Bill, Weds. Oct 30: no dope; "tie-dye" boot

Hooray, he's back from dopey-land. No more baclofyn, thank you very much. No more bug-eyed stares, slurs, sleepiness, loss of focus. 

Also officially nixed the passing comment of 'maybe trying a power chair' made by one of the PT's. 

Started talking about other equipment needs (probably a shower bench/chair, not sure about grab bars or suction bars). The hospital did the paperwork for a wheelchair parking permit, but that doesn't apply to Bill and Ayn so much. They went car-less more than a year ago, using public transportation or Zip Cars. But if Bill's not driving, and Ayn doesn't drive, do they really need a parking permit? I guess maybe if I shove them in my car to go somewhere, although we already have a permit (my hubby's).

Explaining this picture: the white is Bill's sock, and the 'tie-dye' part along the back and on the bottom of his foot (secured by two white velcro straps) is  a very thin but rigid plastic boot (half boot, I guess) to keep him secure while walking. 

Bill, Oct. 26-28: dopey, more standing, discharge expected 11/14

preparing for takeoff

 

In spite of these nice pictures, it was a bit rough over the weekend and Monday. One of two meds Bill was started on last week seemed to really knock him out, zombied, more slurred speech. The docs agreed to back way off (from 15mg to 5mg) and that seems to have helped. Ayn and I were becoming concerned that it was his first real setback, keeping therapy from moving forward. But much better now.

Discharge is planned for November 14. 
From the date of The Event, that is 129 days.

Asking for your input: PT mentioned for the first time they may try out a power chair. We had been told previously that once someone goes that route, it often slows (or stops) progress towards walking. Ayn and I are thinking it's fine to use a manual chair as needed, and we would keep working with him (thru therapies and at home) on standing and walking.  Seriously, anybody with thoughts, especially if you have had anyone in this situation?

Bill, Fri. Oct. 25: talk, strength, roll, stand

What, you want more words than just this big smile? This big standing tall smile?

Okay. Today wasn't as packed as yesterday. I missed the morning session where the doctors did rounds and had him at the parallel bars to stand and take a couple of steps.

I also wasn't at his first half-hour for Speech in the morning, but in the afternoon she had him do a "listening" exercise. She plays a recording of a man saying numbers, "9..8..7..6..1..2..5..4..5..6....."  Bill is holding a clicker, and any time a number is one more than the previous number, he clicks. So he clicks on the "2" because it is one more than "1." He clicks when 4 goes to 5, and again when it goes to 6.  It becomes a little difficult after a while because the guy's voice is pretty monotone -- I found myself drifting.

Then she had him do some work with menus. The purpose was to scan for information. What kind of crust do they use? (Thin) How much does a small cheese pizza cost? How much is a 12" with pepperoni, olives, and green peppers? Then a different menu was hotel room service. What time can you get room service, etc. She continued having him make notes on this days activities.

Physical therapy had various movement and strengthening exercises: bridge, crunches, knee squeezes.

Most exciting for me was "nursing" time which resulted in the picture above. It is a standing frame, and he is pretty strapped in, going for 15 minutes.

The smile is all natural, no coaxing required!

Bill, Thurs. Oct. 24: paraffin dip

Gosh, after yesterday's big post I really don't know much about what happened today! I was running a lot of errands (including the joy of visiting the Social Security office; three security guards seems a bit much).  Hubby and I stopped by the hospital twice, but not to see therapies.

Paraffin dip.  Bill said, "Touch my hand." It was really smooth. His left hand (not moving) had a paraffin dip. I asked if they were trying to protect it, worrying about skin breakdown.  But no, it was for warmth to try to relax it. This is the side wanting to curl: arm, hand, fingers -- very tight. They also just started a med, baclofyn (sp?).  Bill's mneumonic: no, I'm not turning into a fish (fin on the back, baclofyn, get it?). This med is supposed to help relax muscles, get them more flexible/mobile.

Tomorrow I will get ya'll a better update, okay?

Bill, Weds. Oct 22: stand walk talk Yahtzee!

What a busy day! Bill's days have all been busy at the new rehab, but this was my first chance to see most of it.

8:00 - 9:00: OT with eating, bathroom, teeth, dressing, etc . Bill has to do most of the work.

9:00 - 10:00: First the harness for a stand and walk.  And then standing, no harness. Pretty cool.
 (Honest, I have video but once again I am having trouble loading it)

10:00 - 10:30: recreational therapy. The four of us played Yahtzee -- it makes you think in three directions.

10:30 - 11:00: speech therapy. First he has to write notes on what his activities have been so far in the day. Today's handwriting looks markedly improved from yesterday's notes. This challenges him to remember who he worked with and what they did. Then there was a whole series of tongue exercises (who knew there could be so many?), and sound patterns. The time just sped by.

11:00 - 11:30: neuro psychologist. PT expressed some concern that Bill seemed to be nervous or holding back on walking. We explored many avenues: because it's been three and a half months, how much of his muscle memory needs to be re-learned? Because he had blood pressure drops until very recently, how much was holding back because he is expecting to get dizzy (although it's under control now)?  How much of what they are seeing as "nerves," from a shaky/bouncy right leg, is really just part of the brain injury and temporary (similar to Parkinson's tremors)? The doc asked if Bill was nervous, as his leg was bouncing, and Bill said not at all. How much was Bill holding back because there had been three near-falls, trips to the floor, from therapy at the prior facility?  The doc assured Bill that in his 23 years at this hospital, never has a patient been injured during therapy. Yes, they may have had a controlled  trip to the floor, but no injuries.  Overall, the doc encourage Bill to have faith that he could cut loose, just go for it with walking. I made the point that it was like cutting loose from the tow plane when he was 14 and had his first glider solo. Well, of course that led to a longer discussion, and the doc was very impressed. And he walked away with a Bill-specific phrase to be used in the future: we're going to cut loose with the glider.

I had to leave for a few hours, so Bill had lunch, then another couple of hours between OT, PT, and ST.

Bill, Tues. Oct. 22

We had the first family conference -- prelim estimate on discharge is three to four weeks.

OT is concentrating on ADL (activities of daily living) and keeping his left arm/wrist/fingers loose.

They are working to get a brace or ortho boot for his left ankle. It needs to be protected because he could still twist it without realizing any pain.

I don't remember exactly what speech said, sorry! Good cognitive, good short term memory, maybe some work to do on attention, but they are impressed at his functioning.

The group included Kerry, who is the coordinator from OHSU (I think rehab navigator was her title).

They asked if we can get picture and measurements of the bathrooms in the new apartment -- for planning. It's too early to know if there will be equipment needs, but in the meantime they can work with him in his current capabilities.  I hope the building can give me schematics so I don't have to measure.

Tomorrow I will be there early, so I'm hoping for pics and/or video!

Oh, we realized today was the first Tuesday in a LONG time that they haven't been driven crazy by The Leaf Blower. Right outside their window, and the fumes would seep in, yuck.

Bill, Sun/Mon Oct 20/21

[A compilation of texts from Ayn:]

Sunday: Stood for seven minutes, no dizziness, and Ayn got a big hug.

Monday: We are reasonably mental healthy according to the neuropsychologist.

Bill did 26 minutes standing in the frame, no dizziness. Plus he had a stand in the room, with the bed rail, to get pants on.

He got clearance to go outside to the garden (in the chair). Recreational therapy is talking about a possible dinner out (a group event) next week.

They have 30 days left on insurance for in-patient rehab.

Tuesdays are a weekly family conference, with a focus on discharge planning. "What do we have to do to get there?"