WE ARE HERE! Finally, after so long waiting, we are here. Dad got moved to Putney hospital - The Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability on the 16th April 2012. He has been doing so well. After a few weeks there however he was taken to Kingston hospital having an acute infection however he recovered quickly.
Since moving to Putney, dad has improved faster than we ever thought he would. He is now nodding and shaking his head which has majorly improved communication and smiling. For the first time in what feels like years we've heard him laugh too. We've also seen movement in his foot. To some people this might not seem so big, but to us it's everything.
A few weeks ago me, my sister and 2 beautiful nieces went to sit with dad in one of his eye gaze session. The eye gaze is a system that tracks the movement of the eye to allow the user to control a computer simply with eye movement. It's amazing stuff. Dad decided to show off during the session. The nurses that were in with us were showing us how it works and asked us to ask dad a question so he could use the eye gaze to spell out the answer. We asked dad what airline did granddad work for. His reply was pan america airlines worldwide. Pan-am would have worked perfectly fine too :P he also spelt out our granddads name.
Last week when I went in to see him hoping to get there for another eye gaze session, dad was having a small session with one of the speech therapists working with dad on mouth exercises. He had to open, close, smile, pucker and try move his tongue. Apparently he had been practicing a lot. He really wants to start eating and drinking proper now. After he was done with the exercises he was given teaspoons of lemonade, which he took 4 full teaspoons of and choked only once.
Well done dad, we're proud of you! <3
Tuesday, 17 July 2012
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Locked-in Update!
Ok so I haven't been able to update this thing in awhile because so much has been happening, so where do I start? Well, my sister had been emailing all of our dads previous work friends from IBM to inform them whats happened and to get a few nice memories from them to tell dad about hoping that it may help him. Only a few days later, she got a call from some people saying they've recieved emails from IBM workers over the world about dad to get him help. This help was technology that could allow him to write emails of his own and surf the internet with eye movement, you know similar to the one in Scrubs. Of course we accepted the offer, and they came in to visit dad and test him out with it. Also, dad had the tube that feeds him through his nose removed he now has one going straight into the stomache it looks alot more comfortable for him now. He has improved in spelling greatly, He is still having his up days and down days but hasn't given up. I bought him a very large pen to help him grip onto something when he tries to get some movement in his hands. Also, more exciting news... The speech therapist has refered him to Putney Hospital . Hopefully this will be great help for him to start getting some proper movement going, going back to the technology we were going to recieve, we're going to be getting the same kind of things from the hospital, so no need to be spending out! My sister also had brief plans on a family party for dad once he's been moved. Around 2 days ago he had his Trackie removed (The tube in his throat that helps moist up the air he breathes) Which since then he has been making various different noises this is hopefully one step closer to getting him talking.
So much has been improving but I think I've listed the most vital things to mention. If I can remember any more I'll be sure to add it.
So much has been improving but I think I've listed the most vital things to mention. If I can remember any more I'll be sure to add it.
Monday, 2 January 2012
Locked-in Syndrome
Locked-in syndrome is an uncommon condition where a person is not able to communicate verbally or move apart from eye movement which can be used for coded communication however they're concious and aware of their surroundings. It's a full paralysis of most the muscles in the body. in some cases also are the eyes are paralyzed. There are no treatments currently for locked-in syndrome neither are there any cures. It's apparently rare for anyone to regain any vital functions.
My name is Kimberley wells, I'm 18 years old. On the 1st of December, my father, Clive Wells suffered a severe stroke from which he got submited to Charing Cross hospital. The stroke led to him being put into a coma with bleeding on the brain. Me and my family got told by the doctors that they thought it was unlikely he'd pull through, his chances were rated 3/10. However the next day he had woken up and was briefly responding to touch. As each day passed he was making more and more progress, he also had an eye infection and a chest infection. By the time the 10th of December (my birthday) Had come, he was able to breathe on his own. My sister managed to get some communication going with eye movement. Eyes up for yes eyes down for no, at first it only worked with her until he eventually communicated with the nurses. He was moved out of ICU and put into a ward where his communication went down hill with the nurses. Examinations and scans had been done on him when we got a call from the hospital saying he had Locked-In syndrome. We all got to the hospital and agreed no one was giving up on him. That day he got moved again to the stroke ward, he had his own room to himself and after a few days he was communicating with nurses and doctors. Around a week after this he was moved to West Middlesex hospital in his own room once again which is where he is currently.
At this stage we know he can read some words, he can spell our names out using a communication system which we found on another blog, which allows him to choose words and spell out various words. He has been able to do various sums and calculations. He responds well with his eye movements also, he's getting more and more movement around his mouth, he is still unable to speak however speech therapists are seeing him 2 times a day. He's also been atempting to smile. We think he may be trying to speak at times as well. He still likes listening to music and seeing photo's from the past which we think could be helping him. Atleast one person from our family has seen him everyday since.
The reason I'm writing this is so anyone else who's going through what we are can read from our story and use it to help theres. There isn't many people who have this condition so we hear. I think as long as as many people as possible blog about this condition and explain how they progress through it with themselves or loved ones. We can help other people and give them hope. I read many other stories on people who have got atleast speech back or movements in their hands which truth be told has got me and my family through this reading stories from others experiences and using it to help us. Now we want to do the same for others.
Our father is a very strong man. We pray for him every day that passes. He's been our rock through-out our whole lives and has always given us strength. Now we have to be his strength. We'll do anything in our power to get him atleast the slightest bit better. He's the most amazing man alive, he truely is our hero. We know he can do this.
My name is Kimberley wells, I'm 18 years old. On the 1st of December, my father, Clive Wells suffered a severe stroke from which he got submited to Charing Cross hospital. The stroke led to him being put into a coma with bleeding on the brain. Me and my family got told by the doctors that they thought it was unlikely he'd pull through, his chances were rated 3/10. However the next day he had woken up and was briefly responding to touch. As each day passed he was making more and more progress, he also had an eye infection and a chest infection. By the time the 10th of December (my birthday) Had come, he was able to breathe on his own. My sister managed to get some communication going with eye movement. Eyes up for yes eyes down for no, at first it only worked with her until he eventually communicated with the nurses. He was moved out of ICU and put into a ward where his communication went down hill with the nurses. Examinations and scans had been done on him when we got a call from the hospital saying he had Locked-In syndrome. We all got to the hospital and agreed no one was giving up on him. That day he got moved again to the stroke ward, he had his own room to himself and after a few days he was communicating with nurses and doctors. Around a week after this he was moved to West Middlesex hospital in his own room once again which is where he is currently.
At this stage we know he can read some words, he can spell our names out using a communication system which we found on another blog, which allows him to choose words and spell out various words. He has been able to do various sums and calculations. He responds well with his eye movements also, he's getting more and more movement around his mouth, he is still unable to speak however speech therapists are seeing him 2 times a day. He's also been atempting to smile. We think he may be trying to speak at times as well. He still likes listening to music and seeing photo's from the past which we think could be helping him. Atleast one person from our family has seen him everyday since.
The reason I'm writing this is so anyone else who's going through what we are can read from our story and use it to help theres. There isn't many people who have this condition so we hear. I think as long as as many people as possible blog about this condition and explain how they progress through it with themselves or loved ones. We can help other people and give them hope. I read many other stories on people who have got atleast speech back or movements in their hands which truth be told has got me and my family through this reading stories from others experiences and using it to help us. Now we want to do the same for others.
Our father is a very strong man. We pray for him every day that passes. He's been our rock through-out our whole lives and has always given us strength. Now we have to be his strength. We'll do anything in our power to get him atleast the slightest bit better. He's the most amazing man alive, he truely is our hero. We know he can do this.
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