Sunday & Monday Update

June 22 & 23, 2008

by Judy

On Sunday, Carl and Judy attended churches in North Manchester and Lafayette respectively, so they arrived later than usual at the hospital. Doreen was awake, wearing her glasses, and asking questions. She had been expressing concerns to the nurses that she had responsibilities for the memorial service for Sandra Borgmann. That memorial service will take place on June 29, and Doreen would have been involved with planning the service and reception, and she is not quite convinced that she will not be able to take that role.

Judy had not seen Doreen for a few days, and she found her to be stronger and more conversant than when they had last been together. It is important to mention that Doreen asked about Judy's health and wanted an update on issues she had dealt with. Doreen is still very much the caregiver.

On Monday, Doreen was still talking about what she needed to do to get ready for the memorial service. The family promised to try to record the service so that she can expeience it, but we acknowledged that it will be very difficult for her to miss this event. Later in the morning, Doreen talked with granddaughter Amanda on the phone (a very coherent conversation), and said that she hoped she and Grandpa Carl would be able to visit Amanda in New York on the way to or from the church's Annual Conference in July at Richmond, Virginia. We have not yet discussed the fact that she will not be able to attend that event, either. There are many disappointments that everyone will need to face over time.

Also on Monday, Dr. Kachmann visited and gave the order to clamp the drain. This will continue for 24 to 48 hours unless there is a need to do something different earlier. They will look for headaches, excessive drowsiness, or loss of the some of the gains Doreen has made. If any of those things occur, they will reopen the drain. We believe they will also do another CT scan on Tuesday (or later) to see if there is an accumulation of fluid. Either of those outcomes would provide evidence of the need of a shunt. If Doreen does well and shows no additional accumulation of fluid during this period (and maybe a little longer), they will assume that she does not need the shunt. So now we wait.

One of the challenges at this point is keeping Doreen eating. She does not have a lot of appetite, and she has lost weight. We continue to try to find things that interest her, and we continue to offer the magic mandarine oranges, but she does need more than that!

The speech therapist who visited on Monday focused on cognitive functioning rather than speaking and swallowing. Doreen did very well with correcting senctences that did not make sense and identifying the advantages and disadvantages of various situations. The area in which she struggled involved using her eyes. She continues to keep her eyes closed much of the time, and that seems to be causing some confusion. We realized that she was making a lot of assumptions from short glances and not carefully looking at the things around her or by not looking at all. So, for example, she said that there were 5 chairs in her room, even though there were only 2. So looking and interpreting things around her will be major tasks in the near future.

On Tuesday, Judy needs to be at work, so the family is taking a one-day break from visiting the hospital. Carl has been there every day since May 30, so family mimbers are encouraging him to think about other things and to further explore the Timbercrest Retirement Community. So he will be there spending time with friends, and he and Judy will check in with each other again in the evening and travel together to Ft. Wayne on Wednesday morning, hoping to hear the verdict after the drain was clamped. It is difficult to be away from Doreen, but it is also important that the family keep the rest of their lives in balance. Note that anyone who would like to visit the hospital may want to wait until Wednesday or later when family members will be available.