The bright side of Saturday evening is that Riza continues to improve and think on a very high level. She made a few more jokes with hand gestures, executing a perfect "whoop-de-do" for the royal wedding. (For being something of anglophiles, neither of us get into the trappings of the monarchy much.)
Her speech improves, and her writing is still there. She spoke quite a bit with her sister, Rika, yesterday, and made some jokes as well. Those who know me will not be surprised that I think of jokes as the highest mental activity. It was without question a day of distinct improvements, both in mental acuity and physical progress with occupational, speech, and physical therapists.
The dark side is that she knows enough to be scared. She asked me a few questions about my grandmother. My maternal grandmother has a bad reaction to some anti-coagulants after a successful hip surgery. I was just twelve or so, but for three years she hung on in a near-vegetative state.
She asked a few questions about my grandmother, and mentioned Becky's grandmother. I know that these questions reflect her seeing herself as a burden, and I have tried my best to make it clear how well she is doing. I say "You had a stroke and it was very bad, but you have done well every day since then."
Good to have her back so far so quickly, but there is a long road ahead.
Posted by jk at April 9, 2005 11:37 PM