Four months on.

As Pete has now mastered getting in and out of the house on his own (he has been in and out like a jack-in-the-box today) I started thinking of how far he had come in the four months since his stroke, and it is truly amazing. When he was transferred to Bideford, five days after the stroke, he could only sit in a special chair that was angled to stop him falling out and a hoist had to be used to get him in and out of bed, he was incontinent and also confused quite a lot of the time. Well, that was then and this is now - he can get in and out of bed with no help and, as the w/chair is now left by the bed, he just gets straight into it. He gets washed and dressed, including shampooing his hair, on his own. I do have to help him have a shower if he wants one and I have to do the button on his left cuff and tie his shoelaces. Then he is off to the living room to put his ankle brace on and then he comes back, using his stick, to help make the bed and to unlock the front door. He gets his own tablets morning and night (I have just put them in a container split in two so he gets the right box) and then can get a bowl of cereal or do toast and butter and make tea or coffee. He has just been to get a packet of crisps and he can't open them!!!! He manages all his bathroom needs and tonight he shut the bathroom window - I have NO idea how he did that as it is very awkward to get at!! It's a good job I didn't see him doing it as probably would have had a fit! He can make his own sandwich for lunch or put a pasty or pie in the oven and get it out. Today we had baguette and soup and he got the baguettes out of the freezer in the porch and put them in the oven, opened the soup and put it in a pan and on the cooker and heated it up, all I did was cut baguettes and pour soup into bowls and take them into the other room. He can wash and dry dishes - always helpful! - and does as much as he can when preparing tea, gets plates out of cupboard, gets veg out, sets table, puts milk and sugar into cups (we always have a pot of tea with the main meal). He can manage the tv to change channels and decide what to watch. Then, at the end of the day he gets washed, undressed and into bed - no probs!! The only thing he can't do is carry food and drinks into the front room where the table is but, no doubt, he will get that sussed eventually!! And, of course, he can get in and out of the house! He can get in and out of the car with minimal help. He can't walk far so we still use the w/chair when we go out. I have now received his Blue Badge parking thing, along with a list of where you can and can't use it, so that will be helpful. Hopefully, as his right leg gets stronger, he will be able to walk further.
Well, I think that is most of what he can do and, I think you will agree, he has made fantastic progress. He is always completely aware of everything and understands all that is said to him. He is very determined and I think that has helped his progress tremendously.
And that's all folks for today!