Saturday in the Park (Terrace) with Suzie

So, this being my first visit I wasn't quite sure what to expect. When Pat Goehle and I walked into her room, the first thing Suzie said was, "Do you know why I'm here?" Followed by, loudly, "NO! NO! NO!" Thank God Patty was with me. She started talking very softly to Suzie with a very sing-song kind of rhythm. Within minutes Suzie had calmed down and was smiling. We looked through her photo album, saying everyone's name. Suzie enjoyed that. I gave her 2 cds of my band, one being "live" cuts from our fundraiser for her but we didn't have any way to play them. Patty painted her nails pink. After she did each nail, Suzie said, "Perfect!" Once there was a loud beeping noise from the corridor. Suzie held her hand up to her head, became aggitated and said, "I hear...strange!" She calmed down when we assured her that we heard the noise too. After awhile it was apparent she was getting tired. She more motioned then spoke but we got the message. She wanted her chair turned to the window and the lights turned out. When we left she seemed genuinely thankful for the visit. It made me think. I was thankful for her having me as a friend. If you haven't gone to see her, try. It'll do Suzie (and you) a world of good. Perfect!

Suzie Update

Hi All below is Suzie's schedule. Good times to visit are between 12-2 or after 3:30

M-F 11am-11:30am Speech Therapy/Basement
M-F 11:30am-12pm Occupational Therapy
M-F 2pm-2:45pm Cognitive Therapy
M-F 2:45pm-3:30pm Physical Therapy

Visting Hours

Hi everyone,

Just to let you know visiting hours at Park Terrace are 10:00am-8:00pm 7 days a week. Lets try and make some sort of schedule so that Suzie still gets visitors. I know its not as close as rusk but she really needs to see people... also thanks to Kelley she raised over 1500 at her event... so our number is getting very high! stay tuned for a new count..

Suzie is in room #205
Park Terrace Care Center
59-20 Van Doren Street
Rego Park, New York 11368
Tel: (718) 592-9200


janine

Before the big move

Hi Everyone,

Kay and i went to visit Suzie yesterday and we had such a great visit.. Suzie was up and looking at the food tray the nurses had just brought in.. She was hungry so i began to feed her lunch.. a whole chicken and lots of other stuff all finished by ms. moon. Suzie has been learning how to sit and stand from the bed this week according to mommy moon. Today Suzie was moved to queens. we made sure to let mommy moon know if she needed any help with the move or a ride to queens (for those of us that have cars) that we would be happy to help. For the first time Mrs. moon looked up and said thankyou we might need that help can we let you know.. (of course i said we are here for anything you need)

After feeding suzie, listening to music with her and chatting for a bit we decided to leave her to get some rest before her next apt. she was smiling, had tons of color and overall was very pleased with herself.. (as she should be) i would also like to mention as of today our total amount raised for suzie is $ 10,360 and we have many more checks coming in the mail.. thank you thank you thank you... such good friends (as ms. suzie moon says everytime we all visit)

Suzie is Queen's Bound!

Hi All~

I just spoke to Cindy Moon who asked me to pass along the following information to Team Suzie. 

Suzie will be moved this Thursday, November 6 between 10am - 12pm from Rusk to Park Terrace Care Center, 5920 VanDoren Street, Corona, NY for extended rehabilitation. See more about the center at http://www.park-terrace.com/. This is a subway to a bus commute for most of us so get those Metrocards loaded up. 

Cindy and her Mom will be going out to Park Terrace tomorrow to look at the facility and check out Suzie's new digs. Suzie's Dad will ride with her in the ambulance and Cindy, her Mom and cousin will follow by car with all the goodies from Suzie's room at Rusk so they can re-decorate in Queens. 

Cindy told me that on Halloween the staff at Rusk threw a party in the PT room on Suzie's floor. All the PT's dressed up as various incarnations of Madonna (80's, 90's) and that when they put on a Madonna CD Suzie sang along and knew all the words. We're going to have to find out where this affinity for Madonna comes from...she is a true child of the 80's for sure. Who knew?!

Cindy also told me that her Mom finally reached out to the Korean Community Services Center that we had suggested and that she found them very helpful. Phew!

That's the latest - please pass along as needed. 

Go Team Suzie!

BARACKTHEVOTE! Go Team OBiden!

Mia

SUNDAY VISIT

On Sunday I paid Suzie a visit in the late afternoon.

Her friend Betty was there when I arrived, and they were listening to a Madonna CD on the boom box. According to Betty, Suzie was singing along to her favorite tracks.

It was great to see Suzie again for the first time in a few weeks, but Saturday was the first time I didn't notice progress. I will admit that I intentionally put off this visit, hoping that I would see all kinds of great developments since last time. In that sense, I was disappointed.

Suzie had a bright smile when I arrived, and attempted to communicate with Betty and me.

"I want to express..." she said, while looking at a binder filled with friends' pictures. She was unable to go any further.

Soon after that she seemed to zone out and lose focus on Betty and me. It seemed as if she had gone somewhere else in her mind. When she returned, she looked agitated and anxious, almost afraid.

"Are you freaking out?" I asked. "What are you freaking out about?"

She repeated the words "freaking out," but I was unsure if that was a confirmation or just the repetition that she does with everything I say. Confirmation or otherwise, something was going on inside of her. I could feel her anxiety in her sweaty palms, and in how she was squeezing my hand.

It's frustrating to not be able to figure out what she's thinking or feeling, and to be unable to help. It's also hard to know what to do in a situation like that -- stay, and ride it out or leave, and allow her to rest. I don't want to make it worse, but I also don't want to leave her when she's feeling scared.

So after about 40 minutes I left her with Betty, hoping that she would feel comforted by her oldest and dearest friend.

I wonder if Suzie knows that she's being transferred and is nervous about the move? I hope it's that, and not something traumatic that she's reliving inside, but can't yet put into words.

great hair

Shantelle, Jenny and I saw Suzie Saturday evening around 6:30pm. She looked great - love the hair - and seemed in really good spirits. After a bit Suzie asked us to turn the television off, turn the lights down and lower her bed. Apparently she thought it best to sleep through our visit. Actually, it was great - her communication skills improve daily and her sense of humor is still very much intact.