30 January 2022
Yesterday at noon Sean the Physical Therapist knocked on the door. Joyce answered it herself. He'd already told her she looked good and what a lovely home she has by the time I made it up from downstairs.
He had some trouble taking Joyce's vital signs. Not just the oxygen level (which never registers on her blue fingers because she has Raynaud's syndrome) but her blood pressure too. I explained her fingers to him and he eventually got her blood pressure, although her heart rate was elevated.
Then he put her through the Berg Balance Scale, a set of 14 tests to evaluate her balance. And she did fine.
He marveled that Kaiser had approved 11 visits for her. The average is just four or five.
She worried that they would be interrupted by her hospitalization Feb. 11 but he said they would skip that weekend and he would revisit her afterward for a reassessment before continuing them.
He marveled that Kaiser had approved 11 visits for her. The average is just four or five.
Meanwhile Julie would be coming twice a week to help her do a set of seven exercises he walked her through. She's to do each of them 10 times four times a day to build strength in her upper body and her legs. And every two hours, she should walk.
Some of the exercises require the use of a resistance band. Sean gave her a yellow band, which provides the least resistance, but it was still a workout for her.
He was amused by our light switch cover which has a photo of Carolyn and Tom in it from their visit here in 2003. "You see them every time you turn off the light!" he laughed. "Or on," I pointed out.
We never get tired of seeing them. They actually helped us move, packing up the kitchen and cleaning up the new place before we unpacked. (We're great hosts. "Sure, you can stay with us. We're moving.")
Actually, Carolyn was here for a conference and I, on a whim, took the bus downtown and popped into a coffee shop near their hotel sure I would be able to find Tom. And there he was, in line to order.
As they worked on the exercises, Sean mentioned that he used to go to the Miraloma Bar a few blocks away. And he raved about the taqueria next door. Joyce and I love that place too. He particularly likes the spicy beef burrito, he said.
Small world.
Sean said he's only been with 21st Century for five months. But he got his license in 2008, making him one of the older care providers they have sent.
He was there until 12:50 and said Julie would call to set up a visit. So after a few months of pleading for a physical therapist to work on Joyce's atrophying muscle strength, she has a plan.
And it can only help her get through the surgery.