Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Tuesday update
It's a little after 1 PM on Tuesday. I stayed in the hotel with Mary Lee last night. We didn't get back to our room until after 9:00. We decided to go to the bar for chardonnay and a Corona. We figured if Bill wasn't eating a lot of solids we didn't have to either.
The speech and language pathologist, Julie, came yesterday afternoon to check on Bill's speech and swallowing. We immediately were drawn to her .....who did she remind us of?....I think it's Amanda Clark (former BBA student) but the jury is still out on a majority vote. She had Bill uttering lots of tongue twisters and funny sounds. He had to eat baby food to demonstrate his swallowing technique. Julie recommended that Bill stick to a very chopped up diet so that he would not have to work so hard to chew and then swallow. When dinner arrived a roast chicken was cut into a sawdust pile in front of him. An orange lump of squash accompanied the sawdust. Despite its appearance Bill gave it rave reviews and finished the entire plate. A cup of melting vanilla ice cream completed the meal....meal...I never knew how nice that word sounded until I watched him eat.
We set Bill up with his ipod...he actually had to do it since I'm from the technical spaz department. He was able to hold the computer on his lap and load his ipod off the itunes on his computer. The nurse, Beryl, came in and was impressed with his technical prowess. He told her his ipod held 10,000 sons and what did she like to listen to...she said Gospel (we are almost in the south) and lo and behold Bill has Gospel in that iPod! He cranked it up and Beryl was swaying in the room! We left with the nurse call button at Bill's side and Beryl singing in the halls....if that isn't a Bill Muench moment, what is?
We returned this morning in time for Bill's breakfast followed by more physical therapy. Bill was not feeling as well rested as we had hoped but he worked very hard for 30 minutes walking in the hall. By the time he was finished his exhaustion could not be concealed. He wanted to listen to some iPod casts that I thought I had successfully downloaded in the hotel this AM but I forgot to press the little buttons that said 'get'...now remember I am HEAD of the technical spaz department and so this was not a shock. I had to navigate elevators, hallways and parking garages to get back to wireless at the hotel. The hospital does not let outsiders in on their wirelss fun. Now that the 'get' button is 'gotten' I am going to return to show off my technical savvy.
I also am downloading for Bill the commentary that Mary Barosse Schwartz did on VPR last Friday evening just about the time Bill was out of surgery. We were aware of the commentary but had no way of listening to it until it was put on the web site. Mary's words are so thoughtful and ring so true that they felt like a warm hug that lingers long after the arms are released when Mary Lee and I listened last night. I can't wait to share the commentary with Bill today.
The doctors mentioned the word discharge this morning.....although we don't feel ready yet for that big step it means that things are going as the doctors had hoped.
The speech and language pathologist, Julie, came yesterday afternoon to check on Bill's speech and swallowing. We immediately were drawn to her .....who did she remind us of?....I think it's Amanda Clark (former BBA student) but the jury is still out on a majority vote. She had Bill uttering lots of tongue twisters and funny sounds. He had to eat baby food to demonstrate his swallowing technique. Julie recommended that Bill stick to a very chopped up diet so that he would not have to work so hard to chew and then swallow. When dinner arrived a roast chicken was cut into a sawdust pile in front of him. An orange lump of squash accompanied the sawdust. Despite its appearance Bill gave it rave reviews and finished the entire plate. A cup of melting vanilla ice cream completed the meal....meal...I never knew how nice that word sounded until I watched him eat.
We set Bill up with his ipod...he actually had to do it since I'm from the technical spaz department. He was able to hold the computer on his lap and load his ipod off the itunes on his computer. The nurse, Beryl, came in and was impressed with his technical prowess. He told her his ipod held 10,000 sons and what did she like to listen to...she said Gospel (we are almost in the south) and lo and behold Bill has Gospel in that iPod! He cranked it up and Beryl was swaying in the room! We left with the nurse call button at Bill's side and Beryl singing in the halls....if that isn't a Bill Muench moment, what is?
We returned this morning in time for Bill's breakfast followed by more physical therapy. Bill was not feeling as well rested as we had hoped but he worked very hard for 30 minutes walking in the hall. By the time he was finished his exhaustion could not be concealed. He wanted to listen to some iPod casts that I thought I had successfully downloaded in the hotel this AM but I forgot to press the little buttons that said 'get'...now remember I am HEAD of the technical spaz department and so this was not a shock. I had to navigate elevators, hallways and parking garages to get back to wireless at the hotel. The hospital does not let outsiders in on their wirelss fun. Now that the 'get' button is 'gotten' I am going to return to show off my technical savvy.
I also am downloading for Bill the commentary that Mary Barosse Schwartz did on VPR last Friday evening just about the time Bill was out of surgery. We were aware of the commentary but had no way of listening to it until it was put on the web site. Mary's words are so thoughtful and ring so true that they felt like a warm hug that lingers long after the arms are released when Mary Lee and I listened last night. I can't wait to share the commentary with Bill today.
The doctors mentioned the word discharge this morning.....although we don't feel ready yet for that big step it means that things are going as the doctors had hoped.
