyyjU8fzEYU It'll make you cry, it's so amazing.

email
stroke info
aneurysm info

VA Healthcare System, Transitional Care Unit, 913 NW Garden Valley Blvd, Roseburg, OR 97470 Room 108A

Where's a happy medium?

I didn't do my usual split shift visit like I've done since May. My class started today at UCC. It's an online class. If the VA had wireless, I could visit my T all day and still do my class. But, they don't, so, I waited until 5:30pm. I missed Bob terribly. You don't understand. When Bob would go on his business trips to wherever without me, we would talk on the phone most of the day; literally, 99.9% of the day!


Bob received a new "fitted" wheelchair today. It fits the length of his legs properly; it fits the angle of his ankles properly; and, he has a nice, soft cushion for the seat. He wheeled it like he was training for a marathon. He gave me a "run for my money".


Bob did well with memory tonight. I gave him 5-6 cards to memorize. After studying the hand, he turned the hand over. I removed one card. He looked at the cards again and told me which one I removed. His success rate was close to 100%.


Pray for me to regain my patience, and pray for Bob to willfully move. One day at a time...


*NEW: A PRAYER FOR TODAY from Joel Osteen
"Father God, thank You for Your grace and mercy. Thank You for the good plan You have for my life. Help me choose my friends and companions wisely so that I can continue to move forward in the destiny You have for me. In Jesus' Name. Amen."

Have you checked out travel-mobility.com yet? Check out our new website. Pass it on too. We'd appreciate it. If you'd like an online home business of your own, email me.


Jill Bolte Taylor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyyjU8fzEYU It'll make you cry, it's so amazing.


email

stroke info

aneurysm info


VA Healthcare System, Transitional Care Unit, 913 NW Garden Valley Blvd, Roseburg, OR 97470 Room 108A

I'm not so crazy after all...

I talked to one of Bob's nurses tonight about his progress. She told me that the social worker that spoke to me a week or so ago couldn't have been talking about the same Bob that we all know. Bob is eating fine on his own; he is more cognitively aware every day; he is making his legs stronger by walking while sitting in his wheelchair; he does need to work on standing; and he needs to get rid of the catheter.


Cognitive therapy had mixed results today. One month ago, he couldn't name things; today he could. Listing still needs lots of work. When asked to list parts of a car, he couldn't list any, but, if I discribed a part, he named it. The same thing occured for water mammals, body organs, farm animals, and many more. He did know four car models and three things with zippers.


Tomorrow, classes start again for the college where I teach. I told T he has homework to do during the day. He has all day to work on getting stronger. I won't be in to visit him until dinner time. He needs to show me everything he's worked on.

Pray for me to regain my patience, and pray for Bob to willfully move. One day at a time...

*NEW: A PRAYER FOR TODAY from Joel Osteen
"Father in heaven, thank You for the good plan You have for my life. I choose Your plan and ask that You direct my mind and thoughts according to Your purposes. In Jesus' Name. Amen."

Have you checked out travel-mobility.com yet? Check out our new website. Pass it on too. We'd appreciate it. If you'd like an online home business of your own, email me.

Jill Bolte Taylor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyyjU8fzEYU It'll make you cry, it's so amazing.

email
stroke info
aneurysm info

VA Healthcare System, Transitional Care Unit, 913 NW Garden Valley Blvd, Roseburg, OR 97470 Room 108A

Go Ducks, not Lions...

Ok, that does it! I'm no longer a Penn State fan. From this day forward, I'm an Oregon Ducks fan (at least for this football season). Penn State lost tonight against Iowa. Bob and I watched it on TV. Of course, he was grinning ear-to-ear. For those who don't know, I'm a Penn State graduate, and I taught at Penn State for ten years before moving to Oregon. Go Ducks!


Cognitive therapy tonight had me looking dumb. I gave T words and numbers to remember. They were mixed together. For example, I'd list cat, 7, dress, sock, 6. He had to tell me the words first, then the numbers. When I gave him the five words and numbers, he repeated the words first then the numbers back to me in the order that I gave them. The problem was, I forgot what numbers I gave him. Once again, I'm proving to myself that my cognitive ability sucks.


The nurses had Bob motate his wheelchair today using his hands and feet. They took the footrests off to allow him to ambulate easier. Needless to say after a few hours of using this as his mode of transportation, Bob was exhausted.


Pray for me to regain my patience, and pray for Bob to willfully move. One day at a time...


*NEW: A PRAYER FOR TODAY from Joel Osteen

"Father in heaven, thank You for the good plan You have for my life. I choose Your plan and ask that You direct my mind and thoughts according to Your purposes. In Jesus' Name. Amen."


Have you checked out travel-mobility.com yet? Check out our new website. Pass it on too. We'd appreciate it. If you'd like an online home business of your own, email me.


Jill Bolte Taylor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyyjU8fzEYU It'll make you cry, it's so amazing.


email

stroke info

aneurysm info


VA Healthcare System, Transitional Care Unit, 913 NW Garden Valley Blvd, Roseburg, OR 97470 Room 108A

Date night at the care unit...

One of the residents' wives brought a Las Vegas show of a ventriliquist, Terry something. He's the one who won America's Got Talent last year or the year before. Anyway, she put signs up advertising the event. The event was to watch a Las Vegas Show in one of the TV lounges. Cookies, chips, and soda were provided. I waited for the cocktail waitress to come around; but, I must have missed her. :0(

T asked me if I wanted to go. It was a little chilly, so we covered ourselves with a blanket and watched the show. We had a date!

Later, we worked on memory activities like, I would name three things. Bob would repeat them back to me, forwards and backwards. (a little working memory there) He got 100%. He named four farm animals. I asked him what "field maggots" were. That's what he always called sheep. He didn't remember ever saying that.

hahaha...T was funny earlier today. We were playing the card game "Go Fish". When he asked me for a card that I had and needed to give to him, he said he didn't want them, because he didn't want to hold all of the cards. I told him that is part of the game. He told me, he quits then because he wasn't going to take the cards.

Pray for me to regain my patience, and pray for Bob to willfully move.

One day at a time...

*NEW: A PRAYER FOR TODAY from Joel Osteen
"Father in heaven, thank You for the good plan You have for my life. I choose Your plan and ask that You direct my mind and thoughts according to Your purposes. In Jesus' Name. Amen."

Have you checked out travel-mobility.com yet? Check out our new website. Pass it on too. We'd appreciate it. If you'd like an online home business of your own, email me.

Jill Bolte Taylor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyyjU8fzEYU It'll make you cry, it's so amazing.

email
stroke info
aneurysm info

VA Healthcare System, Transitional Care Unit, 913 NW Garden Valley Blvd, Roseburg, OR 97470 Room 108A

What did I want to write?

I have become more aware of my inability to remember things, that it doesn't bother me when Bob forgets. Ha, I haven't had a brain injury, and many times, I can't remember what I wanted to do from one minute to the next.

One thing Bob does, though, memory-wise, is he forgets what he is doing in the middle of doing things. For example, if he is exercising his arms, he'll do three repetitions, pause, then forget what he was doing. Also, there can be no activity or talking going on around him. He'll focus on that activity, not on his task at hand.

I helped Bob play poker with the "boys" today. Even though he was an excellent poker player before his stroke, he couldn't get the gist of the game. He knew pairs, straights, and what beats what, but he couldn't understand the betting and how the cards were dealt. Note to the Friday night poker guys: You'll actually be able to win now. Get all your poker playing in before Bob's skills come back. :-)

Pray for me to regain my patience, and pray for Bob to willfully move.

One day at a time...
A PRAYER FOR TODAY FROM Joel Osteen
"Heavenly Father, I know what you've put on the inside of me. By faith I see the dreams you've given me coming to pass, no matter what my circumstances are. I am full of Your power and I'm ready to become everything you created me to be. In Jesus' Name. Amen"

Have you checked out travel-mobility.com yet? Check out our new website. Pass it on too. We'd appreciate it. If you'd like an online home business of your own, email me.

Jill Bolte Taylor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyyjU8fzEYU It'll make you cry, it's so amazing.

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VA Healthcare System, Transitional Care Unit, 913 NW Garden Valley Blvd, Roseburg, OR 97470 Room 108A