3-29-2022 Rehab is going well so far

(Tricia)

It has been three days since Linda arrived at Barnes-Jewish Extended Care, and I have been impressed with the care she has received so far. The place isn't nearly as, well, lively as NHC St. Charles ... if a skilled nursing facility can be described as lively! At NHC, the mood was very informal, with a lot of friendly conversations and joking around with the nurses, CNAs, and therapists. We enjoyed these interactions, but as I've made clear in previous posts, that level of informality had some serious downsides, in that some aspects of Linda's care that I thought were important got overlooked.

The mood is decidedly different at BJEC. Everyone is friendly but focused. There is a more serious attitude at BJEC that was missing at NHC. The evaluations, therapy sessions, and intake process have all been more organized and task-oriented. Just as in the first two months at NHC, Linda is once again seeing physical, occupational, and speech therapists daily. She's also seeing a respiratory therapist. However, when they come into the room, it's clear they have a job to do. They seem genuinely focused on the task at hand, they take detailed notes, and they set out next steps before they leave. 

I stayed with Linda most of the day yesterday and today, just so I could see how everything works and help Linda get settled--and of course, talk her into therapy if she objects!  Today, for example, the speech therapist worked with Linda on very direct tasks related to her organization and aphasia. Linda did most of these activities with her eyes closed, but with a little coaxing, she did them. Then, the occupational therapist, a delightful man originally from Kenya, came in. He talked gently to Linda to win her over. She was a little reluctant to participate at first, but between the two of us, we were able to convince her to let us support her as she stood with the walker for a few seconds. And then two physical therapists came in later and helped her sit up and stand three more times, before running through some exercises. She even thanked them as they left!  

And remember how much trouble I had with the dietician at NHC, who said they "didn't do special diets" for diabetics? BJEC's dietician came to Linda's room today and not only said that Linda will be on a diabetic diet where "sugar-intense" foods would be limited, but also asked if there were any foods Linda did not like. When I told her fish, she immediately said, "I'll make a note--if fish is on the menu, they will automatically swap it out for something else." She asked if Linda liked breakfast, and when I told her Linda tended not to be hungry in the morning, she said, "I'll make a note--if she doesn't feel like eating breakfast, it's OK if she have a meal replacement drink instead."

I wanted to hug her. I didn't. But I wanted to. :-)

In the first day or two that Linda was here, I missed NHC's light-heartedness. But now that I'm seeing how things are run at BJEC, I can see that this organized approach could end up being much better for Linda's recovery, not only from her hip surgery, but from her brain injury as well.

We didn't have a great deal of choice of where Linda went after her discharge from Missouri Baptist, but I'm grateful that this option opened up at the very last minute. BJEC could turn out to be a great place for Linda's particular needs.

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