We've reached a milestone: Joy had her feeding j-tube removed on Tuesday the 31st. This is the last of all the tubes and drains that were inserted last year during the holiday season. At one time it seemed she must have been hooked up to at least ten tubes, drains, or wires. We've slowly eliminated them over the year. We've also stopped using the wheel chair, the food pump, a walker, and the hoyer lift. The only medical equipment we have left in the house are the bed with rails and a raised toilet seat with arms.
The tube was removed at Scripps Green in La Jolla. We went there in the afternoon after Joy had therapy in the morning at Scripps Encinitas. We had an hour to wait so we took a walk into the ICU wing where Joy spent the entire month of February last year. We saw at least four of her nurses. They were thrilled to see her and genuinely surprised she was doing so well. We also saw one of the floor doctors who was astonished at how much progress she had made. I was remembered as the husband who played guitar for my wife as she lay there mostly unaware of what was happening to her. The floor doctor said, "She's gotten so much better because of all that guitar playing you did for her!" Despite Joy's condition, those were good, hopeful days because she had a good man, Dr. Sanchez, caring for her and doing everything he could to relieve the pressure on her brain. I felt she was making progress daily. She had a beautiful room that overlooked the Torrey Pines golf course and the ocean. I remember watching the hang gliders fly over the ocean during the days when the wind picked up.
Last week she was fitted with an orthopedic boot to help eliminate some deformation in her right foot, which doesn't show when she walks but spasms and curls under tightly when she is sitting with her feet raised. Her toes are also tightly curled. She was fitted for the boot last week. The technician thinks her foot will resume its normal shape in a few months if we use the boot according to instructions. She will have to start sleeping with it on next week. For the time being we put it on her for a few hours a day.
The physical therapist is also going to put in a request for a prescription for occupational therapy, so now when we make the hour-long drive to Encinitas, Joy will be able to have one hour each of physical, speech, and occupational therapy. That is where I'm placing my hopes for a significant recovery in the future. The Scripps Rehab facility at Encinitas specializes in patients suffering from brain injury and, I'm told, is one of the best there is. I usually go down to the clinic with Joy and either Sue or Natalie. We watch the therapists work with Joy and learn things we can do with her when we are at home with her.
It was a good week.
Love from us to you all,
Doug and Joy
