Thursday, August 13, 2009

8/13 Volunteers beginning and quick update

Have a friend to do an overnight shift tonight with Chuck and more friends taking 4 hour day-time shifts Friday and Saturday. Yesterday in speech therapy, he made more sounds through the Passemeir valve and attempted to speak a word. Because he had been up all night the night before however, he was unfocused and tired during physical therapy and was not able to make progress there.

At night when I find I must come home to sleep, the aides will often put Chuck in a chair near the nurse station where they can keep him safe. This solves the safety problem, but creates a fatigue problem during the day. However, when I get 6-7 hours of uninterrupted sleep, it solves a sanity and clarity problem for me. Last night Chuck slept a solid 4 hours in his bed, but the rest was in his chair near the nurse station.

I hope to make another 24 hour getaway to the woods in the next several days to breathe fresh air, inhabit the silence and receive nurture from family.

Keep the newsy, loving and humorous notes coming, even if I'm not able to respond to each. They are sustenance and normalcy to me. I appreciate every one. Rebecca still here with me...what a godsend (and a devilment :)

1 comment:

  1. Hurray for Rebecca and hurray for
    WALKS IN THE WOODS!
    This will help you stay grounded,
    which will in turn help you keep perspective.
    Sounds like Chuck is in very good hands~~~

    ReplyDelete