Wednesday, October 6, 2010

I went up to the hospital this morning at 7:30. Leslie was sound asleep. Our cousin, Michelle, had spent the night with her and said she had a pretty good night. They watched one of Leslie's favorite movies, La Bamba, together, and Michelle was quizzing Leslie on what happened next. Leslie always knew.

When Leslie woke up around 9, she smiled really big at me and said, "Hi, Laura!" then said to her nurse, "That's my little sister, Laura!" This was the first time she said who I was without me asking her. I was very happy.

She was really sweet all morning. I fed her her breakfast of scrambled eggs and hash browns. I kept spilling pieces of food on her and she said something along the lines of "How long am I going to be embarrassing for?" I told her she wasn't embarrassing at all, and she said "I'm the girl who is embarrassing because I spill food all over myself." When she says stuff like that, it makes me believe that she realizes she says things wrong and she can't help it.

I had to leave around 11 because my mom was watching Allison and I would have to get Ethan from school. Before I left, I asked Leslie to take a picture with me. George was the photographer. Before we snapped the picture, I told Leslie to show me her smile. She kept giving me this really awkward, goofy smile. I would tell her, "No, smile natural!" and she would say through clenched teeth, "I AM smiling natural!" Finally, as we were cheek to cheek, she kissed me and George snapped the picture. It's probably one of my most favorite pictures ever. I posted it below.

Physical therapy worked with her and got her up in a chair. Apparently when they were walking her to the chair, she said "I feel like I haven't walked in weeks!" Silly girl. She seems to have lost a lot of her short term memory. Short term as in, the last 5 or so years. She knows me and my parents, but being married to George is really hazy, along with both of my kids. She also didn't know she had a house or what she did for a living. She also recognizes family members, like Aunts, Uncles, and cousins. We are working on getting her to feed herself. She takes her Dilantin (anti-seizure medication) in a syringe now, and the nurses make her give it to herself. She does that well. She reads amazingly well, but can't seem to remember how to write. She also is speaking Spanish, but just very basic phrases.

The cardiologist team met with her husband today. I really wanted to be there, but I was unable to, so I texted George a gazillion questions to ask. They WILL be inserting a defibrillator, but they need her PTT (lab that measures how thin her blood is) to be within a very narrow margin so as soon as that happens, the surgery will be a go. It'll likely be towards the end of this week or early next week. I asked about the PVCs and it turns out her heart wasn't doing that. It was going into ventricular tachycardia, which is much worse. The last time her heart did that was on October 3rd. It hasn't done it since. We were told it will "hurt like hell" when the defibrillator fires off. There is a chance it'll never fire, but if it does, it will hopefully save her life.

Once the defibrillator is in place, she will likely be discharged to a rehab facility to regain her strength and other ADLs (activities of daily living). She has such a long road ahead of her, but she is doing it!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Laura,

I LOVE the picture. She looks so much better from when I was there less than two weeks ago. The prayers are working. We don't stop! I am going to try and come up on Sunday to bring the pictures of the school and staff. Hopefully that will help. If people want that sooner, let me know!
-Shannon McNamara

Calicocath said...

It is so good to be reading of Leslie's progress. I know it is not happening fast enough for those who love and care for her, but she is on her way. Not a day passes that I do not think of her and pray for her. I go to a really large church that has her on the prayer chain, too. God is in control and we will see the day when this will all be a bad memory from the past. Until then, be strong and cling to one another and the One who loves us all.

John Rosati said...

im praying praying praying for her. Everyday. I was never close to Leslie, but i always appreciated her kind and sweet heart. I work at the henry ford hospital in detroit, and would like to do whatever i could to help you, i just dont know how to go about it. Im so greatful to hear the progress. Lets keep it going Leslie!
If theres anything i might be able to help with, please let me know.
John Rosati 313-595-1985

Anonymous said...

Laura,
Okay this posting made me cry like a baby. Leslie looks really good in this picture and you have a wonderful glow about you. I have kept on praying for all of you and it looks like a lot of other people are not giving up on prayer for you guys god is hearing us. I wish you would call me. If i can't talk to you I at least hope that you are reading this. I feel like Leslie will get all of her memory back soon.

melissa

Tom said...

That's a great photo! Big hugs to all of you.
Tom Harvan

Anonymous said...

Laura,

Leslie looks wonderful! To me it sounds like nowhere but up from here,she seems to be doing great from what i read from FB and your blog. Which btw is a wonderful thing you are doing to keep us all updated.I really want to visit Leslie more but i've been having my own things to deal with which makes it hard for me to get down there. But if you could please give her a big hug n kiss for me n tell her i love her n can't wait to see her again!


Love you guys,

Aprilla Walker