Thursday Stevie was moved to a semi-private room – still in ABI. The room she was in is designated for the most difficult cases, a place we all agree she has past. Her new room is spacious as hospital rooms go and her roommate is quiet. Stevie is resting relatively comfortably with significantly less pain when she is still. When moving, the pain is still severe. Her sleep remains fitful with hour naps interrupted by painful waking episodes lasting ~10 minutes.
Though the pattern is similar to past days, her naps were more dependent on pain medication. She seems able to nap more readily without medication now.
She somehow handled her therapies today with positive comments from her speech and physical therapists. They re-evaluated her cognitive abilities having been out of therapy for almost a week (operation and ICU) with some improvement noted. Morning therapies were notably better than afternoon, reasonable given her lack of good solid sleep.
At the recommendation of Stevie’s neuropsychologist, we are beginning to stay only during visiting hours. This is difficult as our empathy conjures up the worst when we are not with her.
Susan’s 40 hour trip to