Anodyne Update

I took my mom to her physical therapy appointment yesterday for her Semmes-Weinstein test. This is where the physical therapist uses these nylon filaments of various diameters to test the sensation in her hands and feet; the objective is to see if the Anodyne Therapy is working. The results were actually pretty good as "her numbers" were greatly improved from the first test several weeks ago. So it seems the therapy is working, just not fast enough to suit mom.

I've mentioned before that it is a common thing that a patient develops a unique bond with their physical therapist. Mom has names for each of "the girls" and for the guys as well. There is "Pigtail" named, of course, for her braided pigtails; "Cowboy" is the guy she talks football with, and her favorite, "Thumbs-Up" named for her hand-signals. "Thumbs-Up" talks with mom about all kinds of things; she is married to an oilfield engineer which won mom over because my dad was an engineer too.

The Anodyne treatments last 30 minutes one visit and 45 the next, then back to 30. It's boring. You just sit there. To break the boredom one day, mom was reciting poetry that she remembered from her school days; the first was some crazy Robert Louis Stevenson poem about a cow, and then she moved on to "Annabel Lee" by Poe. The cow poem had "the girls" in hysterics. They were standing a few feet away from us, discretely folding towels and updating charts and trying not to giggle too loud. It was hard not to!

Every time we go mom asks one or the other of them "how long" it takes for people to get the feeling back in their hands and if they've ever seen anyone who didn't. Of course there is no answer to this as everyone is different. She's a trooper though, and tries very hard to stay optimistic and upbeat. It must be difficult with no feeling in your hands.

The Semmes test yesterday took about 35-40 minutes with mom having to respond whenever she felt the filament touch her fingers and hands and say on which finger she felt it. They added that part - WHICH finger - because Mom would say, "Yes" repeatedly and it was hard to tell if she was feeling anything or not! "The girls" thought she might be cheating and got a kick out of that.

When we left yesterday Mom said she wanted to call and send a tray of cookies for the staff because they've been so sweet to her. But she wants to be sure it is on a day when "Thumbs-Up" is there.

The Cow by Robert Louis Stevenson

The friendly cow all red and white,
I love with all my heart:
She gives me cream with all her might,
To eat with apple-tart.

She wanders lowing here and there,
And yet she cannot stray,
All in the pleasant open air,
The pleasant light of day;

And blown by all the winds that pass
And wet with all the showers,
She walks among the meadow grass
And eats the meadow flowers.