The Speech Therapist

After about 2 weeks, the rehab unit started to settle in around my husband.  He was now in a private room.  He still did not understand what had happened to him, but he was alert.  His leg was still casted so the amount of physical therapy was limited until it was removed.  He also had restrictions on how far he could be sitting up because of the healing hip and femur. He was breathing better, but required periodic treatments to help keep his airways cleared.  His heart was doing great after the thoracic aorta was repaired.  His ribs were healing.  He still had some problems with blood clots, but that was clearing up.  His arm was not too good.  They discovered that he had a subluxation in his shoulder because of the spasticity, but they put his arm in a sling and taped his shoulder and back. So far so good!  However, his therapist discovered that he was seeing double vision.  So his eyes had to be patched.  He took on the look of a pirate.  So much so, that my brother in law brought in a fake parrot that we attached to his chair.  The unit got a kick out that!  Like I said before, they were learning to enjoy us!  So during this period of time, much of the therapist work was limited, except for the speech therapist.  She really won over my husband.

When my husband worked with her, it was one of the only places I did not tag along to.  Her office was very small and he really needed to focus on her.  He had lots of trouble with aphasia and memory.  Where the psychologist was constantly testing his memory, the speech therapist was working on restoring his own memories.  She worked on helping him remember me, his family, his home and his life.  His memory book was an asset.   He had developed a language all his own at this time.  It was OK because I understood him, although sometimes we had some great difficulties.  She helped him regain his eating abilities.  The food offered at times was so unappetizing, so she would bring him fresh fruit, especially strawberries!  If she gave it to him, it was OK and the nurses on the unit wouldn’t get upset.  However, we did get into a little trouble once.  The speech therapist told us that we could bring him a Wendy’s Frosty.  It was the right consistency and he loved it.  So whoever was passing Wendy’s would bring a Frosty.  However, Nurse Ratchet caught us.  Oh did we receive the third degree.  But the trusty speech therapist came to the rescue!  She just had to put it in the chart and we were good!  His language was really starting to improve.  It was great that she was able to spend so much time with him at this point, because once physical and occupational therapy picked up, her time would be cut down.  So she and my husband developed a wonderful rapport.  He still remembers her fondly.  However, even when he eventually left the hospital and started out-patient rehab, the speech therapist always continued to be his favorite!