Alan at Health South

Alan is now settled in at Health South, has been evaluated by all parties involved in his treatment:  swallowing, PT, OT, doctor, and had at least one regular therapy session with each.  Yesterday Alan and I met with the team to talk about the treatment plan they have devised.   The Health South swallow therapist has recommended Vitalstim therapy, and Alan had his first treatment with that yesterday afternoon..  For more information:  http://www.djoglobal.com/vitalstim/patients/what-is-vitalstim.  Right now, Alan is allowed to have ice chips melt in his mouth, swish the water,  and spit the water out.  Still no swallowing, except in training with the therapist.  

Work with OT on caring for himself is moving quickly.  Alan can do anything related to personal care as long as he is sitting down.  Standing for any length of time is an issue, as he loses balance fairly quickly.  He has to use the walker or wheelchair to get around.  (He got himself all the way down a long corridor to the meeting room in the wheelchair without the nurse taking him.  She was late for the meeting because she was looking all over the place trying to find him.) Both OT and PT said that they are working on building his strength, balance, and endurance.  He can now walk about 25 feet with the walker before he is too tired and shaky to continue.  Then, he has to rest.

Alan participated fully in the conversation.  His cognitive situation is so improved that I could see little difference between the Alan of before and today’s conversation. (He has no memory of anything except the last few days in the hospital.  I have been gradually telling him about things that happened.)  

The ballpark estimate on Alan’s discharge is now June 6, although that could change at the team meeting next week.  They will get him to the point that he can navigate our house and do all things needed to be able to go home.  After discharge, he will work with PT and swallowing therapy with Home Health.  At this point, they don’t know if he will be on/off the feeding tube at discharge.  The OT pointed out that at minimum, it will take twice to three times the amount of time he was in the hospital to get back to full capacity.  He was in the hospital for 49 days, so this means that we are looking at 4 – 6 months before we can expect him to be back to his normal life.  

I will talk to Alan about visitors when I see him today, but my guess will be that he will still want to wait until his voice is stronger and he is at home. I go over during visiting hours, but he is usually too tired at the end of a long day of therapy to visit for the full time.