Following my stroke I needed a great deal of therapy to regain motor, speech, and visual functions. I was transferred to a rehabilitation hospital to complete this treatment. I was sent to to physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy daily. I made the quickest progress in speech therapy, given my love of gab, to only require four sessions.
I must add that all of my therapists were top notch, kind, caring, and compassionate in every way. Same could be said for the nurses, who faithfully helped me maneuver to the timely 3am bathroom calls without any complaints whatsoever. Some people leave the hospital complaining about their care; I had no complaints at all. I was even visited by the hospital cook who wanted an assessment of her vegetarian, gluten free meals that I had been requesting. Once again, I gave her top ratings. On the days prior to my release, I treated them all to the best homemade candy in the area. They were thrilled with the treat, even though all told me they were on post-holiday diet. Right. The candy disappeared rather quickly; more like the “see food and eat food diet” I believe. To be honest, the candy is some of the best that I have ever eaten, too. They truly earned this treat.
I left the hospital and continued physical, occupational, and speech therapy at my mom’s home. Speech therapy lasted about a week only because my gift of gab has returned; occupational therapy lasted about a month because I can now bathe without killing myself getting in and out of the bathtub, and physical therapy lasted about six weeks because my balance with the walker and now the “hurry-cane” has improved a lot. I was then assigned to an outpatient gym for more physical therapy. I graduated from that treatment in about a month (I have the t-shirt, the graduation gift for all patients, to prove it).
What has not improved, however, is my left eye vision. I continue to have blurry vision. After speaking to the eye doctor about this, she recommended short periods of time wearing… an eye patch. Oh boy. Do you have a spare eye patch at home? Neither did I. I found one with a toy that my nieces and nephews no longer used. I always wanted to look like a pirate after watching the three Pirates of the Caribbean movies and now I got my wish. For about fifteen minutes or so (because I forget that I am wearing it), I become a pirate three times a day. I must look pretty convincing because my nephew starts singing the Sponge Bob theme song every time he sees me wearing the patch. His singing is great and I just have a good laugh as we turn on Sponge Bob and I act out the song. The patch is helping in more ways than one, that is for sure. It has brought laughter, fun, and enjoyment into the house. It has brought much needed smiles to children who are worried about how serious conditions are with the virus to keep them home from school. SpongeBob, you are the best.
So I remain on daily eye patch duty. I help my own vision, supply laughter and giggles for other people, and get to play pirate. It is the best that I can offer for now and I really am improving. Oops. Time to remove the eye patch.
My latest fashion accessory….