Alan is now in a neurology rehab unit at Holston Valley Hospital. His physical issues are mostly resolved: pneumonia mostly gone, blood pressure and temperature issues ok for the most part. He still has the same neurological, swallowing, speech problems, hoarse voice, and severe swallowing difficulty. (He can swallow, but the muscles don't coordinate to close the epiglottis completely, so anything he swallows can go into his lungs.) He is still on a feeding tube in his belly, as a consequence. He can follow directions fairly well, but getting a coherent sentence out is sometimes difficult. However, that is getting much better on that, also. I just got a text from Susie that said, "Wow! He's communicating better than yesterday." The good news is that he hasn't had any severe headaches in a long time, hasn't taken pain meds in several days.
In this new unit, he is getting more physical, speech and occupational therapy, and the nurses are getting him out of bed and into a chair daily. They have him stand with a lot of help and pivot to the chair, which is progress from the process I described previously. It is assumed that he will stay in this unit until his physical problems are resolved enough that he can go to a rehab hospital to get more concentrated rehabilitation. That may be in just a few days, but the decision on that is contingent on how he progresses. He still sleeps a lot and activity exhausts him, so we want to be sure that he doesn't leave the hospital prematurely. He will be going to Health South, which has all the therapy he will need, plus a doctor who sees the patient three times a week. He needs a rehab hospital, not just a rehab center within a skilled care setting, such as at NHC.
Alan's sisters continue to be wonderful caregivers, taking the 12 hour 7 - 7 night shift, while I take the 7 - 7 day shift. Charlotte was here last week, Susie this week.
So, with baby steps, we are moving forward.
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3 comments:
Good to hear progress, however slow, is happening! Give our favorite historian a hug for us and tell him we're thinking about you both!
R & R.
I'm glad to read of some promising progress! I feel for you as I went through much the same with my father. A word of advice from experience:stay vigilant. When they moved my Dad to Health South I checked at midnight the night before to be sure all the paperwork was in order etc. and by 7:00am they had lost it. Once there they fed him the wrong food and he aspirated seriously and I almost had to threaten suing them to get him the proper attention.
Hang in there, he was strong starting out so he will pull out of this. Bless you.
I forgot to tell you that was from Dwain. Keep telling Allan I'm holding the Cuban cigar for him!
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