"No rest for the wicked"

Isabel said this week "There is no rest for the wicked" as she began in earnest to meet some new therapy and nursing goals to once again add to her quality of life. Following a recent annual meeting of her enthusiastic care-givers and therapists, Mum and her staff have a renewed plan of action before the holiday season. Once again, we are grateful for pro-active staff.

One of the new therapies of this fall is speech therapy. Each week Mum meets with a Speech and Language Pathologist (the official name for speech therapists) to work on improving her speech and swallowing. Mum has been talking for nearly two years, however, she still has muscle weakness in her mouth and throat that prevents easy talking and swallowing. Her immediate goals are to learn to say "T", "D", "S" and "J". There are specific exercises and intentional movements of the body and head and face to facilitate proper pronunciation of these letters. This week her focus is on "T" and "D".
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Who would have known? For most of us, those sounds slip out with ease. In fact, speech is very complicated, and Mum is learning that these days.

Yesterday, Isabel counted up the times she goes up and down the Wascana halls to physio- and occupational therapy each week. Fourteen times to-ing and fro-ing. The thought can be overwhelming until we remember that Mum is someone who skiied, skated, walked, ran, rode horseback, and gardened.

We hope to have new accomplishments to report by Christmas. In the meantime, thank you for your letters, calls, and visits that brighten each day.