Joyce's KP Adventure mikepasini.com headlines
St. Patrick's Day Update
17 March 2025
I've waited a few days before updating you because I smelled a trend. Joyce's weight has stabilized.
On the SciFit. With her black belt.
When it dropped to 114, I put it up on the home page. With the lunchtime fluids and a high-protein Boost, it quickly climbed to 117, the three pound gain that has been reported on the home page for few days.
Lately she's tipped the scales at 118 but that's been after her liquid lunch, so I'm discounting the one pound gain as a temporary phenomenon.
She likely isn't getting the nutrients she needs because she manages just one bite of the main course (today it was corned beef), a cup of ice cream and maybe a bite or two of something else.
There has not been a regular RN on the floor to get her current medications (including vitamins), but I've been watching. She did get her RSV and Covid vaccines last week, however.
℘
I RUMMAGED through her collection of belts to find one that would serve as a Physical Therapy belt. A PT belt functions more as a handle to soften a fall than as a way to keep someone upright, so it wasn't a stretch to find a fabric belt with a secure clasp.
And it looks good with her dress.
Why am I doing that? Because her RNAs are only walking her twice a week. Monday and either Wednesday or Thursday (they didn't know when I asked today).
So I've been rolling her wheelchair out into the hallway and having her walk (with the belt) to the chair every day, rather than have her step over to it at the foot of the bed.
It's just a few steps, maybe 20 feet, but something is better than nothing.
She didn't want to walk today, of course. But she set a new record going the length of both the long hallway and the short one with a few rests. That's a total of 240 feet. Her previous walk was 200 feet and before that it was 180 feet.
She's still scared but she's strong enough to do it.
But she said she'd walk with a walker and just me rolling the chair behind her. I've seen the therapists do that with other patients so we may try that one of these days.
She just deserves a lot more attention than the staff is giving her.