Saturday Update

June 28, 2008

by Judy

We have been told by many as we began this journey involving brain trauma to expect good days and bad days—2 steps forward and one step back. Well, today was at least one step back. The nurses could not wake Doreen enough to give her breakfast, and we could get almost no response from her. She had a slightly elevated temperature that became a fever as the day went on. The doctors decided to get another CT scan.

It is unfortunate that this “down” day came when two of the grandchildren came to visit. Kelsey and Amanda came from New Jersey and New York respectively to visit their grandmother (and their parents). There were some advantages to this situation, too, however, as the granddaughters were able to do some very basic care with their grandmother, including feeding her some Jello and ice cream, rubbing her legs, and trying to keep her appropriately warm without being too hot.

The family was still awaiting some explanation for why this lethargy occurred and what was causing the fever as the day ended. We were all thinking as we were reluctantly preparing to leave for the evening that steps sideways would be easier to handle emotionally than steps backwards. Then, amazingly, she wakened a bit, she looked at her granddaughters, she held their hands, and she talked a little bit. She also asked about any cards and listened (and commented) as they were read to her. Whew! It was a great relief for everyone after a day of inactivity and overt quietness. (And yes, don’t doubt that one can be overtly quiet.)