Isabel’s beekeeper friend from Aber~Katepwa called at suppertime on Monday to say that the bees are gathering pollen. Despite this cold and late Saskatchewan spring, the prairie crocuses are blooming on the Qu’Appelle Valley hills. These tenacious harbingers of spring are announcing once again that curling is over for another year, and we have survived another prairie winter!
With news of the crocuses blooming in eastern Saskatchewan, we scampered from the supper-table to the Qu’Appelle Valley hills in the west ~ right where the valley begins at the southeast corner of Lake Diefenbaker. A Tugaske friend who lives near by was travelling to Wascana for an 8:30 AM physio appointment the next day. She delivered a bowl and a bouquet of spring to Isabel’s room at 8:15 AM.
Good morning, Isabel! Crocuses and pussy willows to welcome the day!
Thanks all of you who bring such delight to all our hearts with your phone calls and courier services.
Oh, and by the way, Isabel did watch every end of all those World Curling games between Scotland and Canada!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Holy Cow! Happy Easter! Hallelujah!
The word is out....
Isabel has her first words out....
After 20 months, the spring thaw has come and the paralysis has begun to lift from Isabel's vocal cords.
When a nurse or family member deflates the cuff that surrounds Isabel's trach, air can pass over her vocal cords and she can speak quietly and hoarsely. Some days go better than others. As Isabel says on her letterboard: "The problem is not my brain! I haven’t spoken out-loud for nearly 20 months, and I need to learn to speak in a new way."
This procedure of cuff deflation happens once a day for approximately 20 minutes. Each day, Isabel greets whomever is with her by saying out-loud:
"Hello (name).... How are you?"
Isabel's Speech and Language Pathologist suggested she start with H words as we exhale when we say words starting with H. This exhalation is necessary to speak if you use a ventilator to help you breathe.
During Isabel's second day of speaking, the Respiratory Therapist first introduced the idea of repetitive H words. Mum looked at us and without suggestion from anyone solemnly said out-loud:
Hee Haw
Hen House
Harvest Home
And thus ended the Respiratory Therapist's first lesson of life on the farm!
The next day, as Mum slid from chair to raised physiotherapy mat in her first one person assisted transfer (rather than two or three person assist), Mum's physio said a loud "Holy Hannah! Isabel ~ that's great!" Mum followed with an out-loud "Holy Cow!" ~ a surprise to all of us as we did not know that her cuff was deflated enough for her to speak in that manner.
And so the H words continue during that designated 20 minutes each day when Isabel's ventilator cuff is deflated. The rest of the day Mum continues to use her letterboard, however we have High Hopes that her time of speaking will lengthen each week.
A nurse suggested that she would help Isabel write a poem of H words that could be placed on her bulletin board for her daily speech trial. Here it is:
A Poem for the Letter H
Hello! How are you?
Hip Hip Hooray!
Holy Cow! Holy Hannah!
Hot-dog!
Hen House Harvest Home HollyHock Hobby Horse Hee Haw
Hot House Halloween Haunted House
Ho Ho Ho!
Help! Helicopter HandHeld Handkerchief
Harvey Hank Harry Hazel Henry Helen Harriet Harold
Heaven and He**
Whole Hearted Hope
Hallelujah! Happy Easter!
Holy Cow! Happy Easter! Hallelujah! Indeed!
Mum ~ we are so proud of your dogged persistence to learn to speak again!
Isabel has her first words out....
After 20 months, the spring thaw has come and the paralysis has begun to lift from Isabel's vocal cords.
When a nurse or family member deflates the cuff that surrounds Isabel's trach, air can pass over her vocal cords and she can speak quietly and hoarsely. Some days go better than others. As Isabel says on her letterboard: "The problem is not my brain! I haven’t spoken out-loud for nearly 20 months, and I need to learn to speak in a new way."
This procedure of cuff deflation happens once a day for approximately 20 minutes. Each day, Isabel greets whomever is with her by saying out-loud:
"Hello (name).... How are you?"
Isabel's Speech and Language Pathologist suggested she start with H words as we exhale when we say words starting with H. This exhalation is necessary to speak if you use a ventilator to help you breathe.
During Isabel's second day of speaking, the Respiratory Therapist first introduced the idea of repetitive H words. Mum looked at us and without suggestion from anyone solemnly said out-loud:
Hee Haw
Hen House
Harvest Home
And thus ended the Respiratory Therapist's first lesson of life on the farm!
The next day, as Mum slid from chair to raised physiotherapy mat in her first one person assisted transfer (rather than two or three person assist), Mum's physio said a loud "Holy Hannah! Isabel ~ that's great!" Mum followed with an out-loud "Holy Cow!" ~ a surprise to all of us as we did not know that her cuff was deflated enough for her to speak in that manner.
And so the H words continue during that designated 20 minutes each day when Isabel's ventilator cuff is deflated. The rest of the day Mum continues to use her letterboard, however we have High Hopes that her time of speaking will lengthen each week.
A nurse suggested that she would help Isabel write a poem of H words that could be placed on her bulletin board for her daily speech trial. Here it is:
A Poem for the Letter H
Hello! How are you?
Hip Hip Hooray!
Holy Cow! Holy Hannah!
Hot-dog!
Hen House Harvest Home HollyHock Hobby Horse Hee Haw
Hot House Halloween Haunted House
Ho Ho Ho!
Help! Helicopter HandHeld Handkerchief
Harvey Hank Harry Hazel Henry Helen Harriet Harold
Heaven and He**
Whole Hearted Hope
Hallelujah! Happy Easter!
Holy Cow! Happy Easter! Hallelujah! Indeed!
Mum ~ we are so proud of your dogged persistence to learn to speak again!
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