Challenges!

The pain Pete has been suffering from over the last few weeks seems to be abating at last!  He is down to only 2 or 4 painkillers a day - he seems to have got a pattern of 2 one day, 4 the next, 2 the next, 4 the next and so on.  This is much better than the 8 a day he has been on for ages.  I think the nerve blockers have now fully kicked in and are controlling the pain to a level he can live with.  First challenge: to not take any at all.

We had a FaceTime session with Adrian on Thursday evening, better than the last one when Pete was in the bedroom and unable to take part!  It is always good to do a catch-up with Adrian and, I am pleased to say, Pete thoroughly enjoyed this one.  Anyway, Adrian challenged his dad to model an owl and he would draw an owl using his left hand only!  As Pete lost all interest in modelling this was a brilliant idea to get him back into it.  He started on his side of the deal this morning and did so well.  I am always amazed at how he does this - it's really weird how the aphasia has not destroyed his ability to do this at all, the only hindrance being he can now only use his left hand.  The photo today is of his effort so far, this is only the basis of it and took three-quarters of an hour.

Aphasia rears its ugly head again in the third challenge!!  To get some speech back!  One of the books Adrian sent, written by Oliver Sacks, is called Musicophilia.  One of the chapters is about music and aphasia - the point being that, very often, someone with no speech can hum along to a familiar tune and, providing someone else is also singing the words, (eg Happy Birthday) some words can just pop out.  We have heard this before and tried it, but perhaps not with the intensity we should have.  There is a man mentioned in this chapter who had had no speech for two years and had been written off as a hopeless case, but when they started this and had 3 half-hour sessions a week, he gradually got words out and could then start to say short statements.  This is more like our situation and I reckon I could deal with sessions like that, and if speech can be recovered even after 2 years then hope springs eternal.  We are definitely going to give it a go.  Also sometimes, singing words rather than just saying them, works apparently.  

The fourth challenge is to get Pete making some gestures to indicate what he wants.  This is going to be hard going as I will have to think up the gesture for something and then get him to make it every time that subject comes up - it sounds easy to do but, believe you me, it can sap the mental energy!!! 

I get to the stage when it is just easier to give up, which isn't good.  

So, those are the 4 challenges we have set - wish us luck!