Hello!

Published Sep 3, 2001

348 Posts

Hi everybody... I just wanna ask, if anybody who works Rehab could scootch down to it eventually... I posted a poll, and I kinda need some responses...

aside from that, I've a bit of a vent/'why I love rehab' thingie...

I have a 44F pt with DX of Glioblastoma with L hemiparesis....

She's been afflicted for nearly 21 years, and her mom faithfully takes care of her... which, is nice...

Now, she's been on our unit for nearly 32 days, total time in the hospital is bordering on 2 1/2 months... she was vented for about 3 weeks, and now has mrsa in the sputum...

She is lonely.... I dont blame her, as she has no visitors aside from her family...

Every day, I see improvement... I've been working with her for 12 days so far... She was an artist, still loves to sketch, but for her to do so, requires careful positioning, as well as taping her paper to the table... For hours, she will draw, and it is at this point where she seems the most well, the most normal... it is nice...

I was talking to her, and she spoke about how her bro never brought her the coffee he said he would... I made her a cup, and thickened it up... I hung out with her instead of taking my break, and we talked art, old movies, and music... to be so alive, but confined in such a body can be so difficult to see, to believe... But, to her it is life, and for every breath she takes, she cherishes the moment... gesturing with her cup, held in her right hand, her eyes alight... looking truely alive for the first time in days... Speaking full, clear sentences... albiet slowly, they were perfect in every way...

And at the end of our conversation, as the calls of my name turned into pages and yells, she thanked me for the coffee... that it was her first cup in 3 months.... and it was the best she had ever had...

It made my day...

To talk with her... to HEAR her.... to see now what she could do that she could not do but only 1 week ago... I thought, for a minute that it was a miracle... but, thinking more accurately... I now believe, that its her strong will to survive... as well as the rehab thats making her better....

*sigh... thats my story of the evening... It was nice...

--Barbara

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