There were no apparent changes in Vickie's situation or condition today.

There were no new issues for Vickie to deal with. That means it was a good day.

Vickie continues to up the ante on food, having a regular sandwich for dinner. The use of the feeding tube should end very soon.
Vickie has started to notice her surroundings more and commenting on what she thinks she sees.
In December Vickie has several appointments she must travel to. It might be time to look for a low cost wheelchair van to buy.

Apparently the staff doesn't believe Vickie is consuming enough food at her meals. The tube feeding has been restarted. We think they aren't seeing the situation as we do. She feeds herself, not quickly or neatly, but she gets the job done. She never has been a big eater. It's institutional food, who wants to eat a lot of that?
Otherwise is was a good day.

Things calmed down today, Vickie ate her meals and kept them down. She talked plenty with her visitors and then was relaxed at bedtime.
The confusion continues and Vickie is aware that she has problems remembering and organizing her thoughts.

Vickie fed herself Thanksgiving dinner today, however for some reason she was unable to keep it down. She was very sleepy all day, either from the anti-nausea medication or possibly a virus.

Vickie seems to have settled into a routine. Three meals a day on schedule, gradually moving to more conventional food.
Her writing is becoming more legible.

For dinner this evening Vickie was fed by her therapist food that wasn't pureed, but chopped very fine. The pace of improvement is increasing.
We've gone several days without any serious problems.

The house Dr. visited Vickie this morning. The daily inhaler treatment and the blood sugar tests are terminated. There will be no more feeding thru the tube as long as she continues to eat regular food. The tube will remain in case of a setback.

Tonight Vickie was more quiet and lucid than usual, less anxiety and more thought out remarks.

Vickie spent the day eating, sitting in her chair writing,napping and talking, at times with visitors sometimes without visitors.
The confusion is constant and there are times of anxiety, possibly the two are related.

Vickie is eating more of her meals. She is attempting to feed her self. She now drinks from a cup that she can pick up on her own. Maybe the feeding tube's days are numbered.

The end of Vickie's fifth month of recovery passed by last week without mention. Sometimes the remarkable progress she is making is lost on those of us who see her daily, as we get caught up in the immediate issues she must constantly deal with.

Vickie is continuing with her eating binge. The amount she eats is gradually increasing. The current schedule is for three meals a day with an aide feeding her.

Vickie has been experiencing some severe anxiety episodes. Not sure what the cause is.

Everything went well today.
Vickie is starting to eat more varieties of food. She can hold her own glass to drink now. It's possible she may not need the feeding tube in a few weeks.
She was alert and talkative again today, however the confusion is still a major problem.
Vickie has a tentative December appointment to be evaluated for the R.I.O. program. Hopefully she will progress enough in the next weeks to qualify for their therapy.

No stress for Vickie today. This evening she was alert and talkative.

Vickie spent half an hour on the stand-up platform this morning. Apparently the effort wore her out, she was very tired the rest of the day.

Vickie had a good day, no crisis or new problems.

Vickie had good interaction with her visitors today.

The speech therapy Dr. was in this evening. Vickie had a bowl of tomato soup with crackers, a sandwich and ice cream to finish it off. Her ability to eat is not in question, however her cognitive awareness is still not where it needs to be for her to eat on her own.

Like many others, Vickie seems to have a head cold, but it's not having a serious effect, at least for now.

Vickie had a good calm day.

Vickie had a quiet day, sleeping more than usual. There were times of increased agitation, probably due to the confusion she is experiencing.

As Vickie's recovery continues, the medical issues are not as critical as they were previously. Now her mental status is more apparent. She is experiencing confusion as to her situation and she's becoming frustrated with her inability to sort things out in her mind. This is probably normal for someone with her condition, but it's still troubling to us.

While the physical therapy has been temporarily discontinued, Vickie is still learning to eat and drink again.
There were no negative events so it was a good day.

Vickie's condition seems to have stabilized. No crisis today.
Therapy has been discontinued for a while until her cognitive ability improves.

Vickie will have an evaluation by a Dr. from R.I.O. in December.

Physical therapy was resumed this morning. Vickie did well.
This evening she was able to eat more food. It may have been too much, too soon, since she wasn't able to keep it down.
Vickie has a fever again, like before, we don't know why.

Vickie was quiet or sleeping much of the day, probably due to the anti-anxiety medication she received last night. This evening she was awake and talking some.

Vickie had a session with her speech therapist. She had some soup and used a straw to drink this evening. The next hurdle is for Vickie to feed herself and be rid of the feeding tube.

While Vickie has moments when she seems completely lucid, at other times she tends to be somewhat confused about her situation. This week she has at times complained of head pain. Given her circumstance this can be an alarming symptom to us. It's difficult to determine the difference between what is really occurring and that which is the product of her mind's disorganized state. The staff wants to react to her complaints, using medication without any further investigation.

The evaluator for R.I.O. determined that Vickie is not ready for their program just yet. The R.I.O. therapy is more intensive, for a longer duration each day and much more expensive than what Vickie is undergoing now. Also a follow up plan for Vickie's care will need to be presented that's appropriate for her when she is discharged.

A strenuous therapy session for Vickie this morning.
No word on the R.I.O. evaluation yet.

Vickie had a visit with the evaluator for R.I.O. today. This is the first step to moving to Good Sam. for full time therapy. We'll get her initial opinion tomorrow to find out how much more Vickie needs to be able to do in order to make the transition.

Vickie was very tired after her triple session of therapies today. She has received authorization for 7 days to see how she responds.

Vickie had another quiet day.
No word on the therapy issue.