Helen's Hope

Helen's Hope: August 2014

Wednesday 27 August 2014

August 27 2014

My friend has arrived at Holy Cross today with her boy!!  He looks terrified but will soon settle in.

Helen has had a hair cut!  Her hair is even more curly then before.  

The nurse in charge spoke about quiet time for all residents to avoid over stimulation.  They propose individually tailored times.  Helen's would probably be after morning care, after lunchtime and early evening after going to bed.  The proposal is that there will be no tv or interruptions.  I think it's a great idea.

Helen is being trialled with a neck collar to stop her head going forward as she is developing a sore/mark on her chin from resting on her Swedish nose!  They have tried tipping her chair back, reclining the headrest and other methods.  They cannot use a headband yet because of her operation.

Her bloods came back - 83 in hospital, 86 when she came back, 93 from the test last week and another test was taken yesterday.  Hopefully they can avoid ferrous sulphate.

She had another fit on Monday lasting over 3 minutes.  She had buccal midazolam and then vomited! 

She went up to cooking on yesterday and was smiling at the lady running it.

I have taken one of her blouses to see if I can alter it because she has put on weight and it is cutting in!  I have taken in 2 duvet covers and pillow cases for her to make her room a bit more homely.

Tuesday 19 August 2014

August 19 2014

On doctors round today we talked about flotrons (circulation boosters like people wear in hospital) because Helen's feet and legs are always cold. When she was in Southampton this time, her feet were warm all the time.  They have agreed to try stockings first and see how that goes. I told Dr that I was really worried because of her diabetes and her young age that the slow circulation would be very detrimental to her feet! 

They are going to let her settle for about a month then start thinking about other things.  Judi says they will reassess her in a couple of weeks. 

Some of the other things they are considering working in on in the near future:

Trachy weaning
Cutting/grafting/transplanting her ankle tendons so that her foot drop can be corrected.