Wednesday Update
We're still waiting for culture results. An initial test came back negative for infection, but we won't know for sure until the cultures come back.
The past couple of days we've been back and forth about whether to be concerned about Dad babbling about jobs he seems to think he's doing. He sleeps on and off and talks in his sleep about different jobs he's dream-working on. When Mom has been able to understand enough of his words, she has said he's talking about jobs he has actually done in the past. The doctors and nurses have assured us that his mumblings are normal for someone in his situation, and that they watch for actual incoherence regarding time/place/who/why. When Dad is awake, he can answer questions and keeps facts straight and seems to really understand what's going on with him medically. A social worker told Mom today that during traumatic events we tend to mentally go to familiar places. For Dad, that's work. Fixing things. Micah called work Dad's "zen" and concluded that it's probably best for Dad's emotional state that we leave him be there in his happy place of bossing people around on the job and looking for his knife among his pillows while accidentally pulling off his pulse-ox monitor and getting a little tangled in his many wires. The alternative would be to ask for adjustments to Dad's pain medications to see if one in particular or a certain combination is causing his "loopyness." For now anyway, we'll leave it alone, and we'll trust the medical staff to know the difference if it becomes a sign of a real problem. I have to admit, some of the stuff he does and says is pretty entertaining.
Occupational Therapy (OT) came to see Dad for the first time today. They put his back brace on (the "turtle shell") which he is required to wear if he is sitting up higher than 45 degrees or (eventually) getting out of bed. Then they taught him some arm and leg and toe exercises that he can do as an introductory level. They even had him sit all the way up on the edge of the bed with his legs hanging off. Mom was there for all of that, and she said it all went surprisingly well.
He's still in the ICU. We're not sure if it was the possible infection that held him up or something else, or if someone just didn't get around to the paperwork for moving him. He should be moved to a "step down" unit after ICU, and we're not totally sure what comes next after that. We learned today that once he leaves the hospital he'll go to a residential rehabilitation facility until he's ready to come home. We don't know how long he will be there yet, but one doctor's guess was 4-6 weeks. We also don't know when his next foot surgery will be or where that will fall in the line-up of inpatient vs. outpatient care. And we don't know if there will be more surgeries after that. There's a lot we don't know!
What we do know is that God has Dad in the palm of His hand. He will not let him go. We continue to pray to God as the Healer, Comforter, and Great Physician, and to trust Him with the road ahead of all of us.
The past couple of days we've been back and forth about whether to be concerned about Dad babbling about jobs he seems to think he's doing. He sleeps on and off and talks in his sleep about different jobs he's dream-working on. When Mom has been able to understand enough of his words, she has said he's talking about jobs he has actually done in the past. The doctors and nurses have assured us that his mumblings are normal for someone in his situation, and that they watch for actual incoherence regarding time/place/who/why. When Dad is awake, he can answer questions and keeps facts straight and seems to really understand what's going on with him medically. A social worker told Mom today that during traumatic events we tend to mentally go to familiar places. For Dad, that's work. Fixing things. Micah called work Dad's "zen" and concluded that it's probably best for Dad's emotional state that we leave him be there in his happy place of bossing people around on the job and looking for his knife among his pillows while accidentally pulling off his pulse-ox monitor and getting a little tangled in his many wires. The alternative would be to ask for adjustments to Dad's pain medications to see if one in particular or a certain combination is causing his "loopyness." For now anyway, we'll leave it alone, and we'll trust the medical staff to know the difference if it becomes a sign of a real problem. I have to admit, some of the stuff he does and says is pretty entertaining.
Occupational Therapy (OT) came to see Dad for the first time today. They put his back brace on (the "turtle shell") which he is required to wear if he is sitting up higher than 45 degrees or (eventually) getting out of bed. Then they taught him some arm and leg and toe exercises that he can do as an introductory level. They even had him sit all the way up on the edge of the bed with his legs hanging off. Mom was there for all of that, and she said it all went surprisingly well.
He's still in the ICU. We're not sure if it was the possible infection that held him up or something else, or if someone just didn't get around to the paperwork for moving him. He should be moved to a "step down" unit after ICU, and we're not totally sure what comes next after that. We learned today that once he leaves the hospital he'll go to a residential rehabilitation facility until he's ready to come home. We don't know how long he will be there yet, but one doctor's guess was 4-6 weeks. We also don't know when his next foot surgery will be or where that will fall in the line-up of inpatient vs. outpatient care. And we don't know if there will be more surgeries after that. There's a lot we don't know!
What we do know is that God has Dad in the palm of His hand. He will not let him go. We continue to pray to God as the Healer, Comforter, and Great Physician, and to trust Him with the road ahead of all of us.
Thank you Lizi for all you are doing for dad and for keeping everybody posted. You are a blessing!
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