2 May 2025
On the one hand, I'm delighted to report that since Joyce used her trekking pole on April 24, she hasn't touched the walker. She stands up from the bed and walks up the hall and around the corner toward the gym to sit in her chair using nothing but the trekking pole.
When Cassie takes her to the bathroom for toileting rehearsal (let's call it), she also uses the pole.
She walks straighter and she walks more quickly using the pole than she did with the walker.
On the other hand, I've become something of a walker substitute. When she gets up from the bed, I grab the back of her belt with my right hand to help her up and she grabs my left hand with her left to steady herself as she leaves the room.
She's safe from falling that way. And as long as I don't try putting on tennnis balls for shoes, I should be OK, too.
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ONCE THE THERAPISTS see her in the chair, they roll her over to the stair platform where she has climbed up and down the real steps much better recently. She's been doing it twice (up and down then up and down again) without stubbing her toe.
And as far as the toileting goes, she can make it to the commode, sit and get up again. I'm not convinced that translates to real world toileting at home but she's on her way.
She's also been playing the piano now and then. I bring her iPad with the sheet music on it and she tries three pieces with her right hand. She'll do the left, she tells me, when she's got the right figured out. She's miffed she has trouble reading music now, though.
Which brings me to the concerning things.
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SHE'S STILL NOT EATING solids. Oh, she has two tortellini and two bites of lemon meringue pie or two strawberries from a little bowl of them. Bread is out of the question for some reason.
She does still drink her prune juice and has a little milk and less coffee. I always give her a high protein Boost that has not expired to add some vitamins and protein to her diet.
But the kitchen has stopped serving ice cream to everyone. And that was the one "solid" she did eat. Completely. I've been looking in the market for a substitute to bring but haven't yet found an equivalent to the institutional cup. Only some imposters (like a mini It's It, but she wouldn't like the cookie).
After her dental experience, I brought her Quip toothbrush to her and after lunch we go into the bathroom so she can brush her teeth with it. She does this sitting in her wheelchair, which she wouldn't be able to do at home.
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AS YOU MIGHT have noticed, I'm trying to imagine these various essential activities as they would happen at home. And I'm having trouble.
She'll need a good deal more mobility and be able to stand and walk around. She says it's scary to stand but she doesn't scream as much.
I've asked Cassie to give her a MOCA test for cognitive impairment on Monday. She's had a few of them with her primary and the Memory Clinic and Cassie did one last year (if I recall). I asked for a new one because I have a chat scheduled with Dr. Khanna on Tuesday morning to discuss Joyce's progress and it would be nice to have a number.
So that's where things stand as May begins. Sorry the updates have been so infrequent but I've just been exhausted when I get home. And for some reason I've been sleeping as much as 10 hours a night.
But looking on the bright side, that's 10 hours I don't have double vision!