karenulijohn

Harvey received two hydration treatments last week and is due for two more this week.  He seems to be benefitting from them in that he now has periods where his energy level rises, and he is more aware of other things going on around him.  Unfortunately, he still feels the need to sleep a lot of the time, but I’m hoping that is a necessary part of his recovery.  Of course, laying in bed for hours has a way of depleting muscle tone and strength.  I believe this is the next key element that needs attention, particularly in view of the fact that Harvey fell early this afternoon and bruised and scraped his arm just above the elbow.  I managed to stop the bleeding and bandaged him up as best I could.  He insisted that he had not felt faint before falling, but was simply not strong enough to balance on one leg while trying to get dressed.  I have since written to the doctor asking if Harvey might benefit from some physical therapy, and I’m anxiously awaiting his response.

In the meantime, I have shown Harvey some exercises using a resistance band, and he is walking to the end of the street and back.  Because I was worried about him, I watched as he made his way up the street and thought to myself how far away he was and how ‘little’ he looked.  This is hearkening back to when I sent Dawn off to school on the “Tube” for the first time.  Speaking of Dawn, she suggested that her father rate each day with a smiley face or a sad face depending on how he feels in order to gain perspective on his progress to getting well.  I mentioned that sometimes he feels good in the morning, but by the afternoon, he feels awful.  She then suggested he add an arrow up, down or sideways to depict good, bad, or the same respectively.  We all laughed at the likelihood of any of this happening, but after we hung up, Harvey said that he was thinking about how to create a data sheet that would have all kinds of arrows and figures, going every which way, each one representing some aspect of his recovery.  He would then give it to her to analyze and present in a useful way.  His enjoyment of that exchange was music to my ears.

A couple of nights ago I had to speak sharply to Harvey about the importance of his participation in his own recovery.  I felt as though I was running my legs off doing things for him and wracking my brain for food ideas to tempt his non-existent appetite, when in fact, I was enabling him in becoming an invalid.  He must have taken to heart what I said because he awoke the next morning, got his own breakfast, and ate it without staring at it for 30 minutes and pushing it around the plate.  That is also when he decided he would walk to the end of the block every day.  I view this as his way of taking back some of his control, and that’s a good thing.  I never wanted to be the controlling partner in this operation!