I wasn't able to be up at the hospital
yesterday, but hopefully Aubrey and Nate will be able to write an update for
yesterday. I made a point of heading up
there this morning before work because he seems to be his best early in the
day. He was up and sitting in bed and
had just finished his breakfast when I arrived around 8:30ish. He had a good night last night and slept
well.
We had some good conversation and Dad is
really able to communicate better, longer thoughts, and keep up on the
conversations that we are having. He is
using more facial expression and tone in his voice while he speaks which adds
to his communication. He tried to tell
me about one of the nurses from the past day and he kept saying "yeah…that
guy….that guy…." But having a hard time finding the word he wanted. I suggested, "did that guy drive you
crazy?" and he said "Yes - that guy drove me crazy….but it's a short
drive" and laughed. It is so great
to see his sense of humor coming back.
In other instances, it seems like if you ask him a question and he can't
find the answer he will give you a funny response on purpose just to get you to
laugh. More like he realizes that he
doesn't have the right answer, but it's easier to say something funny. He is also thinking through and processing a
lot of overwhelming information. He
mentioned this morning that "It's hard for me to understand….I am better….but
I am not better." And we talked
about how every day he makes so much progress and how is heart is getting
better as well, but that we need to keep working in the hospital and then in
the rehab setting to get better enough to come home. After these conversations, he typically
reminds us that he is "Ready to Work!"
And on that note, the physical therapist
(PT) and occupational therapist (OT) stopped by this morning the do an
assessment on my dad. They will write up
a formal report, but thought he did very well.
The first goals are just to get him independently caring for
himself. With some minimal coaching, he
brushed his teeth, brushed his hair, put on a shirt. He can walk fairly independently, and just
has some balance and gait issues to work through. I think I mentioned the other day that he can
eat and drink independently and use the restroom. I don't know all of the other parts of his
assessment, but overall they seemed pleased with how much better he gets
daily. We talked with them afterwards
and they feel that he seems ready to go to an intense inpatient rehabiliatation
program. Based on our research, we have
found one that is about 20 miles away that has a great program with some really
great results. The average length of
stay is 7-10 days and most of their patients (~75%) are discharged back home. We are so encouraged at the thought that he
is ready for this next step and that he could be home in as few as two weeks. PRAISE GOD!
Today's big event is that my dad is
getting a defibrillator implant into his chest.
Because the cause of his cardiac arrest is still unknown, this will help
protect him if it were to happen again.
Dad is aware of the procedure, the doctor yesterday did a good job
explaining it to him, and he has remembered all last night and today that at
2pm he will get his defibrillator. It
was explained to us as a relatively minor procedure where the defibrillator
will be placed just below the surface of the skin and has leads that go into
the arteries in his heart. He will need
to remain in bed for at least a few hours (maybe more….I'm not sure
afterwards), but this is typically short surgery and short recovery. He could still be ready to move on to
rehabilitation as early as tomorrow…however I have learned not to depend on
any promised schedule because we have planned several moves that have not
happened.
Please pray that:
· The surgery to implant the
defibrillator goes well. Also pray that
my dad will not be frustrated by the rest that he will need to take afterwards
and that he will follow the instructions of the nurses and doctors. At this point, he is not excited about any
more sitting in bed.
· Pray that he is admitted into
the rehabilitation program and that the move can happen sometime in the next few
days.
· Please pray that the pace of
the progress we are seeing continues. Every
day he gets more and more of his abilities back and that is just so encouraging
to both us and to him.
· As he becomes more and more
aware of things, his old worries start to come back. He worries about work, both when he can
return to work and whether he can return to work and this is a source of
frustration and anxiety to him. He has
also started to ask about the cost of things and has communicated that he is
worried about his finances. Please pray
that we can keep his worries at bay and that he can put these aside and keep
his focus on getting himself better.
From Nathan:
ReplyDeleteThis morning we were able to experience the famous Clarence humor for the first time since the incident that made time stand still for our family. He was sitting up and once again greeted me as I entered the room. When asked how he slept, he responded, "Like a baby..." then the familiar Clarence smile that up to this point had been locked inside emerged and he continued, "I cried every 30 minutes".
He was also recalling events with an old childhood friend who stopped in to check on the progress. He mentioned that he was surprised his brother Tim was still alive, because he was the one who was always getting into trouble.
Every day Gods blessings pour out faster and greater along this road to recovery, at times it is hard to retain all the joy that fills our hearts! Tears of sorrow have transformed to abundant tears of joy!
Clarence was evaluated by the physical therapist today to determine his placement in a rehab program. He astounded the specialists with the progress that has taken place just within the past two days! We as a family are looking into programs, but our options are very quickly being narrowed down as he will be able to participate in rigorous and intensive therapy. Each day he progresses, without the help of professionals, but by the hand of the Great Physician!
Clarence is now anxiously awaiting the installment of a defibrillator at 2:00 this afternoon. The most exciting part is he understands what the procedure is and why it is being done! He asked why they had to wait until 2:00, he wants it done now!
As I walked around the ICU floor beside Clarence God gave me a revelation. Everyone was watching with amazement as the man who was in a vegetative state only days ago, was now walking and talking. People we had prayed with in the waiting room we're by the side of their loved ones bed in the ICU. They stopped what they were doing to greet Clarence. He did not understand, as he did not know them. But I knew why, with each step he took he was proclaiming with his entire being a message that shakes the foundations of both the heavens and earth... OUR GOD HEALS!!!!!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbqPQkH5HYA&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Uncle Tim and I visited in the evening. He looked really good. He was just back to his room from the procedure and a little grumpy. We might have seen a little bit of CJ in him. He was very tired, you could tell the day was a long one for him. He said he was only a little sore from the procedure but he was very fixated on eating something. After he was able to eat he was much better and he did say his food was pretty good, which was better than last night where he proclaimed that it was "just awaful."
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