Kathy's the Buzz of Sharp

Today was again a patient doctor conference day. (The difference is Kathy attended with me for the first time) We meet this morning and everyone was very excited about Kathy’s new progress. The buzz in the building was all about Kathy and her recovery. Everyone was so ecstatic about her change after surgery. They have seen it before but enjoy seeing Kathy in such a different light.

Her doctors reported medically everything looked good with the shunt “surgery” recovery going well. Her nurses reported Kathy is much more attentive to her daily personal grooming and actually can move herself around quite well. Physical, occupational and play therapy all reported their pleasure in her sudden progress. Kathy speech therapist was the most excited. He’s really an excitable emotional person and he showed it today! The staff thinks Kathy will still need a couple more weeks in the hospital before she can come home. She can now really start her rehabilitation therapy!

Not everything for Kathy is out of this world. Kathy still has tremendous headaches from surgery on and off during the day. Her focusing ability in one eye has weakened. She did have her swallow test today and failed. The good news is she is cleared to drink thicker liquids like milkshakes and pureed food. (She can still come home with the feeding tube the nursing staff commented) Her speech therapist is going to give her electrical stimulation of the throat to improve the strength of her swallowing mechanics.

Being in bed for 10 weeks has made Kathy’s feet point down to much. The lack of time standing on her feet has made her tendons stretch too much. She could try to get her feet straightened in therapy but this could take many additional weeks of painful walking. Even afterwards there would be no guarantee Kathy would walk normally. This has necessitated a decision to have surgery on her feet now. Everyone assures us this is an outpatient surgery. The surgeon cuts a unique S pattern in the back of her feet that allows the feet to be stretched out and angle normally. They then fit her immediately into a walking boot similar to someone with a badly strained or broken foot. Since weight is shared up and down her leg she should be able to walk in the cast the very next day. The time for recovery is less with additional confidence that she should walk normally. She will probably have the surgery in the next few days.

I had time to go through her physical therapy today and it was quite remarkable. She was a completely different person today. She followed commands easily, had a wide range of motion in her body and showed the physical conditioning she has had her whole life. Last week she could barely stand without assistance and barely walk. (I called it more like being dragged around) Today she not only walked with little assistance but twice down the test run! Her therapist today was Liz and she is very strong and demanding. She really gave Kathy a tough workout. It’s worth it because she stated to me that 99% of her patients walk out of the rehabilitation center when they go home! GO KATHY!