I saw Walt this Saturday morning, August 25th. He was in the dining hall looking rather grumpy but very alert. He was in a bigger, unwieldly wheelchair that is made to be pushed from behind rather than being rolled by the user. I moved him down the hall where we could talk without the blare of the dining room television. We had a decent exchange. Walt is still having problems finding the right words, but he got them right sometimes. I think he understood pretty well. He said he didn't recognize me but he said Lindsey was in Buffalo. I have to admit that I generally did not understand his questions, but when I asked him if he wanted to play air hockey he plainly said, "absolutely not". I asked him why, because we have played a few times and he enjoyed it. He shrugged his shoulders and said "why" as in why bother. I rolled him down to the PT room anyway and fired up the table. His bigger wheelchair doesn't fit at the end of the table so he had to play from the side--that gave me a huge advantage. I think the score was about 57 to 1 after about 20 minutes of play.
Walt seemed to mellow out after the air hockey thrashing and after we spent some time together. He would do an interesting thing to exercise his right arm (the weak one.) He would grab his right wrist with his left hand and move the right hand up to his face to scratch. I thought that was pretty smart and that it also showed he was making an effort to do a little physical therapy on his own. I also asked him to shake my hand with his right one--I had to place my hand in his but nevertheless, his grip was better than the last time I checked.
Shortly before lunch we went back to his room and I set him up so that he could look through one of his illustrated military history books. I noticed that Walt's Posey bed is gone, the one with the zip-up canopy that confines him to the bed at night. Before leaving the hospital I told Walt that I would be in California this week and would check out the girls at the beach for him. He raised his eyebrows appropriately.
I think Walt may have been a bit contrary when I first got there but that seemed to pass.I thought that Tom Wahl had a great comment yesterday that I have reprinted here. Tom said,
"Walter is my friend, and I can't stand by and watch him give up. Walt may have issues that will be with him for some time to come, but one of them should not be giving up.
When anyone stops by to visit Walter, please ask Walt to show you something physical he can do, or did in therapy recently. He needs to know everybody is watching and cares about his recovery. Don't take no for an answer. Insist on seeing or hearing something."
Most people, including Walt, respond positively to compassion like that.
4 comments:
Patty says: Thanks Geno and Tom for your post. Walter has had a good week. I feel like we are going back to June, slowly but hopefully surely. He has been alert for over a week and the nurses are noticing. He is still eating well and talking up a storm but I cannot understand him most of the time. He is starting to say some "real english words" more and more each day. Lindsay and Brian have seen the difference too.
I am so very proud of Walter!! He is not giving up and I need everyone who visits to give him lots of encouragement. No negative vibes are welcome! I do wish that some of his best friends would visit. That would mean the world to Walter.
Thanks again to Geno, Tom, Gary and Tim for their dedication to Walter. It helps me sooo much to know that his friends are up there I feel so guilty if I am not up there every minute.
See you at St. Mary's!!
Walter and Kathy's Excellent Visit
I stopped up to see Walt today (Wed, 8/29). He was dozing in the cafeteria when I got there. I woke him up and gave him a Tim Horton's cherry-cheese pastry. He devoured it. Things were slow at first - he was half asleep, but once the sugar hit his system he began to wake up. Dinner was a Thanksgiving type meal and he cleaned his plate. After that I asked Walt if he had Physical Therapy today. Instead of just saying yes or no like usual, he said yes and then went on to say he did "lots of leg lifts". He also told me "I walked". I then asked him if he used his walker to do that and he said yes.
I was very excited to see Walt so alert and actually conversing with me and volunteering information without being coached or given leading questions and just responiding with indiscriminate yes or no's or blank stares.
Walt's brother Tippy showed up as the staff were insisting that every patient in the cafeteria make their own pizza. Walt did not want to. Neither did I, but they were insistant so we had to do it.
First we took a small square of cardboard and wrapped it in tin foil. Walt helped me with that. Then we spread our dough around togther. Walter wanted me to put the sauce and cheese on, then he chose a bunch of pepperoni off the plate with a spoon to put on the pizza. He was very clear that he wanted cheese and pepperoni and that the cheese should go on first. The staff carried the pizzas off to cook them. Soon after that I left Walt and Tippy to enjoy the pizza on their own.
It was a very good visit and I promised Walt that next time I would bring an apple pastry. He told me he likes apple. (I suspect he likes them all, but apple it is!)
Kathy Juliano
I called my dad last night and he actually answered the phone for the first time since about july. our conversation was fairly brief but he did say a few words and he sounded better than he has in awhile. hopefully he will continue his journey back up :)
Tom & Lyn here. Stopped by today to see the old boy who was just finishing up some therapy. Walt was a little tired after his workout so we sat and talked to Lindsay for a bit. I worked Walt's right arm for 5 minutes or so, and he seamed to like that. It all takes time and work. I worry about that right arm and leg not getting enough work.
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