Amanda had a very brief session today with the physio who has been to see and assess her pretty much every day so far. He assessed her grip strength and the ability to move her left leg at the ankle and knee. He also noted her pupils look to the left. This is because her brain has ‘forgotten’ she has a right side so we need to encourage her to follow with her eyes as we move a hand across from her left, right across to her right side.
She had the arterial line in her wrist and the blood pressure monitor removed today and so now just has the line in giving her insulin as the line in her nose feeding her is mucking up her blood sugars (common occurrence). The heart monitor also remains in place for now.
She was pushing her glasses up her nose as she sat in the chair for the afternoon, and was clearly mouthing ‘yes’ and ‘OK’ to me, as the trachie tube is still preventing speech. They also moved the bag collecting the fluid draining from her brain higher to test the pressure. The pressure was very low which means it will be safe to remove the drain, probably tomorrow. Once that’s gone the physio can work on getting her on her feet for the first time in 2 weeks to check which way she falls so they can start work on some serious rehab.
Lots of small steps, each one leaving her too tired to attempt the next for at least 15 minutes. But it’s a start!
The Blue Banana Diaries 
This could be each one of us! So good she has you by her side!
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