Paul's Update - 03/03/06

Dear Friends:

I am away for the next two weeks to help my mother get moved from Tennessee to South Carolina. I will attempt to keep you as updated as I can by passing on the information I get each day. Dad got to the hospital early this morning to be there in time for the ADL "activities for daily living". Paul wasn't very cooperative today ... he seems to be very stubborn lately. The doctor came in early and took out the trach. Yahoo! He placed a small bandage over the hole and he said that the hole will close up in a few days. Now he can take showers on a regular basis ... he got one today!! Dad took the opportunity to ask the doctor when he thinks the blood thinners will be discontinued. This would make it much easier for when we take him home (less meds!!). The doctor said he wanted to think about it but he said that in a spinal cord injury patient (who are less mobile than Paul) the risk for blood clots is significantly decreased after three months. They are no more at risk than you or me! I suspect he will discontinue the blood thinner within the next couple of days. The PT session today was mostly time on a tilt table. She raised him to an angle that would apply weight to his feet and legs without standing alone. She wants to be able to increase his weight bearing endurance without causing too much exhaustion or pain to his foot. Speech therapy went well. Paul was able to take ice chips and crunch them for the therapist. She tried to get him to make sounds but he refused. She tried to get him to count with her. She would count 1-2-3 and move his fingers as she counted. Then she counted 1-2-3 and HE moved his fingers as she counted!! Dad talked with the physical therapist today and inquired if she thought Paul would be able to get six weeks of therapy. She said she didn't know but now that medicaid will be paying the bill there is a weekly evaluation that will happen to determine if Paul is progressing to the next level of recovery. If he doesn't progress they will recommend that he be discharged because if Medicaid notes that he has hit a plateau in his recovery they will refuse to pay for him to continue therapy. Evidently him crunching on ice and eating a popsicle could be good enough for this week ... I guess it doesn't take much but each level of recovery becomes more difficult to achieve and he is moving pretty slowly. Tabby has now begun to prepare their home to bring him there. She has cleaned out the spare room in their basement and is preparing to rehab their bathroom. It doesn't have a bathtub so she has a friend that will install one for them. Many things will need to be done over the next couple of weeks for him to be able to go there. She has started working hard to be ready! I pray that we will get all the right resourses and education to be ready to help him at home!! Have a great weekend!

Love & Hugs; Lynne (in SC) & Carl (at home)