PATTY SAYS;CALLING ALL VISITORS-WALTER NEEDS VISITORS ESPECIALLY DURING THE DAY FOR YOU TRICK WORKERS. HE IS TALKING LIKE CRAZY AND NEEDS YOU ALL FOR THERAPY. EVERYONE BRING AN EVERYDAY OBJECT AND ASK HIM TO IDENTIFY THE OBJECT. IF HE LIES THERE WITH NO INTERACTION, IT WILL TAKE HIM MUCH LONGER TO RECOVER. THERE ARE MAGAZINES IN HIS ROOM. TODAY HE ACTUALLY LOOKED THROUGH 8 PAGES AND WE IDENTIFIED DIFFERENT THINGS ON THE PAGES. HE WAS PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN THE AIRPLANES. YES COUSIN BRIAN, HE WILL BE READY TO GO UP WITH YOUR SON. TODAY, HE ALSO WROTE HIS NAME!! YES WROTE WALTER RABITZ. WOW! WHAT A DAY. HE CALLED ME AT 6:00 A.M. TO TELL ME HE WANTED TO COME HOME. PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR HIS QUICK KIDNEY RECOVERY SO WE CAN GO TO ST. MARY'S. AND PLEASE PRAY THAT HE WILL EVENTUALLY GET BACK HIS SHORT AND LONG TERM MEMORY. TODAY, HE THOUGHT I WAS JOE. BUT THERE IS ALWAYS TOMORROW TO LOOK FORWARD TO-I MIGHT BE PAT TOMORROW. YAHOO!!!
May 14, 2007 7:39 PM
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7 comments:
Hi everyone, I was so excited after I saw Walt this past weekend. He was talking up a storm and trying to get out of that bed. He especially touches your heart when he pulls himself up in bed and with that sweet little face looks at you and commands "go get the car." I agree with Patty- he is most definetly healing and needs a lot of stimulation. Patty, Have you asked the nurses at all if they can bring him outdoors for a little bit so he can get fresh air. Today is suppose to be beautiful and we do that for patients here all the time. Love to all of you- Linda
I visited Walt this Tuesday morning about 7:30. He had an aide with him plus he had on the restraining vest and the mitts. The vest doesn't look as bad as I thought--it is a lightweight mesh that works pretty well but you would definitely want to check to make sure he doesn't squirm out of it. In fact, I had to call the nurses because he squirmed down into an uncomfortable position. They fixed him up. He still takes water via the sponge.
The aide was not agreeable to me taking off his mitts or his vest so I talked with Walt a bit and showed him some photos and movie posters. He also recognized pictures of Washington DC like the Lincoln memorial, the tomb of the unknown soldier and the Washington monument. He could name the Lincoln Memorial. He didn't recognize the Vietnam memorial. He said he recognized pictures of Boldt castle in the 1000 Islands. I was delighted to see that he could read the words on the movie posters of 2001 and Clockwork Orange. I asked if I could bring the movies and watch with him--he gave a relatively enthusiastic "yes". He also told me to take my hand off his shoulder.
He wanted to leave as usual--I reminded him that his kidneys had to heal first. He took that seriously for a few minutes then again made efforts to leave.
Positive observations:
- As others have observed, Walt is strongly determined to get out of bed and to go home. He asks for scissors to cut the straps and he asked for me to call his wife and Dick to identify him. We left a message for Dick at work.
- He is consistently on track when asking for things and answering questions.
- Even though he gets agitated because he wants to go home he is agreeable to looking at pictures and responding to requests.
- If he starts talking about "air pressure" I think that he means that his mattress is uncomfortable. That results from his covers getting bunched up under him. The nurses will fix it.
Negative observations: The quality of Walt's interactions are strongly dependent on the aide and of course, if someone is visiting. If the aide is one who just spends the day telling him "no" and simply blares the TV then an opportunity for improvment is lost. As Patty requested, if you are able please visit at a variety of different times.
Linda - that is a fantastic suggestion to take Walt outdoors. I'm not sure I agree about the "sweet little face."
PHIL FROM KODAK.....
TODAY WAS THE FIRST TIME I SAW WALT IN THE HOSPITAL. GREAT TO SEE HIM!!!! IT SURE LOOKS LIKE WALT HAS COME LONG WAYS!!!
I WAS TELLING HIM WE COULD HAVE USED HIM LAST WEEK. ONE OF THE MACHINES WALT WORKED ON HAD A BIG PROBLEM. WE ALL WERE SAYING WISH WE HAD WALT.
TOLD HIM BEEN REAL BUSY ON THE RACE CAR(I HAVE DRAG RACE CAR) WALT AND BRAIN CAME TO LANCASTER NY TO SEE ME RACE COUPLE TIMES.I WILL BE UP SOON TO SEE WALT I WILL BE PRAYING FOR HIM!!!!!!
(I WORKED WITH WALT AT KODAK)
TAKE CARE,
PHIL
Hi all,
Gino you were in early. I got in about 10am. Walt was awake and as always ready to get out of bed. I took the mitts off when the aide was not looking.
Phil from Kodak (I think...sorry I am not good with names) called by and we put Walt to work exercising. With the 2 of us there we altenated his leg and hand movements which is supposed to be good for stimulating the brain. He was doing great. We also had him reaching for his alternate knee in the bends. He has so much more control and strenght back in his right hand......at least the pulling himself up on the bedbars has been good for something.
Today was exciting for me as this was the first time he said my name. I usually introduce myself each time I go without much response from him. Today after we finished the exercising he was being given a cleanup and I heard him ask the staff where Corinne went.
He is very sleepy today. And manaed to sleep through visits from John, Tippy, Loiuse, Kelly, Joanna and her mother! Actually we suspect that when the female level went over 2 he was just pretending to be asleep!
On the medical side he has had the trach tube and the other line in his neck out today. The swelling in his head has gone down again and he has a hollow where the skull piece was removed. This looks a bit disconcerting but is a good thing apparently. His levels from dialysis are still moving in a positive direction which is especially good.
The staff were waiting for him to wake up so he can have his sit in the chair. Tippy asked yesterday about going out in a wheelchair and is waiting on a response.
We were imagining how hard it would be to get him back into the building if he got to go outside. They would have to pry his fingers loose from the door frame!!
Cheers
Corinne
Walt had a drink of water from a cup today. He told the nurse he really needed a drink so she gave him one. Walt is allowed to drink water and juices now. He also was getting ready to eat real food for the first time since the accident. Bona Petite Walter. Plain garbage plate from Nicks coming up ASAP.
Patty is right about visitors. Walt needs to be challenged.
You'll be happy with your dad when you see him Lindsay.
My mother told me that Walter was doing much better (Praise God). He still wanted to leave with her..., and this is a no...no. Katy and I look forward to seeing Walter in the near future.
Katy and I have kept updated through my mother as well. Keep the faith, and our prayers for Walter continue.
With our love, and God's Blessings,
Don & Katy
Hi Guys, Dont worry about Walt going outside. They can take him out in his entire bed if need be so at least he can smell spring. The first priority is safety- if they think he can not go out in a wheelchair they can use a big lounger chair or his bed and secure him in. We dont want Walt to think that the Valet service at Strong is ignoring him when he starts thumbing for a cab once he gets outside. Gino, Keep up the good work with Walt! Linda
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