I know I have repeatedly asked for prayers for Joy’s aphasia/cognitive/language center healing and since Joy had yet another challenging day in that area, I thought it might be helpful if I provided a bit more context for Joy’s current deficits. In therapy today Joy was not able to name colors when they were pointing out. She cannot say a letter of the alphabet when pointed to. She cannot read a sentence like, “My name is Joy,” without significant prompting. She cannot say her birthdate when asked, she is only now starting to say her name when asked, most of the time, but not always. She cannot say the number of children she has. Most of the time she cannot say what town she lives in. She cannot name simple objects in pictures she is shown. She even struggles to repeat back words that have been said to her. The therapist may say “can you say bicycle,” and Joy will say, “medication.”
Now, before I go further, I want to express how very very thankful I am that Joy recognizes me, receives from me, and expresses love to me, and that we can function quite well in the moment with the basics of life like eating, sleeping, going to the bathroom, showering, getting dressed, even talking about going home. But since Joy does not currently recognize words, she can’t read. Since she has trouble comprehending what she sees, she can’t track with tv shows, movies, news reports or other media. Even pictures of friends and family are comprehended sometimes and other times not so much. Again, I am so thankful for the tender, in the moment, times of expressing love and solidarity in persevering through this, but as you can see from the above, Joy still has a long long journey despite the impressive physical gains in strength and mobility.
Joy did have a positive day in PT and OT. I helped Joy shower again today and we were cleared to do showers whenever we want on our own. Joy made a bed, cleaned up a kitchen counter, and hung up clothes. We’re also allowed to leave the floor now so we can go to the Panera that’s in the hospital or to the observation area on the 7th and 8th floors or the Heart Hospital which offers a beautiful view of the surrounding area. In PT Joy worked primarily on balance where she continues to improve.
But while OT and PT were positive, we unfortunately, had what feels like a setback regarding Joy’s PEG (feeding) tube. We have been repeatedly told that as soon as we got to today, 6 weeks since the tube was inserted, it would be easily removed by interventional radiology in the simplest of procedures. In fact, that it maybe could even happen as soon as today. And, had the tube been placed here at Abbott that would have been the case. However, apparently Florida does things differently, so today we learned that a general surgeon has to be consulted to do the eventual removal for which we ask your urgent prayers that the removal can still be accomplished before our discharge date.
Once again, I am saying, “once again,” to how much we appreciate and value your faithful and persistent prayers for Joy’s many needs and those of our family.