I'm beginning to realize that these blog posts are going to get pretty repetative! Most of dad's days now consist of 5-6 sessions of therapy. And all the days are running together. So its getting hard to keep track of everything and even harder to remember to leave notes for everyone! I know that everyone is anxious about him and want to know more about his recovery. But hopefully you know that no news is good news! It mostly just means that he is continuing to work hard and get better!
I spent most of the day at the hospital today, so I was able to sit in on all six of his therapy sessions. He had Occupational, Physical and Speech two times each, so it made for a long and exhausting day! (More on that in a minute.)
We had two wonderful surprises today. The first one was a visit from Von, who showed up at 9:00 and was able to go to three sessions of therapy with us! We were so happy to see him and hope that he can come a lot more while he is in Utah. Thank you so much for coming, Von!
The second surprise was that Dad was moved to a private room today! Yahoo!!! We cannot express how awesome this is. We were getting really tired of constant noise from his roommate and his guests and nurses. And I'm quite sure his roommate was tired of our noise, too! It so hard to share a room! (His roommate was so nice and was actually discharged today! Thats great news and we are happy for him!) But now Dad will be able to really rest during the night and only have to wake up when his own nurses come in. That will make a huge difference. And now we won't have to worry nearly as much about "being in the way." Its not 100% sure that we will get to stay in this room, since new head trauma patients will always be first priority. But we'll take it for as long as they are willing to let us have it!
Occupational was a pretty typical today. The first session was spent practicing every day skills, like getting ready for the day. They did retape his right shoulder (very, VERY tightly) so that the joints to sag and separate due to gravity and not using them. The second session was spent practicing tranfers to and from his wheelchair. He is getting better and better at helping them as much as he can. They have been constantly impressed with his hard work. (He does still have a long way to go... he is far from doing it himself. But any progress is great!)
Physical Therapy was the usual, too. First session was spent getting him into the "machine" where he stood for 25 minutes! His old record was 15, so that was a huge accomplishment. The second session was spent in his wheelchair doing leg exercises. He was glad that he didn't have to stand again!
It was the first day that he had two Speech sessions. This is not his favorite and he always pulls faces when we take him into the speech therapy room. LOL! I'm sure that its extremely frustrating for him. The first session was spent practicing swallowing. He still isn't ready for regular liquids and has to stay on "nector-thick" liquids (gag) but he was upgraded to casserole-consistency foods! That doesn't sound super appetizing, but I can imagine that anything would be better than pureed food after two weeks straight! The second session was practicing comprehension and repeating words. Very hard for him and frustrating. But every day shows improvement. Baby steps. :)
By 4:00, when therapy was over, he was exhausted. He had already been groggy all day from being on pain meds. But after working so hard, he earned a nap!
Susan took over for the evening shift. The only thing I've heard so far is that he has been enjoying an evening of ABBA with her. He has been lip-synching along and bobbing his head. :) I love these moments, because they help us feel like everything is back to normal for a while. :)
Thanks again for all the prayers and support. We still have a long road ahead so keep them coming!
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