Friday, February 19, 2010

They tried to make me go to rehab but I said 'no, no, no'

...if you don't get the title, that's okay, Chris didn't either but for those who know the Amy Winehouse song I think it's a catchy tune and how could I go into that place and not sing it in my mind? Yeah, I know it's not about this kind of rehab.
So, another day of following Andie around and being as unobtrusive as possible while mentally cheering her on as she's trying to do the tasks asked of her. Mostly things went like this: she sat around in the wheel chair , trach tube and feeding tube still in, she fidgeted with those until a therapist loaned us a ball for her to squish. She has her day planned out by the nurses as far as therapies. She still has a one to one nurse to keep an eye on her at all times so she doesn't grab and pull out anything that shouldn't be removed. This place has been great so far as far as staff and the facility. In the morning we did therapies and she had a break - so I left to let her rest and to get some more suitable clothes to switch up what's been worn. Got back in time for afternoon therapies and brought some family pictures and lotions and shampoo from her place to have familiar things around since the nurses said that was okay.
A friend of Andie's sent me an email about looking up a guy that Andie knew from the Fusion Grille in Allentown (thanks Kim) so I went in search of him during the afternoon and I now know that there is such a thing as Chief of Nursing and even though I didn't speak to him, while I was in the administrative offices a gracious woman introduced herself as "Sally" as she saw me reading about the origins of the place, we struck up a conversation which led to talking about Andie's situation and I met her secretary and they were both seemed empathetic and compassionate. They said they'd relay the message to Mr. Miranda that Andie was in the hospital and where she was. I got an email message from him later on that he was in the Bethlehem facility and would be there later to check up on Andie's care. I would like to meet him so I can answer any questions he might have about what happened to her. Anyway, I knew I recognized the woman who'd just spent time with me and once I left with her business card in hand I realized I'd just met Sally Gammon the President and CEO of the hospital! She stopped in later while Andie was in PT and I was impressed by her bedside (wheelchair-side?) manner as well. She has a great personality for what she does.
I plan to go back tomorrow and my parents will also be there for the therapies and I'll head back to my place from there since my parents are going to be able to visit her more than they can during the weekdays.

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