Hi all,

On Friday 2/2 I went to Lewis-Gale to meet with a clinical psychologist, and Andrea's therapists, to get their opinions on her condition and prognosis.
They all said that Andrea has made very good recovery so far, and that they are optimistic she will continue to make good progress.  They wouldn't get into specifics of how much recovery she will will
ultimately make- everyone plateaus at a different place.  I'm shooting for full recovery- why not?
Her therapy has three components- speech, occupational and physical.
Her PT- walking, coordination and related activities, is her best area. Her balance is a little  unsteady, so they encourage her to carry a cane, but she doesn't really seem to need it.  We'll take it when we go out of the house, as surfaces will be more uneven and unfamiliar.  She can do
stairs if supervised, but never alone.  They are especially concerned about falls.
Her OT- occupation here means the stuff you do during your average day, like eating, bathing, personal care, getting in and out of cars, and so forth, is pretty good.  She loses track of what she's doing and will sometimes lose focus, or get stuck, or get stuck in a loop, but for the most part is in pretty good shape.  I'm trying to get her to not mess with stoves (kitchen and wood stove), knives, chain and bow saws, and other potentially dangerous objects.  She seems to know she's at risk, so she doesn't seem to want to push it, and unlike her usual self, takes my advice about what she shouldn't be doing.  I'm sure this will.
Her speech is her biggest deficit.  She loses track of what she's saying and often can't find the right word.  She seems to comprehend most of what you say to her, but it helps to speak slowly and with simpler sentences. Here social skills are good, and often she'll act like she understood when
she didn't.  At first I thought this was a memory problem, but they told me it was because she missed it the first time and I didn't notice.
At some point, hopefully very soon, she'll start out-patient therapy at Carilion New River hospital in Radford.  I peeked at her prescriptions, and she appears to get each therapy 3 times a week.  I don't know at this point if she'll get all three at once, or spread out.  So we could have
anything between three and nine round trips to Radford each week. Ideally she'll get them all the same day and I can take her there and work at Radford on my laptop during her sessions.  I don't know yet how long she'll be in rehab at New River.
Andrea currently needs 24/7 supervision.  This basically means sitting near her and making sure she doesn't do anything to injure herself.  My current plan is to move my "office" downstairs to the dining room table so I can be in the same area as her during the day.  (It has the fringe
benefit of being near the wood stove too.)  If I need to go on an errand, she'll go with me, so don't be surprised if you see us around town. Please say "Hi" if you see us.
I'm on the waiting list at VT Adult Day Services.  Once enrolled I can drop her off for up to ten hours a day, and I can then do stuff where I can't take her with me.  I was encouraged by the clinical psychologist to use this program as much as possible, to let me have a chance to take a
break every now and then.  He said the first three months will be hard on both of us, and breaks like this can help a lot.
Andrea also has a chance at getting additional therapy from the Radford University Speech & Communications department.  Andrea's speech therapist at Lewis-Gale graduated from this program.  This sounds like a really good option.
So tomorrow is a day filled with phone calls and errands.  When we get her rehab schedule figured out I'll drop you another quick note.
Many people ask how they can help.  Meals aren't an issue, but my guess is that transportation and supervision might be needed every now and then, depending on her therapy schedule and my work schedule.  As much as it goes against my grain, I'm going to try and ask for help when needed.
Thanks again for all of your support- you've helped immensely.

-John