We brought Daddy home from the nursing home today. He was taken in on a stretcher back at the beginning of February, after nearly a week in St. Joseph's Hospital. Today he walked out using his walker.
They had a little going home ceremony for him in the nursing home lobby, with his caregivers and us. It was a happy, teary, occasion as they sang "For he's a jolly good fellow" and said good-bye. Here he is with a shirt that they gave him. The inscription (illegible in the picture) says "Property of Palm Garden Nursing Home XXL".
We have all heard horror stories about nursing homes. Our experience at Palm Garden was just the opposite. It was wonderful to have caregivers who really cared.
Sonya, the speech therapist at Palm Garden, literally gave Daddy his life back. When we took him in, we thought he would never be able to swallow again, and that he would be in the nursing home for the rest of his life. Using VitalStim therapy she was able to get him to swallow the first day. The VitalStim therapy uses electodes similar to those used for an EKG attached to the patient's throat. The VitalStim device stimulates the swallowing muscles with synchronized electrical pulses. The therapy not only permits the patient to swallow with the assistance of the device, but also retrains the muscles so that they can work without the device. Within two weeks Daddy was eating soft foods on his own. His diet now is still restricted, but fairly close to normal.
