The wtgs could use your long distance support
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Mr wtg has been going to day rehab three times a week since he got home in early April. PT, OT, and SLP, though the speech therapy was dropped after 20 visits.
He's made good progress on the PT/walking front, though he still requires someone to be close by and help him a bit when the right leg doesn't quite follow through. He's gone on a muscle relaxant to help with post-stroke spasticity; it's helped quite a bit. And he's going to be fitted with a custom brace to help with the foot drop.
Occupational therapy was kind of a bummer yesterday. The various therapy disciplines do an evaluation every 10th visit to see how things are progressing; that was yesterday. They indicated that his right arm isn't really responding to all the therapies that they were throwing at it. Mr wtg has been diligent about doing the exercises, mirror box therapy, and imagery, but there hasn't been much progress in the arm. While Mr wtg had kind of sensed that, it was hard to hear it from the "expert". And she didn't do a good job of talking about their assessment of his status; he was totally bummed.
But then, maybe an hour after we got home...
The doorbell rang and when I answered it, a nice looking man about our age said "I'm a classmate of Mr wtg. My name is Larry S". I had heard stories about the legendary Larry, so of course I invited him in to visit. He and Mr wtg hadn't been in touch since college. Mr wtg was totally thrilled to see him again.
The guy is a force of nature. He's married to a former reporter for the Irish broadcaster RTE.
https://magill.ie/archive/alleluia-carole
She's written three books, and Larry brought us her most recent one, which is a diary of life during the first three months of COVID. They moved to her home town in Ireland after Sandy Hook; they had two adopted daughters from Russia and decided they wanted to be elsewhere, so they moved .
The story gets better...
I had forgotten that Larry is an MD and I asked him what his specialty was. Lo and behold, he is a retired neurosurgeon who used to place stents in people's carotid and cerebral arteries. Talk about serendipity! He was much more encouraging about the possibility of Mr wtg's arm regaining function, and he encouraged him to keep at it. "I've seen miracles. Don't give up." He also told him that he was doing really well considering where in the brain the stroke was. "The 1%".
Such a happy day. And he stopped by again today and visited for a while longer. He's in town for his aunt's funeral. Apparently he has been back in the area many times and kept thinking about stopping by, but thought he might not be welcomed with open arms because of the long hiatus in communication. His wife finally said to him, "Just do it. It will be fine."
She was right.
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@wtg what a great photo!!
I'm really sorry to hear about the OTist. The "way" things are said is of paramount importance, and some medical professionals do better than others. There were two people involved in my brother's care who, when delivering a status assessment, were so careless and unkind that I was very tempted to file a formal complaint, but my mother talked me out of it. And btw, their message was basically "give up." It was truly, truly awful.
So I am doubly happy that you then had such a wonderful surprise visit! And that his message was "don't give up."
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I'm late to this thread. I'm so sorry to read about Mr. wtg's troubles, but I love the gift of being back in touch with his friend. And I'm so glad he's got encouraging observations to offer!
I'm sending up all the vibes, prayers, and thoughts possible for his continued recovery and also for you.
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