Thanks for everything, dear friends.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
A Birthday to Remember
The plans are finalized for Rob's return home on his 23rd birthday tomorrow! He should be home sometime mid-afternoon. If you happen to be out in the 'hood tomorrow evening, please swing by the house and do a drive-by honking to help him celebrate his birthday. I mean, not 23 honks, as that would get a little annoying to the neighbors perhaps, but if you get the chance to drive by I think Rob would find it pretty cool. Dad says stop on in and visit if you want, too.
Thanks for everything, dear friends.
Thanks for everything, dear friends.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Say What?
Rob's coming home on Monday. Yes, it's true! And a little bit crazy!
He can't bear weight on his legs for another two weeks but his stay at Select Care has pretty much run its course. They'll be sending him home on Monday (such is the plan, anyway) to wait out the two weeks until his breaks are stable enough to start bearing weight. At that point, he will return to Parkview to complete physical therapy and be officially recovered.
How amazing. Thank you, Lord.
He can't bear weight on his legs for another two weeks but his stay at Select Care has pretty much run its course. They'll be sending him home on Monday (such is the plan, anyway) to wait out the two weeks until his breaks are stable enough to start bearing weight. At that point, he will return to Parkview to complete physical therapy and be officially recovered.
How amazing. Thank you, Lord.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Rob Update - Day 43
43 days in the hospital sounds ridiculously long, but not when you think about what things were like on Day 1 compared to now. I haven't updated much this week because of that whole full time working mom thing, but now that I'm taking some time to do it I'm happy to only have good news to report.
The first week Rob was in Select Care was hard on everyone, but things have much improved since then. He moved rooms this week which helped with the noise level and makes it easier for him to rest. It sounds like he's back to an almost normal sleeping pattern of sleeping through the night again. (Hey, Jack too!)
The best news of the week was the completion of his swallow study, which he passed with flying colors. They knew he could swallow from observation, but needed to observe liquid and food moving through his esophagus with an x-ray to make sure everything was headed to the right place and not into his lungs. That day he finally got some Sprite...and has had Mountain Dew, Ensure, orange juice, etc. since then. He was so desperate to drink something in the previous days leading up to the swallow study that he even asked for a V8.
He was able to eat for the first time in over forty days on Wednesday, and continues to eat normal meals in very small portions. His feeding tube is still being filled at night, but we're hopeful those days are numbered.
We're hopeful that Rob will spend his 23rd birthday (next Monday the 30th) back at Parkview after his release from Select Care. Check back later for party details!
The first week Rob was in Select Care was hard on everyone, but things have much improved since then. He moved rooms this week which helped with the noise level and makes it easier for him to rest. It sounds like he's back to an almost normal sleeping pattern of sleeping through the night again. (Hey, Jack too!)
The best news of the week was the completion of his swallow study, which he passed with flying colors. They knew he could swallow from observation, but needed to observe liquid and food moving through his esophagus with an x-ray to make sure everything was headed to the right place and not into his lungs. That day he finally got some Sprite...and has had Mountain Dew, Ensure, orange juice, etc. since then. He was so desperate to drink something in the previous days leading up to the swallow study that he even asked for a V8.
He was able to eat for the first time in over forty days on Wednesday, and continues to eat normal meals in very small portions. His feeding tube is still being filled at night, but we're hopeful those days are numbered.
We're hopeful that Rob will spend his 23rd birthday (next Monday the 30th) back at Parkview after his release from Select Care. Check back later for party details!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
A Year Ago Today...
We discovered that we were expecting this little Lima Bean...
We had just returned from a house hunting (or apartment renting?) trip to Denver the night before, and had signed a 6 month apartment lease just 12 hours before we were surprised with this wonderful, miraculous news.
2011 was quite the year for miracles of life, wasn't it?
We had just returned from a house hunting (or apartment renting?) trip to Denver the night before, and had signed a 6 month apartment lease just 12 hours before we were surprised with this wonderful, miraculous news.
2011 was quite the year for miracles of life, wasn't it?
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
A Better Week - Rob Update
Rob becomes a little clearer every day. Last night he seemed interested in his phone again and was texting people and confirming Facebook friends. He's still saying some pretty kooky things, so who knows what those texts said. I sent him a very short text this morning just to see what I would get back, and he replied "Love you too, learns [I think this was Linds spelled wrong and his phone auto-corrected it...I'm 99% sure he doesn't think my name is Learns]. Hopefully getting out of hospital soon." Oh no, dear brother. Not soon. But the more you cooperate the sooner that day will come. Until then, any dvd requests?
He started with some physical therapy yesterday and it wiped him out for the majority of the day. My mom said it was hard to believe how tiring a few reps of a simple movement were for him. We're anxiously awaiting a swallow study this week so he can maybe have something to drink. I know it's hard for my parents to stand his constant requests for Sprite. Yesterday he proclaimed that he was going to drink orange juice until he threw up. I really, really hope they got the swallow study done today so the poor guy can get some Sprite already.
The last thing I want to tell you in this quick update is that he's up for visitors again. I think the steady-eddies have already figured this out and went to see him today, but I feel it's only right to lift my "no visitor" proclamation from the blog and not leave you hanging. He hasn't been as restless so we think it's okay, but if he gets agitated at any point they may have to cut some visits short.
Hope you're all having a good week! Even though it's a short one, I'm beat. Until next time...
He started with some physical therapy yesterday and it wiped him out for the majority of the day. My mom said it was hard to believe how tiring a few reps of a simple movement were for him. We're anxiously awaiting a swallow study this week so he can maybe have something to drink. I know it's hard for my parents to stand his constant requests for Sprite. Yesterday he proclaimed that he was going to drink orange juice until he threw up. I really, really hope they got the swallow study done today so the poor guy can get some Sprite already.
The last thing I want to tell you in this quick update is that he's up for visitors again. I think the steady-eddies have already figured this out and went to see him today, but I feel it's only right to lift my "no visitor" proclamation from the blog and not leave you hanging. He hasn't been as restless so we think it's okay, but if he gets agitated at any point they may have to cut some visits short.
Hope you're all having a good week! Even though it's a short one, I'm beat. Until next time...
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Rob's Week - The Abridged Version
Today is Rob's fifth day at the new hospital and it sounds like this has been a pretty rough week of transition. Physically, his health continues to improve each day and he even had his trach plugged today. He is still running a fever and we continue to be concerned about infection and the potential for blood clots, but those are probably two aspects of long-term hospital care that we'll be worried about until he's home.
Mentally, this week has been very hard on both Rob and my parents. He is now working through the steps that need to be taken after a traumatic brain injury and is spending a lot of time talking through memories and figuring out what's going on. Between having this normal reaction from a traumatic brain injury, dealing with the effects of ICU psychosis, and weaning off of all his sedation and pain meds, I think it's been a pretty trying week for everyone. Sometimes he's right there with you and other times he's so confused. At one point yesterday, he was telling people he played basketball for Bishop Luers. From what we hear this is all very classic TBI behavior (I don't know if traumatic brain injury is given the acronym TBI in the medical world, but it works for me). It might be normal for now but it's not normal for my parents, and I know they can't wait for the return of old Rob.
Despite the rough transition, yesterday and today were much better for Rob. He was finally able to rest (CONSTANT loud noise is a problem in his new digs since he's right across from the utility closet). Not sleeping and resting has been one of the biggest problems, so anytime he can nap or sleep is good. He sat in a chair for about three hours yesterday and was finally seen by his doctor and some therapists.
I just wanted to update everyone so you know that all is still chugging along. Even though this was a hard week, it's just another step on the road to home - a road we're all very happy to be traveling. That's probably easy for me to say from here.
It's really best for him not to have visitors for now. We really appreciate your support but please know that your support from home is the best you can do for Rob right now to give him the very best chance to rest and recover quickly. I'll keep you posted when he's improved and will fully appreciate visitors. Thank you so much for understanding.
Mentally, this week has been very hard on both Rob and my parents. He is now working through the steps that need to be taken after a traumatic brain injury and is spending a lot of time talking through memories and figuring out what's going on. Between having this normal reaction from a traumatic brain injury, dealing with the effects of ICU psychosis, and weaning off of all his sedation and pain meds, I think it's been a pretty trying week for everyone. Sometimes he's right there with you and other times he's so confused. At one point yesterday, he was telling people he played basketball for Bishop Luers. From what we hear this is all very classic TBI behavior (I don't know if traumatic brain injury is given the acronym TBI in the medical world, but it works for me). It might be normal for now but it's not normal for my parents, and I know they can't wait for the return of old Rob.
Despite the rough transition, yesterday and today were much better for Rob. He was finally able to rest (CONSTANT loud noise is a problem in his new digs since he's right across from the utility closet). Not sleeping and resting has been one of the biggest problems, so anytime he can nap or sleep is good. He sat in a chair for about three hours yesterday and was finally seen by his doctor and some therapists.
I just wanted to update everyone so you know that all is still chugging along. Even though this was a hard week, it's just another step on the road to home - a road we're all very happy to be traveling. That's probably easy for me to say from here.
It's really best for him not to have visitors for now. We really appreciate your support but please know that your support from home is the best you can do for Rob right now to give him the very best chance to rest and recover quickly. I'll keep you posted when he's improved and will fully appreciate visitors. Thank you so much for understanding.
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