45 – Coming Home Again

Albert is coming home again.  This time he’s coming home after four months of inpatient rehab at CORE Healthcare. He decided a couple of weeks ago that he was done with inpatient rehab and was ready to come home full-time, and I understand his decision.

Albert has made progress in many areas since he’s been in rehab including cognitive, physical, behavioral, and emotional improvements, all of which have helped him improve his quality of life and gain more independence.

In occupational therapy, the therapists worked with him to increase his ability to perform daily tasks, such as maintaining his balance when he walks, concentrating on the task at hand, retaining information, and relearning basic movements. Because his thought processes have improved, he has an intense desire to return to work as an accountant. He retained his love of numbers and accounting and continues to have the ability to complete tax returns for family members and small business owners. Reading and relearning the letters in the alphabet are the problems he’s having. Writing his name and signature are a struggle, but he’s making a valiant effort.  

Expressive aphasia is Albert’s most extensive disability because it doesn’t allow him to speak in sentences. He can only speak using one or two words and the words that he says don’t have the meaning that he intends them to have. Having conversations with him is tough. They are the continual game of “charades” trying to find meaning in his words.  Albert’s speech therapist is looking for Apps that he can put on his iPad to increase his vocabulary while he’s at home which will be helpful.

After the stroke, Albert’s doctors said that he had depression, which I didn’t see or understand.  The doctors said that studies completed suggest that simply having a stroke increases a survivors risk of anxiety, depression, or both.  Depression affects between one- and two-thirds of stroke survivors and is characterized by feelings of overwhelming sadness, changes in their sleeping patterns, and a general lack of interest in previous activities that the stroke survivor participated in.  After learning this information, I began to observe Albert closer and saw signs of depression and anxiety in him after he came home. 

Albert’s homecoming from CORE was eventful because he had been coming home on the weekends for the past four months. When I picked him up at CORE, he was extremely happy. The nurses and therapist helped him carry his belongings to the car, hugged him, and sent well-wishes with him. We stopped to get coffee at Starbucks and then drove home. When we arrived at the house, Albert got into the bed and he started watching television. He did this for days.  Albert was quiet and introverted. His bouts of depression were as frequent as his desire to return to work.

I watch Albert and am concerned, but I know that God is in control and that He will allow Albert to progress in His time.