Went to see my long last Asian family today. The patient's daughter is so nice, and the patient's sister always says "What a treat!" when we come to visit :) The patient was sleepy today, and had trouble keeping her eyes open. She seemed a bit more ornery than usual, but did occassionally let out some of her signature giggles. We picked up-beat songs for her, and even tried some wooden flute music. The patient says "ow" a lot when someone touches her -- it might not indicate pain, but rather, is an easy and familiar word for her to verbalize.
Our afternoon patient was our kisser-eater. His wife wasn't able to come today, so as the MT led the group, I was able to sit beside him and give him some 1:1 attention. Prior to our visit, the MT and I discussed how the patient's wife seems to be benefitting from our visits, sometimes seemingly more than the patient. We discovered today that the patient simply tends to devote his focus to whomever is seated next to him. Since today that person was me, we were able to engage him more in the session. We gave him a maraca to play, which he shook lively with a big grin on his face -- and then he stuck it in his mouth and tried to bite it. He put that darn maraca in his mouth every time I turned my head. Last time, it was his wife's hand he was trying to bite, so even though maracas weren't made to be eaten, at least it isn't another human being.
The patient is usually very affectionate towards his wife. He holds her hand, lays his head on her shoulder, gives her kisses, etc. Today, that lucky receiver of loving affection was me. The patient stared at me constantly, with a longing look. He held my hand, gave it kisses, and even tried to pull me closer to him (I'm assuming to kiss me.) Despite his transference of spousal love onto me, the MT and I also discovered that our patient is very intuned to our music! He was singing along to the older songs and folk songs, as well as tapping the beat with his fingers while we held hands, and swinging arms with me to the beat. His wife told the MT months ago that he doesn't like those old songs, but it looks like he very much does! He even answered all the questions I asked him. Let's see... I asked:
"Do you want to sing music with us?" "No."
"Is it okay if *MT* sings the music and we just listen?" "That's okay."
"Do you know Frank Sinatra?" "Yes."
"What are some of your favorite things?" "I like everything."
I was very impressed with his interaction with us today. Could have done without the kisses and the date-like scenario, but, still... he did well :)
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