Updates on David

Several ‘little’ moves forward today. I was glad I was there for him.

I arrived just at the start of his therapy time today and he was again awake and alert.  He is able to describe to the doctors and therapists (and me) the many pains he is feeling through his body and this helps them know what to do to try to make him more comfortable  He has a lot of muscle aches that keep him from resting and the team is working on helping him get through them.

They have finally determined that David’s intestinal problems are not the type that require the gowns, masks and gloves that were being used, so now visitors and therapists can be in the room without these precautions, but visitors should still use the sanitizer on the wall on entering and be thoughtful of David in trying to reduce any germs you might accidentally be transporting.  On the news of the restrictions being lifted, David asked if that meant that now he could have more visitors.  He is now more awake during the day and we are trying to build his endurance, so having visitors from time to time is now easier. It is a tough call to make, since in the afternoons he is tired from therapy and in the morning he is gearing up for the day, but short visits now would be a good thing to add to his overall therapy program.  If anyone is considering visiting and has any questions you can email me, or review my notes in the ‘BIG THANK YOU’ link on this page on the right.  It may still reference the gowns, etc.

The second big news of the day is that he is moving to three meals a day and I can bring in soft foods to supplement his hospital foods (yogurt, pudding, etc).  He has to be supervised while eating any food, but the sooner he is off the tube the better.  As long as he takes in enough volume and calories by mouth for a week or so they will schedule taking out the tube.  His medicines will then need to be taken by mouth and this won’t be the passive way they are given today, but we will cross that bridge when we get to it.

Both Barbara and I will be there on Friday, and Barbara will be there Saturday.  I am covering the store this weekend so I can not be there Saturday or Sunday, and anyone that is thinking of a visit it might cheer him up on Sunday if your schedule permits.  There is no therapy on Sunday, so it is a good time.

David is working hard and needs lots of continued encouragement.

Thanks again.

Drew

David is speaking and eating much better over the last two days.

Sorry I did not write yesterday, so today is a double report.  I have changed my schedule around so that I am at the hospital earlier 4 days a week, and will now just plan on coming home each day.  This lets me be there with him for most of the therapy on those days as well as lunch.

Tuesday was the first meal.  The hospital does a reasonable job of making an interesting looking plate of chopped up food, not exactly baby food (as David referred to it) but easy for him to swallow with limited chewing for now.  Day 1 was pork, with gravy, rice and carrots.  Day two was beef, with gravy, mashed potatoes and green beans.

Lets just say that the green beans were absent David’s beurre noisette and the mashed potatoes had less cream and butter than he normally uses to make them.  C’estle vie.

Yesterday he ate pretty voraciously, about 70 percent of the plate.  Today he ate less, mainly because it came less and he was more tired, and because they had fed him through the tube a little more than the day before.  He drank quite a bit though and would probably drink a 5 gallon jug if they would let him.  They are serving him a thickened water, more like a nectar, since it is more easily swallowed while he is still working on that.  Water is too thin and goes down too fast, though he did manage to talk the therapist into 5 or 6 drinks of tap water as a test.  He almost passed it today, so tomorrow is promising.

For desert today he had strawberry yogurt, and yesterday it was vanilla pudding.  He remembered today what he had yesterday, which is a great little advance.  Small steps.

They re-taped his arm today (sort of like the volleyball players) and that should make him more comfortable. He did all his therapies today and was less affected by his stomach ailments.  Each day is a little better.  He is sitting more upright, does not need any neck or head support, and was able to grab at small foam objects and toss them in a bucket on the opposite side. This is progress.

His left side iches. Halleluja!  No arm movement as yet, but it takes time.

It is difficult for his body to keep up with all that is happening, so gowns, gloves and masks are still required to make sure he does not get sick from anyone.  If you are planning to visit and have even the slightest cold, please consider his health before visiting (thanks!).

David is keeping up with current events on the television.  He quipped that its too bad that the flu epidemic isn’t a bird flu, it’s tweetable, you know (hey, I am only repeating his joke, don’t blame it on me).  He has certainly got his sense of humor back.

Today had a few ‘tough love’ moments while he was in therapy and while the nurses and assistants were cleaning him up. We are all working ot make him as comfortable as possible while he is healing, and recovering, and it is hard to see him struggling, although I know it is making him stronger in the process.

I will be back as the hospital in the morning, and will update you after I get back to the store in the afternoon as I am there for the evening class tomorrow night.

Thanks again for all your support.

Drew

David was the most alert and physically active I have seen him since this all began.

I was there during the afternoon therapies and will be back there for the mid day feeding tomorrow when he will have some more real food.  Today he ate some pears, lime Jell-O, and drank an entire glass of water.  The therapist told him to take one sip at a time, he continually took two, and when asked how many he took he said two.  He was shameless, but after a month he wanted it his way.  His hand and eye control was excellent and his head tracking is greatly improved.  He is still working on ‘centering’ himself (this is a side affect of the lack of feeling on the left) and is ‘pushing’ less and less from his right.  Once his intestinal issues are completely over and he can ‘sit’ more comfortably this will improve even more.  He was able to ‘tolerate’ sitting in the wheelchair for the full 90 minute afternoon sessions just about to the end today.

Throughout the day he was able to interact with the therapy and repeat what he was told, or asked, but not so much from morning to afternoon.

Turns out a teacher and mentor of David’s from culinary school (Orlin) lives just down the road from the hospital and was visiting today when I arrived.  He and David had been having a great conversation (mainly in French it turns out) and David was chatting up a storm (well, compared to recently anyway!).  When David gets a bit tired his memory gets a little confused, and his processing time gets a bit longer, but the therapists and his doctor each said this is completely normal and will improve over time as his ‘current memory’ takes more control.

David got his feeding just about the time Orlin was on his way and I was there for his afternoon ‘nap’ which is a pretty normal pattern for David now.  They tell me he is not getting much sleep through the night though.  I will be there overnight on Wednesday and Friday this week so hopefully he will have a more restful sleep.  During the afternoon session he ‘drove’ his wheelchair to the end of the hall and back using his right hand to push the wheel (steered by the therapist but not pushed).

During his journey David was able to sit upright, holding his head straight, looking where he was going and from side to side in purposeful looks, it was truly inspiring.  On his way out the door, driving his own chair, he exclaimed “free at last, free at last, thank God I am free at last” in a very Martin Luther King Jr sort of way.

That being said he did grab at things within his reach in a sort of immature way, but that too is not unexpected.

All in all a very inspiring day.  His entire team was very ‘up’ and encouraged by his progress.  They said it is natural for his humor and personality to be the first things to come back, his memory consistency will come a little behind that.

I am really looking forward to tomorrow.

Drew

David looked good today.  He had just gotten done with his shave and shower and was back in bed, sleeping.  Dick rode up to the hospital with me today to keep me company on the ride and to visit, of course.

David is in the final stages of recovering from his intestinal battles, although it’s not over yet.  The fiber they are adding to his diet is helping.  Solid food will be a good thing, hopefully this week.  The hospital precautions of a gown and gloves for visitors made it sort of hard to make David feel comfy, but I think he was glad to see us.  He was pretty talkative and once or twice asked Dick a question in a louder voice (he was standing farther away) so that was good to hear.  He heard on TV about Bea Arthur (David is a Golden Girls devotee) and about the Swine Flu, so his short term memory seems to be working.  I half expected him to tell me we needed to buy whatever it was on the infomercial he was watching when we got there.

Therapy starts again tomorrow and I will be there every day this week.  I did tell David I had to be around the house in the morning while the new propane company brings their tank and he made a few pertinent comments about that and a few other household and store related things.

I have debated discussing though the other parts of his conversations, but I think its important to understand the long journey we are on. From time to time (today for example) he thinks we are in France and going on a barge trip the next day, and talks about provisioning the boat and things we need to do, etc.  He then gives me lists of things we need to do and tasks for me to take care of since he can not get up.

The nurse today suggested we go outside with him and she mentioned the new flowers on the courtyard a few times, this led him to mention that the boat parked outside is ours and we are leaving on a trip soon.  He mentions that I need to call this person or that, the ones that had recently been talking about a barge trip, to let them know will be late by a day or two.

In the course of the conversation I tell him that I too am looking forward to our next trip and reminisce about our time in France, but when I then slowly talk about the current time, the hospital, and current events to bring him back to the here and now he then becomes quiet and he is then either confused, upset or simply disoriented.

I am reminded continually that this is part of the recovery process.  Doesn’t rip my heart out any less though.

He opened his Tiffany box today and liked the present (a keychain with a heart on it, soon to be engraved). He was a little too tired after his tummy feeding to look at the cards today, but we’ll do that tomorrow.  By the time afternoon rolled around he was back asleep so Dick and I headed back south.  I will get more time with him tomorrow and will explain some of what he was talking about to the therapists so they can better tailor his program once they know the references and what the heck he is talking about.

More tomorrow.

Drew

I spoke with David’s lead doctor last night (Friday) and she said he was improving, although slowly.  He is doing some therapy and is out of the room more and more, again.  I am flying home today (yes, little blue box in hand) and will be at the hospital on Sunday afternoon to celebrate David’s birthday with him.

I will be with him each day next week so I will update you in more detail then.

Drew

It seems David has chosen his birthday to be a bit more talkative, even to the doctors.  And a smile I am told, his first in quite a long time.

I spoke to his lead doctor earlier, and  to Dick who visited David with Gerda.  I also just got off the telephone with Cyndy, the social worker, who had just left David’s room a few minutes ago.

His doctor said “there was a crowd in his room” when she visited him and she asked David what the excitement was and he told her it was his birthday today.  The dozens of  roses I sent had arrived (one for each year, plus one for good luck).  And there  are  some gifts there for him to open when I get there on Sunday. 

Cyndy and Heather (her intern, who loves to cook) went to see David and cheer him up with an unaccompanied  rendition of Happy Birthday.  He smiled at that.  He has certainly not lost his sense of humor in that when Cyndy asked David what he wanted me to bring him back from New York he kept saying “blue box”.  After a few attempts (she didn’t catch the meaning) he brought her closer and said, in perfect voice, “Tiffany’s”.

My first guess was that he would have said ‘cheesecake”, but he is not eating real food yet so perhaps another time.  I suppose I have my work cut out for me before I head to the airport on Saturday.

 The nurses had told me yesterday that he was doing better, which he is (I am told you can see it in his face), but the doctor advised that he was not yet cured and that they had decided to add some ‘bacterial precautions’ to assure that David’s malady would stay in his room and not be shared with other patients, so gowns are now provided  for visitors and some extra hand cleansing when arriving OR leaving the room is now required.

They are focused on improving his comfort so that he can increase his therapy, and that seems to be working.  More news tomorrow.

Thanks for all your support.

Drew

A quick update for today since tomorrow will  be a BUSY day for David on his  birthday.  The word from the Nurses is that his ‘comfort’ level is improving and he should be able to resume full therapy by the end of this week.

Drew

David is suffering from some “intestinal issues” that his doctor is confident will be solved in a few days more.  It is hard for him to work very hard being sick like this.  It is keeping him from doing any more physical therapy for a day or two, but as I understand it they are still working on speech therapy.

 Being sick on top of everything else is really, really miserable for him.  The staff is working hard to keep him as comfortable and “neat”  as possible while the medicines kick in.

I hear that a few people are planning to visit on Thursday, his birthday.  He knows that it is his birthday, but says he will be 46.  For the record, it’s 47 this year.

That’s the update for now.  More tomorrow.

Drew

I am happy to report that David wants out of there.

Since I am in NY this week I am relying on the reports from the staff and visitors so that I can keep you (and myself) up to date.  Our dear friend Will went to see David today and emailed me to say that David asked his help to get him out of there.  Yes, this is a normal reaction, and hopefully one that means he will be working hard to get himself out of there. Our job is to provide continual encouragement to him in this direction.  It is definately a ‘Tough Love’ situation.

The update for Monday is that David was out of his room at therapy several times and participating.  I won’t know the specifics of his progress until I return and see for myself how he is doing, but I trust that with each day some progress will be made.  Our goal this week is still for the transition to solid food and they are planning a ‘flouroscopic swallow study’ to mke sure his swallow  is working correctly.

Barbara and Gerda are visiting Tuesday and I will let you know what they report.

Until tomorrow,

Drew

I spent the day with David, and being a Sunday there is no therapy so it is a very long day for him in his room.  The staff was very attentive to his personal needs, but I was glad I was there to keep him company.

Monday will start a more intensive therapy so he will be VERY busy this week and by next Sunday he will be looking forward to the rest,  I am sure!

I will be in New  York this week and so for three days this week various folks are scheduled to be with him for parts of the day.  He will be sleeping the rest of the time as the therapy is very tiring and his brain is still healing, of course.

I will be talking to the nurses, and to his ‘visiting angels’ and will post a few times this week, and back to a daily post on next Sunday when I am back.

By the way, for some of you the link to “A Big Thank You” appears on the lower right of this page, not the upper right as I mentioned before.

Thanks for your support.

Drew