Day 74

Bob writing me a letter!

Bob standing at the parallel bars!

Bob standing by the ladder, he used the rungs to help pull himself up!

Monday, January 30, 2012

Great things are starting to really happen with Bob.  He had more good days than bad this past week!  Saturday he stood another 6 times and by the last one, he was using a lot of his own strength to get up.  He did great in all his therapy's this past weekend and even wrote me a letter in occupational therapy, with his right hand.  It was a very sweet letter!  He wanted a blessing on Sunday, so he asked Aram & I to help him call and arrange for that. It was a beautiful blessing and I think it made him feel better about things.  He is starting to remember more and asking more questions about his accident and about other things.  He is still struggling with names and doesn't make sense some of the time, but it is getting better.  Today in therapy, he stood 10 times and did a lot of it with his own strength.  His therapist said that this was by far his best day!  She said that his next challenge will be to start taking steps, with assistance of course, but isn't that great?  It is so exciting to see him coming back and to experience the greatness of the miracles that we are seeing.  His doctor told him today that if he continues to progress and does everything that he needs to do, he thinks he will be coming home sometime in February. Doesn't he look good?  We are all just really proud of what he is doing!  Please pray for him to have the strength he needs to do well in his therapy.  It will be so great to walk along side him again!  Thanks for all the love and support.  When we were explaining some of the accident to him on Saturday, he wanted us to please let everyone know how much he appreciates your love and concern.  

Day 69

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Today was an amazing day!  Bob was the Superstar of IMC!  I think the light switch might be starting to come on.  His day started off with heartfelt phone calls to me and Ryan.  He was just very appreciative and grateful for lots of things today.  He thanked the nurses and therapists for all that they are doing to help him get better.  He played connect 4 with the occupational therapist and did really well.  He played sequential card games with the speech therapist, and wheeled himself in his chair from the dining room to his room after therapy.  He paused for a moment and bowed his head to ask Heavenly Father to help him before his morning physical therapy.  He stood up, with help, at the parallel bars 6 times this morning and stood in the other machine during his afternoon therapy session.  He ate well today and asked a lot of questions about the accident.  He asked the doctor why he (Bob) didn't like him (the doctor) the first day he got there.  For him to remember that, the light switch is definitely starting to come on!  I think everyone knows but if not, he really, really didn't like the doctor the first day he got to IMC.  He even tried to hit him, so this today was good.  The occupational therapist reminded us that he will still have good days and bad days, especially as his cognition gets better.  As he realizes that he can't do something that he use to be able to do, he will get frustrated and angry.  Today was, we hope, the beginning of more better days.  The time frame for coming home is still at 3 - 5 weeks but if he now understands that he needs to work hard to come home, we may see some great improvements in his leg and arm strength, we hope.  The pictures are of him standing at the parallel bars, him wheeling himself back to his room and the healing process of his incision.  Please continue to pray in our behalf, the prayers are definitely working!  Thanks so much for all the support and love that is being sent our way!

Day 65

Sunday, January 22, 2012

I think Bob got on an even bigger roller coaster this past week.  It has been a very hard week for all of us.  He had a couple of good days but the majority were rough.  We had a family meeting with the doctor, a nurse, a physical therapist, a speech therapist, a social worker and someone from the neuro-psych department on Friday.  With input from us and with some research from all of us, we determined that there might be a possibility that some of the medicines might be having an adverse effect on Bob.  They are going to change some of his meds and see if that helps to eliminate some of his "hard moments."  Along with the medications, he is experiencing post traumatic amnesia which is the cause of most of his confusion, anxiety and anger.  He also has aphasia which is the reason he struggles to find the right words to express himself.  The medical people explained that until the confusion lessons, he will continue to struggle with his physical therapy because he can't make sense of why he needs to do it to get stronger.  The meeting was good and helped to make us understand why things are moving slowly in his progression.  They have seen all of what Bob is experiencing, just not all in the same patient.  They reiterated to us again that his injury was extreme and that it is going to take a very long time for Bob to get better.  He had a really good day yesterday and we even went down to the cafeteria for dinner.  He did well feeding himself, even with his right hand!  Please continue to pray for Bob, he needs all that our Heavenly Father sees fit for him.  Thanks for the continued support!

Day 61

This picture is how they lift Bob from his bed to his chair.  They call it the big green pea pod.  It makes it nice for both the nurse and for Bob!

This is Bob and Ali watching Tangled, a favorite for both of them.

Day 58

Monday, January 16, 2012

It has been a week now at IMC and Bob has made some great progress.  They have him standing in 2 different machines for a very few minutes.  It is very painful on his legs but he is doing it!  He had a really bad day on Thursday, they wondered if he had more bleeding on his brain so they took him in for another CT scan.  It didn't show anything new so that was great news!  I think he may have just had a touch of the flu - he complained of a bad headache, he threw up and just didn't feel well.  They gave him medication to help him sleep and he just rested all day.  He was up and ready to go on Friday.  He was extremely grumpy though, with everyone.  We ended his speech therapy early because he was not cooperating at all.  He had a nap and then I talked to him about his attitude and when the kids arrived for a visit, he was feeling much better.  We are on a roller coaster right now, up one moment and down the next.  It's hard to keep up with sometimes!  I'm hoping he is understanding that he needs to work really hard now to get strong so he can come home.  Kami and I had a pep talk with him last night before we left and we are really hoping that he will remember it and keep trying to do what they ask him to do.  He is remembering some things, doing quite well with numbers and letters but can't tell you the names of simple objects.  Kami had some great apps on her I-pad and worked with him on those.  It is very interesting to sit and watch what his responses are, truly amazing how our brain works!  Please continue to pray for Bob, I think the real ride has just begun!  Thanks so much for the support and love being sent our way - people have been truly amazing!!

Monday, January 9, 2012

We finally got Bob moved out of Promise on Friday!  He had another really hard day on Friday but by Saturday, it was a totally different thing.  He spent the day trying to figure out who was married to who.  We had some good laughs and he was acting like what my brother-in-law referred to as a "cheap drunk."  It was a fun day to see him happy and content.  He did well in his physical therapy and the people at the IMC facility are awesome!  We are looking forward to good progress now and I'm sure many new challenges along the way.  He was a little more calm and quiet yesterday, I think he was trying to fit some of the puzzle pieces together by the questions he was asking us.  Just to give you all some glimpse of this healing process, Saturday he got our names right, for the most part, but couldn't tell us the correct time.  Sunday, he didn't get any of our names right but was right on the money with the time.  It is so interesting to see each day, the differences in what is connecting and what isn't.  He is eating now and only has the tube feed at night.  His therapy is 1 1/2 hours in the morning and 1 1/2 hours in the afternoon.  The policy at IMC for visitors is that you try to visit after 3:30 p.m. so it doesn't interfere with his therapy.  Thanks so much for your support - love to all of you!   

 Wednesday, January 4, 2012

These pictures are from rehab at Promise.  Doesn't he look happy in the one?  This is the machine that they pinched his left big toe in and pulled his whole toenail off of his right foot - ouch!!

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

We had a pretty rough weekend at Promise.  Since the trach was removed, Bob's sleep apnea has kicked back in.  His C-pap wasn't working because the air was escaping out the hole in his neck, thus, no sleep, upset Bob!  I think it was a combination of no sleep and just the stage that he is in right now, but he is not a happy camper!  He is agitated, angry, paranoid, uncomfortable and just not feeling well.  He didn't make much sense of anything this weekend other than on Saturday, he was determined that he was going home.  The photo below is when he was trying to convince Daxton to got out and convince the nurses that we were going to sneak him out of there.  They moved him into a semi-private room on Thursday afternoon, which just isn't a good thing when you are sick.  With Bob not sleeping and yelling out and being loud, they moved his "room mate" out on Saturday afternoon.  Yesterday late afternoon, the staff came in and moved Bob again, to another semi private room with a new "room mate."  They are sedating him at night which is hard for me, but they say he is out of control and it is for him as well as the other patients.  He wants to kiss the nurses and can't understand why that isn't appropriate.  I am struggling with all of it - it isn't Bob and he would be so upset to know what he is doing and what they are doing to him!  I hope this phase moves quickly and that he will soon know what is going on and be able to remember things and people!  They are talking about moving him to either McKay Dee or Murray acute rehabilitation on Friday, so we will see if he is ready at that time.  Please continue prayers in our behalf, this is by far the hardest thing I have EVER had to go through in my life.  We are far from done and please don't forget about us, we need you and your prayers!  Thanks so much to family members for helping at the hospital - I couldn't do it without you!  Thanks so much to everyone who has visited Bob, we will forever be grateful for your sacrifice!  Thank you!