We're B-A-A-A-C-K!

Sorry for the delay in updating you Bob fans. Bob's rehab therapy schedule coupled with the emotional rollercoaster is kicking our b---s so I've been too exhausted to enter anything when I get home after 8.
Okay, so let's be honest: I've had a meltdown or two in the past few days but my sister and mom put things into perspective for me. Those of you who know my mom knows that she's a little nutty, no nonsense, no pity party kind of gal. My sisters and I did not miss school because she didn't believe in being home sick unless we we were dying (and we had to prove to her we were dying which was nearly impossible so we had perfect or almost perfect attendance. She's one tough little Japanese lady (4'6") who's lived through the horrors of WWII, (living in caves, head lice, starvation, scurvy, personally witnessing friends die in the bombing of Hiroshima) and is physically handicapped and in chronic pain due to rheumatoid arthritis (but she never complains and has little time for self-pity, so no whining, get over it!). So when I told her that I had cried one afternoon, her most loving motherly sympathetic response was: "Why you cry for? You no cry! You no cry! Bobbu okay! He gonna get bettah! So maybe hard now but you haf to be strlong fo Bobbu. Ok? No cly! Bobbu not cly and he hab stroku! You no hab stroku. So you no cly. Be strlong!" Yes, I felt much better after that bit of reality therapy which is also offered without charge. And Sonia (Miss Kidney Transplant girl) also put things into perspective: "Hey, you sound like a new mom. You know, I'm exhausted, I'm confined to this hospital, all's I do is change clothes, blah, blah, blah, wah, wah, wah". So I had to pull myself together, laugh (ha, ha) and remind myself that this will take time (BABY STEPS), every day is a new day, and Bob IS getter better. Besides, it's a lot harder on Bob than it is on me.
So what's happened to the Bob since Friday? Well, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were SUPER days! Bob was a man on fire! His PTs and OTs told him that they love working with him because he's so motivated to do everything they ask. After OT on Saturday, which he loved because he got a massage, his OT had a surprise for him. He's a classical pianist and he played the grand piano for Bob because he heard Bob singing with me in the hallways. The OT had never heard Bob say a word and was excited. Then the Bob started singing with the accompaniment - Amazing Grace (I don't think we'd make it far on American Idol, but hey, it sounds great to me! That's us singing the tunes together.) His PT got him up, standing and shifting weight onto his right side. And oh yes, for the first time, he was able to push with his right leg. It was barely noticeable to me but the PTs were pretty darn excited (I call K the Drill Instructor cuz he makes the Bob move!) Bob took his first real shower which both of us loved! During speech, Bob demonstrated that he could answer comprehension questions administered after hearing a reading passage. Pretty impressive--he was scoring really well. Then, I think he got overly-confident and cocky and didn't think he needed to look at the pictures she was showing and would call out any old answer and look really proud. (OMG! It was like deja vu, the kid in the class who threw out any answer even if it wasn't related to the story we were reading. HA! So, Mr. Man and I had a little talk about not getting too cocky and he did better the next day. Wow!) Anyway, the speech therapist told Bob that he needed to talk alot even if the words coming out don't make sense and to talk loudly. So I told him "Jack and the Beanstalk" and the story of Elizabeth I when I tucked him in that night, I said, "good night, sleep tight, don't let . . . " and he yelled, "BEDBUGS BITE!!" Yes! Bob is a good student!
On Monday, while we waited for the neurology team to make their rounds, I showed Bob how to spell his name on his magnetic board (thanks Laurie and Bryan). And guess what? He wrote and spelled out loud, "B-O-B". Then he wrote, "R-O-B-B-E-R". I think that was "Robert" and then I asked him to write my name and he wrote, "C-H-A-R-O". Yes, now I'm Charo. Cutchee, cuchee! Dr. B. walked in while Bob was writing and got very excited and asked Bob if he could count to 10, to which Bob responded by rolling his eyes and without the doc intiating, started counting out loud, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and on to 10"! So the doc showed him a pen and asked him if he knew what it was and Bob told him "pen" and then the doc asked him what do you do with a pen? Well, bob struggled to tell him and got stuck in his new word (no longer Lorb, it's now YES). So when the doc gave him a carrier phrase, "I write with a _", bob could fill in the blank.
Bill, my bro-in -law who's a doctor, and I got to review Bob's brain scans with the neurologist, and while they looked pretty scary, the neurologist told us that they're VERY optimistic and encouraged with the changes they've observed in the past week. Dr. B. said that with continued therapy, they expect Bob to regain his language, full use of his right leg with a cane and they're feeling trace movement in his right arm. He also told Bob that he is VERY lucky that he has such a strong support network because that will be the key to his recovery. He explained to me and Bob that the plasticity and resiliency of brain will allow it to heal and relearn what's already embedded, but only through regular stimulation. Lucky Bob! I am a taskmaster and he'll come out of this really loving me or really ticked at me for bugging him so much.
Anyway, I called Cathy (Bob's daughter) so that Bob could hear her voice. So Bob told Cathy "I love you" and when she asked him his name, he said "My name is . . . Elizabeth". Great!!! So, of course, that went through the family like wildfire and you know how nothing is sacred to my family. So Jeff stopped by to say, "Dude, when you're home and doing a lot better, I'm gonna start calling you Betsy or Lizzie". Nice.
Cinco de Mayo - Tuesday was not as good a day. Josh went back to NYC. Bob tried his best but both of us were so tired and I just didn't feel up. (That's the day I had mommy therapy.) He worked hard but I was exhausted from changing him six times that day and I could tell he felt badly for me. (Yes, stroke causes incontinence, who knew?? But we both laughed when I told him that when he's home and recovered, he is soooo going to owe me. :) ) So, there I was, crying in the corner while he was sleeping and I fell asleep with his sweatshirt over my head so he couldn't hear or see me. Anyway, I woke up to him patting my head and trying to take the hood off. Bob had managed to roll onto his bad side and was trying to comfort me and then I heard him say really softly and in his most normal voice, "I wish you would lie next to me." Yes he did! He said it! It was Bob! I whipped that sweatshirt off so fast and said "Okay, Bob! Move over! Say it again, Bob!" But he couldn't. So I asked the speech path why that could happen because I am not crazy and imagining things. The speech pathologist said that Bob has islands of language preserved in his brain and when he is at his most relaxed state or an emotional trigger is unleashed, he can speak easily without thinking, just like he always did and that's what they're striving for. But for now, his brain is thinking so hard about the words, the muscles, the tongue. Oh yes! Tuesday was Cinco de Mayo so a mariachi band serenaded the patients. Those of you who Bob well knows that he loved mariachis and mistrels. Whenever they approached us in restaurants, I'd hide my head and say "no, Bob, don't call them over here" and sure enough, he'd pay them to sing a bunch of songs. Well, this time I chased them down to play his favorite song, "Volver, Volver".
Wednesday was another super day! Bob was a man on fire! I've noticed that his brain needs to rest and gear up and so multiple intensive days lead to a slow day so I just have to learn to be patient. (I am not so great at waiting.) Anyway, his new nurse, I., told him that he was going to relearn toileting. Guess what? Bob said "pee and poop" accurately. I never thought I'd be so happy to hear a grown man say those words but I kid you not! I was jubilant! And we made it to the bathroom on time. YEAH! Carrie, he loves your puzzles! We use them to practice recalling shapes and colors. It's the weirdest thing - we think he's reading again because now he follows my reading when I read the menu and he circles the food choice. I'm wondering if he recognizes the first and last letter?? Anyway, the Alpha puzzle is great and we're working on that. Oh yes! Today he pushed the stool forward and back with his right hand, stood in front of the mirror, pretended to shave (using a cone), did extended crossovers. I read books to him (rhyming poems) and he can end each line appropriately. So, really, he is learning at the speed of light.

Well, I'd better get to the hospital. I'll add photos later. Another full day for us.

AND KEEP THOSE PRAYERS COMING! The team has recommended that Bob's in-house therapy be extended because he's making great progress. So pray that the insurance company and whoever else makes decisions concurs. We need the intensive therapies.

Much love to all,

Sharon