September 4, 2012 - I wish I had been there...

(Bear is sleeping peacefully, again!)

Did you ever have one of those days when so much went right for you and you wound up missing all of it?

I visited Gretchen today on my way in to work.  She was awake and talking and quite interactive.  She did have two pillows under her head again but I talked to the doctor about that.  I only had a few minutes before the first therapist arrived for the day.  Since she hadn't seen Gretchen before she just worked with her in the bed.  As I was leaving I got to see Gretchen working hard, and doing a good job.

A bit later I called the case manager from the office.  I got voice mail and expressed my concerns about the feeding and pillows.  About noon I got a call from Siskin (all outgoing calls show a single number so I never know if it is an emergency or routine).  They wanted to do a swallow study (barium laced food and an x-ray).  While I knew the outcome (well, if I was there helping) but eagerly agreed knowing they would feel better about letting her eat if she passed it.

Waiting for the results was buffered by the workload.  I was asked to go up to a developer's desk and uninstall Visual Studio 2010 Professional and install Visual Studio 2010 Premium (most of you don't have a clue what I just said but those that do will get the rest of this).  Having never uninstalled or installed Visual Studio I took advantage of the opportunity to see the new training room before heading up.  I left myself an hour to uninstall/install with a bit of a buffer.  No one told me that it takes 45 minutes to uninstall and another 45 minutes to install.

While I was waiting on the uninstall I called the hospital and found that Gretchen had passed her swallow test and they had started her on some pureed food!  I was quite pleased and thankful.

Normally, I leave the office at 3:30 and head for the hospital and then Peter joins me about 4:15-4:30 but since he had Scouts tonight I decided we would visit her on the way to Scouts (she usually sleeps through our afternoon visit and then wakes again between 6:00 and 6:30 so this sounded good).  Since I wanted to talk to a couple people I decided to make a quick stop at the hospital before heading home.

Did I mention that I left myself an hour plus a small buffer to do that uninstall/reinstall?  Forty-five minutes to uninstall, a few minutes to install a required patch, and forty-five minutes to install...I was late.  So much for stopping at the hospital on the way home.

Dinner took longer than expected and we arrived at the hospital right after they got Gretchen back in bed (with two pillows AGAIN! - grrrrr - go back to sleep Bear, I can handle this) and she was sound asleep.  Gretchen's sister filled us in:  Gretchen had passed her swallow test and had eaten about half her meal (pretty good considering she hadn't had anything in her stomach in a day and a half). She had been up walking (with help) and had sat out by the nurses station for a while to get her out of her room and out of her bed. 

Given that Gretchen had 3 and a half hours of therapy today and a swallow test I was surprised that she even woke enough to say goodbye to Peter as we were leaving.

While Peter was sitting with Gretchen I also learned that Gretchen has been trying to stand on her own (they keep a belt on her to prevent that).  The nurse even told me that they will probably have to start using the bed alarm.  I never thought I would be happy to hear that Gretchen needed a bed alarm to prevent her from getting out of bed.  We truly have much to Praise God for!  And I do want to thank all of you that have been praying.  God could easily heal her without the prayers of the faithful but it is an act of obedience for me to ask for prayer and for you to offer it.  (I am not always the most obedient of God's children, but I am trying - ...and God said, "Very!")

Yes, we do have much to be thankful for...but wait, there's more! (why do I feel like Ron Popeil).  While Peter and I were eating dinner Siskin called again.  This time it was the case manager returning my call.  She said that given the nature of Gretchen's injuries (technically, her stroke caused a brain injury) they expect her to be 10 - 12 weeks in recovery.  Some may not view that as something praiseworthy but all news about Gretchen's condition is praiseworthy because God has allowed us the means to begin to make some long term plans (plus it means that I might actually have some semblance of order regained on this house).

Rejoice with me tonight because tomorrow Gretchen will probably be worn out and I was planning on spending the day at Siskin with her.