Paul's Update - 02/24/06

Dear Friends:

Gone are the quiet days! The folks at Mount Vernon keep Paul busy most of the day. This morning started with the Physical Therapist at 9am. She didn't work him really hard since he had a Doppler (ultrasound) test that was scheduled for 10:15am. This was to prepare for the IVC filter to be rotated. From 9-9:45am she worked to stretch him out and get him to roll from side to side. She got him into the wheelchair and took him to a room where he could sit on a bench. He sat there while she worked to stretch his muscles. He sat up pretty well. After they got back to the room it was about time to go for the ultrasound on his legs to determine if there is good blood flow to his legs and no clots. They were suppose to do the filter rotation right after that but the doctor delayed the procedure because he would like to consider taking the filter out as soon as possible. Since the Doppler showed no evidence of clotting he has ordered the filter removal for Monday. After they got back from that procedure it was a little past time for the Occupational therapist to be working with him but she showed up anyway and tried to work with him a bit. She worked to get him sitting in the bed and take his gown off so they could put a regular shirt on. He assisted her in getting his arms out of the sleeves. He even used his left hand to pull the shirt off of his right arm! She took him in the bathroom to see if he could use a towel on his face. He wasn't really able to do that since his arms are pretty stiff. She worked to stretch his arms a bit and tried to get him to put his hand to his chin. She got it there but it was pretty tough. When she was done she recommended he stay out of bed for a while and see how long he could tolerate being up. While he was still up the doctor came in to replace the trach. This one is smaller and is another step closer to the elimination of the trach. He installed the trach and put a plug on so Paul was breathing completely through his mouth and nose. It stayed on the rest of the day!! Speech therapy came in around 1:30pm. Two therapist are working together for speech therapy. They worked on getting him to swallow and they exercised his facial muscles. They also worked with him to respond to questions by blinking his eyes once for "yes" and twice for "no". He seemed to do well with the "yes" response. They asked if Dad was in the room and he blinked once. They asked if he was OK and he blinked once. When they asked if Tabby was in the room (she wasn't) he blinked once for "yes". We will have to work on this!! LOL Once he was back in bed around 4:30 he was pretty tired and slept for about two hours. He was up most of the day and stayed alert most of that time. Saturday will include therapy. This is new for us. There will be at least two therapists coming in. We are so pleased that everyone is aggressive and works him hard. We believe that he is ready for it and will recover quicker. As we complete the 16th week of Paul's recovery we are constantly amazed at how far he has come. We praise God for keeping him safe and healing his body!

Blessings, Lynne & Carl