Bill, Friday July 26: moved from ICU to "regular" room

If not for this blog, I might not have a clue what day it is!

Bill is able to step down the level of care needed, so he moved from ICU to a "regular" room. Less monitors are stuck to him. Ayn looks forward to sleeping on the comfortable window seat instead of on the ICU waiting room floor. I will never understand how she was able to do that -- almost three weeks!

Physical and occupational therapy continued today. He was in the "cardio chair" and they held him in an upright sitting position for almost ten minutes. Might not seem much, but quite a workout for him and a step up in his activity. He is able to follow commands to kick his right leg, point toes, and pull up.  Then we have some passive movements to keep joints and tendons loose until he moves up to working those on his own.

Bill's daughter visited in the morning. She was thrilled to see his progress. Compared to the last time she saw him (about a week), she was relieved to the point of tears. She gabbed at him about what she has been doing and her plans for the day.

Tomorrow we will visit the skilled nursing facility where we hope his next step is in the journey. Along with Bill's "nurse sister," we have to be careful to get all of our questions answered while not pelting them to the point of surrender, "oh no, we can't take him."

My husband had the very sweet thought of wanting to send a fruit basket to ICU staff as a thank you for all the wonderful care they provided.  But the hospital gift shop doesn't have anything of the sort; they suggested food services, but "Mercedes" said they also weren't set up for that. So if he wants to contact Fred Meyer or some other store, I wish him well, but I just can't divert my energy there. I'm amazed when people can cover all the bases!

We left a 'thank you' note on the whiteboard in Bill's ICU room -- does that count?