Colgate and cups

Well, Mom just finished impressing her occupational therapist. She had been sitting up in bed eating lunch, while chatting with her nurse. Complete thoughts are not there yet, but words are clear. Speech is returning rapidly!

So then Tina, Mom's occupational therapist, came to the door of Mom's room and asked if she could join the party. She first had Mom hold her cup of yogurt with her right hand and take a spoonful with her left, then switch. Mom had more difficulty using the spoon with her right hand, which we knew to expect, but she did it! Tina said that the scientific term for this difficulty is called "apraxia." I looked it up on the Internet:

"Apraxia (called 'dyspraxia' if mild) is a neurological disorder characterized by loss of the ability to execute or carry out skilled movements and gestures, despite having the desire and the physical ability to perform them. Apraxia results from dysfunction of the cerebral hemispheres of the brain, especially the parietal lobe, and can arise from many diseases or damage to the brain."

I am getting quite an education at this hospital!

After Mom finished lunch, Tina got out the toothbrush and a small tube of toothpaste. She handed the toothpaste to Mom, who took the cap off with her RIGHT hand. Then Tina and Mom put the toothpaste on the toothbrush together--that's a little more complex action, and one even my six-year-old has problems with occasionally. Then Mom picked up the toothbrush with her RIGHT hand, and proceeded to brush her teeth, very thoroughly, rinsing and spitting and the whole nine yards. It was so different from a week and a half ago, when Tina had offered her the toothbrush, and Mom had just looked at it like it was a creature from Mars! I was doing a little jig of celebration over by the window as Mom finished up. Tina said, "You are SO ready for rehab!" I said, "At this rate, Mom, you'll be back at home in three months!" Tina added, "Or less!" It is amazing and absolutely thrilling to see God's healing hand at work. I wouldn't have missed this part for anything!