Lisa is back to being Lisa. She is totally independent in her thinking...no persuasion about anything. She will do what she wants to do whether it is good for her or not. Karen and I are still taking turns getting her up in the morning. She will get her self out of bed and will try to help herself and gets frustrated when she can't.
Lisa is spunky and funny, but now I remember just how stubborn she is. It is a blessing and a curse. It has gotten her so far in her life, it is also for lack of a better word just maddening for Karen and I. I will spare you her antics, she is hard headed. That's all.
I continue to take her to her ot/pt sessions. She needs so much stimulation to get her right side going again. There is improvement, we just need to work with her more and that is a full time job. We can't do it. We have called the Dept of Human Services off and on since Oct. Sept of last year, DHS told us that Lisa was approved for 15 hours of help. They upped it to 45 hours sometime last fall, after our request and Lisa's need. Illinois is in such financial trouble that we are having a hard time with that commitment.
Rick, our case manager, and someone who has known and worked with Lisa since she was a student at Raymond School, advised us to call the person in charge of Lisa's case as often as we could and he would too. So....we called....Rick, Carmen, Karen and/or I called everyday...we called and left messages and it was just nuts.
Monday, Lisa had a spill, as in...she fell. We can't get out of her what she was doing, but she was flat on her face in the living room, on the carpet. She had the alert necklace on...didn't use it. She called for help, but no one came. She yelled for who knows how long until someone from her complex heard her. They called 911. It scared the other residents who live there. Lisa's mouth was bleeding and she had to go to the ER...if she would have more hours from the state, we feel that this would not have happened. We called DHS again.
On Wednesday, Carmen had Lisa call DHS...they knew her name and had no idea that they were gonna be talking to the one and only Lisa:) She told them that she fell, that she went to ER and that she wants to get better and be able to go back to work, so she needs more hours of support. Guess what????? The next day, they approved her for 35 hours/week of support. It is not what we wanted...(45 from the fall) but we are not at all complaining. It will start next week. Karen is revising her needs. Currently, Lisa has someone coming in from 5-7 to help with showers and bedtime. Lisa does not need that anymore, so we are thinking about having someone for 1 hour at night, and some to shower her in the morning, and possibly, hopefully take her to therapy so they can work with her when they are with her. It boils down to 5 hours a day. In the realm of things, that is not much time, but if they help her with her exercises and with her walking...she will get better faster and maybe in a year or two, she will not need the 35 hours of support.
Lisa wants to get back to her life. The only thing she can control is what she can control...eating, and her mind. She is not able to control her body and she over compensates with the other:) Like I said, she is extremely opinionated. She told one of the ladies this week that she does not like her. She told her that she does not want her to come back and even asked the poor woman if she has killed anyone....OH no. It is quite funny when you don't think about it...but that poor lady doesn't deserve that and Lisa should be more considerate. In Lisa's mind, that lady made her go to the ER on Monday...that is what she thinks!!!!! We have told her a dozen times that she was alone and no one made her fall. It was an accident. You can't tell Lisa that though...she's NOT listening. Aughhhhh.
Other than our daily battles, Lisa is doing well. She continues to get stronger. She is very strong on her left side, her right side is so spastic. She is so tight that we need to help her get her muscles straightened out and they go right back to the position that they like to be in. Lisa continues to work hard in therapy, but she is not quiet about it:) Let's just say that I hope the people who are getting therapy also, realize that Lisa is not your normal person off the street...that she is special and that she is over coming yet another mountainous obstacle.
I will try to write more often, until then...have a great weekend!!!!
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