Up/Down/Good/Bad

Simply stated, it has been a terrible week. On Sunday morning Sam fell and hit her head while being toileted with an aid assisting. The aid apparently lost control of Sam. Sam had to be rushed to the Emergency Room, where she needed 10 staples in her head to hold the very large, deep wound together- Yes 10 staples and not stitches. I nearly passed out when the doctor was working on her. It was amazing that the Cat Scan proved negative. Thank God. The wound is about 8 inches long on the top of her head. The following day, I called everyone possible at the facility to tell them how disturbed I was, how negligent they were in not keeping her safe, and that I needed to know what their new plan would be for safeguarding her. Sam also continues to pull her feeding tube, which is hardly being used anymore, and I also wanted to know how they could resolve this problem so she did not become a ping-pong ball between the hospital emergency rooms and the facility every other night. Fortunately, yesterday they responded with a number of changes in order to keep her safe. First they will have two people do any/all "transfers' with her. This means whenever she is moved there will be two people to assist (short of going in/out of bed when there need only be one person). They have also put a helmet on her head to protect her, just in case. Sam looks pretty cool with her helmet and I think she likes it too. They have also started to give her by mouth the nutritional supplements instead of the feeding tube, and therefore, it may be possible that by early next week, she can have the tube removed. They are also in the process of adjusting her medications. I do feel that they know just how serious a situation her recent fall was, not to mention her previosu fall a few days before, and that they really had to step up there oversight and care. They are now watching her like hawks. Also, today was "family day" and so I got the chance to attend all of her therapy sessions. It was terrific to see how they work with Sam and to see just how far Sam has come. The neuropsychologist even admitted to me that Sam has already far exceeded all of their expectations. I think very highly of a number of the therapists, especially her speech therapist, as well as her physical therapist. Today, what was amazing was to finally see Sam walk for the first time since all this has happened. Sam walked almost 140 feet today with the aid of a "tabletop" walker, which is simply a chest level walker with four wheels. It allows Sam to rest her arms on two side pads while she walks. I thought Sam was fabulous, but the Physical therapist said she usually does much better! Well I guess with 10 staples in your head and pain medicine in your system it was fantastic that she event participated as well as she did all day today. The PT person also told me that Sam will be able to do stairs eventually. Not right away, as her balance and stamina need to be built-up, but it will happen. I was thrilled to hear this since we live on a hill with 19 stairs in front of the house, and that has been a great concern of mine. The PT person, Natasha, thought she'd be able to manage them eventually. I left the facility feeling like at least tonight, I should be able to get a good nights sleep, after 4 almost back-to-back nights/mornings in the ER and arguing all day with the people at the facility. Sam too said she was felling okay...hard to imagine, but hopefully she too will get a good nights sleep and continue to heal.