If at first you don’t succeed, try again. My goal was to make sure that Albert received rehabilitation so that he would get back to his normal self mentally and physically. As a wife and caregiver, I wanted what was best for him, but at the same time, I was weary that some of his old behaviors would return. I prayed continually because I wanted him to recover, but was worried that with his recovery would come unwanted old behaviors.
Receiving a referral from Albert’s primary doctor, he was able to start rehab at the hospital because Albert wanted to begin rehab again. The speech, occupational and physical therapists and I worked together to schedule Albert’s appointments on the same days because I had to take and pick up Albert from his appointments.
Rehab at the hospital worked well and Albert flourished. When Albert had free time between sessions, he would go to the hospital cafeteria and buy food. This allowed him to become a little more independent. Though he wasn’t able to have a conversation or ask questions, he was able to say words and point to items that he wanted to order. People responded positively to him meeting his needs and this allowed him to progress and want to do more.
When Albert got a tooth abscess, I took him to the dentist. I was getting out of the car to go with him to the appointment, and he let me know that he didn’t want me to come with him. The appointment was going to take a couple of hours so I called the dentist and let them know that I was going back to work and to please call me when they were done working on Albert’s teeth. About two-three hours later I arrived to pick up Albert and the receptionist told me that Albert had left the office about 30 minutes ago. I panicked and went to look for him. I went downstairs and looked around. There was a bank on the bottom floor and I searched for him there. I went outside and looked for Albert, but couldn’t find him. As I was walking toward the car, baffled at where he might be, I saw him walking across the parking lot with a drink and a bag of food in his hand. Albert went to a sandwich shop to buy food during his free time.
Later that week while taking Albert home from a rehab appointment, he saw a Subway restaurant and said “Subway”. I was surprised that he knew the word and asked him if he wanted to eat at Subway. He said yes and we went to Subway for lunch. We went into Subway together and I watched Albert communicate with the worker, stating words and pointing to the type of sandwich that he wanted and the ingredients that he wanted on his sandwich. This was the first of many visits to Subway as well as other restaurants.
Learning to Live Life and Loving it - Carol Johnson Blogs 