I had therapy 2 times each morning and 2 times each afternoon, a total of 4 hours, 6 days per week. I vuguely remember being asked to stack some brightly colored small plastic cones one on top of another and to get them off a shelf and then to put them back so I must have been standing and since I still had no use of my right arm, I must have been using my left. I remember being on the exercise mat, they were royal blue, But just what I did on them, I haven't a clue. After I started talking, I was taken to the therapy "play" kitchen and asked the names of common kitchen items. One day we even played dominoes, I lost. Never was very good at them anyway. When I was taken back to my room before lunch I was asked to remain in my wheelchair as long as I could. I just couldn't do it for very long and usually begged to be put back to bed after about 15 minutes. I didn't realize it would strengthen my back muscles both those affected by by stroke and those weakened by lack of use. I do remember well the parallel bars, in fact in this physical part of my therapy they are the only thing I'm not "fuzzy" about. Maybe it's because they were positively the most difficult thing so far. In fact the week I was discharged, I could only manage 5 baby steps and that was with a lot of help.

My PEG tube was removed and my diet was changed to a regular diet, still with some restrictions that were to continue even after going home, no straws, no nuts, no chips, nothing that would tend to stick in the throat and no pills larger than half an asprin. I soon found out that anything made with cornmeal was for me a major offender in the "things that would tend to stick in the throat" category. I was still having problems clearing my throat and cornmeal just seemed to stick there for what seemed like an hour and felt like sand.

Mike was spending nights on a roll-a-way bed in my room. He would get out during the day, doing things at the farm. He removed the cement steps that had been at the front door and built a porch that is wide enough for my wheelchair and a ramp to that porch. He had to widen the doorway to the bathroom. There is a level change between our kitchen and den, so he built a short ramp there. He installed grab bars in the bathroom and beside my favorite chair. He also built a large box to elevate that chair so I wouldn't have trouble getting out of it.

I couldn't yet even get out of bed yet without help so, Mike definitely had a positive attitude! I know that he was tired and he wasn't sleeping well but I kept begging him to stay. I was miserable having to sleep on my back, a least favored position and.... I was afriaid of being alone, of facing the unknown, of not waking up tomorrow.

There is one thing I forgot to mention, I couldn't/wouldn't use the phone. If I tried to dial someone, the numbers just didn't make sense and I dialed them in the wrong order. If it rang, I would just let it ring. If Mike answered it first, then I would talk, but only for a few moments. It was as if I just couldn't think of anything to say. The keyword here is Think. I just couldn't THINK period.

A few days before I went home a training session was given for Mike and one alternate caregiver to teach them how to lift/move me, get me into/out of the bath, wheelchair, bed and car. They asked some questions about our bed, how high was it and which side did I sleep on? I didn't realize the true importance of these questions until I was more mobile. My feet rest comfortably flat on the floor with knees not higher than hips, no problems there. But which side of the bed I sleep on is entirely another story. I used to sleep with my right side(now affected) toward the edge of the bed. I find it almost impossibble to get up on that side but much, much easier to do when I sleep on the other side with my unaffected side facing out.

When I went home, I could talk, eat, sit in my wheelchair or other chair about 30 minutes, push myself around in my wheel chair using my good foot and hand for steering, turn on unaffected side, if provided balance I could stand up or turn and sit, bathe myself though I still needed a little help washing my hair, understand and follow instructions.

I still couldn't walk, use any part of my right arm or hand, reposition myself in the bed, sit up, think in a logical way, remember anything for more than perhaps 15 minutes or understand numbers.

Admission Date 3/23/04

Discharge Date 5/01/04