One step forward, two steps back

Richard is still plagued by headaches. I guess we rejoiced too soon Friday night thinking that he has dodged the bullet. We've found that the headaches strike whenever he has to sit up for any extended amount of time and all he has to do is lie down to make the pain go away. Tylenol helps too. By experimenting, we've found that the same triggers for migraines also produce Richard's headaches. These are loud noises, bright light, abrupt lateral movement of the head and being in a stuffy room. When he gets horizontal in a cool, dark and quiet room, he recovers in a fairly short time.

The morning acupuncture session was uneventful. I told big Dr. Lee about Richard's headaches. He said that it is important that Richard not attempt to sit up too quickly which may make him dizzy and lead to dangerous falls. This advice was echoed by "young" Dr. Yang (as opposed to the "old" Dr. Yang who is the supervising doctor who saw Richard last Tuesday) earlier this morning. Dr. Yang explained that the pressure in the spinal fluid has been disturbed by the lumbar puncture and that in turn caused the headaches. He said that it was imperative that Richard get enough rest before the next lumbar punch.

The afternoon PT session went well but the OT session was interrupted when Richard became nauseous and sweaty and had to go back to our room. The doctor on call prescribed a painkiller while the nurse came to take Richard's temperature and BP which was slightly elevated. After resting in bed, his BP went back to normal and his nausea subsided. We're mindful of Kim Poor's advice to stay hydrated but drinking more water means Richard needs to make more trips to the bathroom which can become a problem at night when he's groggy with sleep. At home, he's spoiled because our ADA bathroom can accommodate a wheelchair without a problem. Over here he needs to park his wheelchair outside the bathroom and then lean his head against the wall (we call it the Yukiko maneuver --- thanks to our friend Yukiko who showed Richard how to do it) to steady himself to sit on the toilet.

It's now close to midnight and it has just stopped raining. The air is refreshingly cool and crisp. I left the window open and there's a nice breeze wafting in. Outside the hallway, it is still a little stuffy. I went to the common room a short while ago to fill my water bottle and was surprised to find quite a few people there. I spoke to Sue who is from England. She's waiting to call her two daughters on Skype. Because of the time difference, she has to stay up until this hour to be sure to catch them at home. I found myself missing family, friends and home late at night when all's quiet. I see that I'm not alone. Tomorrow, Richard plans on posting some photos that he has taken of Nanshan.