Randy's Day

Randy slept in again today. His mom had to wake him up late morning in order to get up and ready for physical therapy. I am sure his body needs the sleep as part of the healing process. During physical therapy, she had him practice going up and down the steps and they walked down the block. She also gave him some homework to do ~ some exercises for him to do in between sessions. We still haven't heard from the occupational or speech therapist.

Next Tuesday, we will be touring the outpatient therapy at Valley Medical Center in Renton. I am thinking it would be good for him to start outpatient therapy soon. He hasn't been getting much therapy from the home health people. I am hoping the prism glasses (which hopefully will come in tomorrow), will help his car sickness problem so getting him to and from therapy won't be a big ordeal for him.

Dr Visits Today

Today was a long day! We left early to get to Harborview for followup visits. That was the longest car ride Randy has been in and he didn't fare too well (he got sick about 5 minutes before we got there, so he got a new pair of sweatpants today via his mom and the gift shop!). We started with x-rays of Randy's neck at Harborview and then walked about 3 blocks away to the Neurosurgery Clinic.

We spent about 2 hours at that clinic and very little time was with the doctor. We started off with a student who irritated me. He kept asking me questions and I would then in turn, look to Randy for the answer, who would only need my help answering for things he couldn't remember. At one point, when the student asked if Randy was experiencing any neck pain, I said "You need to ask him that". The actual doctor, though, talked directly to Randy. Both the student and the doctor tested Randy's strength in both his right and his left side, his arms and his legs. The doctor said they have no real concrete explanation to why Randy's left side is weak. They just know it is due to the brain injury and not spinal cord. The fracture Randy had in his upper spine has healed. The doctor said that neck pain Randy is currently feeling (which is very minor) is due to weakness in the neck that will get better with time. The doctor said that he would expect Randy's left side to always have some weakness ~ it won't return to what it was before the accident. They ended the appointment with saying they want an MRI and to have Randy come back in a month.

The last appointment we had (and the one we were an hour late to due to the Neuro clinic) was with Ear, Nose and Throat clinic. During that one, they tested Randy's hearing and found no hearing loss ~ not even on the left side, which is absolutely amazing. They have been telling us all along he probably would have hearing loss on that side. They also tested his facial nerve on the left side and said it is currently working at 95% to normal and they expect it to become fully normal or at least close. Currently you can see some weakness in the lower left side of his face, but it has improved quite a bit the past few weeks. We also asked about the motion sickness and they said it should improve some when we get the prism glasses (which we should have by the end of the week) and, of course, as time heals things, it should improve a lot more. If it doesn't improve within the next couple of months, they said to bring him back in, but they fully expected time to heal it.

I think that is it for updates from today's doctor visits.

There isn't much to report today ~ Randy slept until 12:30!

I went back to work today and Randy emailed me throughout the afternoon. His emails were pretty well written. He commented that his spelling has gotten worse, but I told him that is what spell checker is for!

This evening, Randy got down on his knees to pick something up and did great at getting back up. I joked that he must be getting a lot of practice with getting back up (from the few falls he has had) and he said "No Comment".

Tomorrow, he goes back up to Harborview for check up appointments. He is having x-rays, meeting his the neurologist, and then he is seeing the Ear Nose and Throat doctors. This evening, Randy sat down and wrote out questions he has been wanting to ask each of them.

This is how Randy talks on the phone. See... he gets good use out of that cane! He was talking to his friend Jon and dropped the phone a few times because he was trying to walk and talk at the same time.

Randy had physical therapy today. She didn't do much with him, just walked him outside a bit. After the walk she told me she thought it would be okay to take him for short walks to start getting use to being out. I didn't want to tell her that I have taken out and he has walked all over Target and Home Depot. I know he is probably about past the point of being eligible for Home Health services, but I wanted a little bit more time to find an Outpatient Therapy place for him to go. Good Sam does have Outpatient but I will be starting back to work tomorrow so I can't take him and Randy's mom doesn't like the traffic around here (understandably so). I also wanted to find a place that Randy could get to on his own for down the road and in case his mom needs a break ~ their is a service from Metro that will come pick Randy up, help him into the bus, and walk him into the building, but he would need to stay in King County and Good Sam is in Pierce. I called Valley Medical and they have Outpatient rehab, the occupational, physical and speech. We plan to go in and visit their facilities here soon.

I am sure they will be saying that Randy doesn't need Home Health services here really soon. He is getting so mobile. His balance is getting better everyday.

Randy still definitely has his sense of humor. His mom was telling Cass that she would have to fight with her dad over gummy worms that she bought and Randy said "Remember, I have a cane". Also, earlier in the day, he showed his smart-alec side. When he drops his cane (which he does quite often), I tell him that I will pick it up for him because I am worried about him bending down to get it and falling over. Well, his cane fell, I picked it up, I tried to put it against the counter and it fell. I said "Man, now I am dropping your cane!" Randy promptly said "Do you want me to pick it up for you?"

Mr Randyman!

Randy is itching to go flying! He searched out his flight bag tonight and had to put his headset on! When he started to get up to take the bag back to the closet, I told him that I would do it next time I got up. He insisted he could do it. I told him it was probably a little heavy for him to carry and maintain his balance. He again insisted he could do it. I said "Okay, but if you fall, I will be mad at you". Not even two seconds later, he starts to get up and slides right to the ground. I started laughing and he turned to me and said "Point well taken". He let me put the bag in the closet.

Today, on our way home from church, he continued to go through the names of the people he met yesterday at the picnic. For some reason, though, he can't remember Cyndi. He got Stacy stuck in his head. Then he moved to Becky. There were a few others as well. He is determined to remember her name, though.

This afternoon we went to Jon and Kelli's house. I think it was really good for Randy to get out of the house and he loves visiting with people.

Randy wanted me to put a message from him on here: He wanted to say that he has good intentions and wants to get back to everyone that has emailed him, but with the difficulties with his eye sight, it is taking him longer than he would like.

Our Saturday

Today, we went to our church picnic. I think it was really good for Randy to get out and be around people. He said he enjoyed it but it wore him out a bit. He got to meet some of the people I have talked about alot over the last few weeks. Terry told him that he wanted Randy to remember him when we see them at church tomorrow ~ he said he didn't expect Randy to remember his name, just that they met today. Randy has been, throughout the night, verifying his name - "So his name was Terry, right? Terry, Cyndi, and Marty, right? And then the girl with the J. Jessica?". He is determined to remember tomorrow!

One thing that Randy has been doing lately that drives me absolutely crazy is trying to walk around at times without his cane. At one point, he was in the kitchen and he was carrying something in this right hand (the hand that should be utilizing the cane) and I got on to him and said "Randy, you are suppose to have your cane". At that point he lifted up his left hand, in which he was carrying the cane "I do. See?!".

Cass and Mom Rush are Back

Here is what Cass did in Yakima ~ played in the dirt! She had a great time helping Grandpa out with pear harvest. She came back this evening, though, with Randy's mom.

Randy and I had a great day. I took him to Target and Home Depot today because I had a couple of things I needed to grab. I brought his wheelchair along, but he didn't want it ~ he wanted to walk. He did great. I was amazed how much people were in a hurry and I worried a bit that someone would knock him over, but he managed just fine.

Over the last couple of days, he has been emailing those people who have sent him an email. It takes him a little while to compose the email because his left hand isn't to the point yet it can help yet, so all the typing is one handed and it takes him a little bit to determine what he wants to say, but he is working on it. It amazes me how well he is doing with getting his thoughts out and putting them into full sentences that make perfect sense (at least the ones I read made sense!).

Another thing I have noticed over the last couple of days is the inflection in his voice is returning. It is common for people with head injuries to talk very monotone and some don't get their inflection back. With Randy, I definitely hear more inflection, especially as he is talking to people over the phone or as he is talking to the dogs.

He is doing amazing.

We started Home Health Today

The physical therapist came by today to start off the home health visits. The visit consisted pretty much of filling out paperwork and her having Randy do stuff so she could see how he was doing. She said that she doesn't think Randy will need home health services for too long because he is getting pretty mobile. It is a nice transition, though, before having to drive him anywhere for outpatient therapy. He should be starting occupational and speech therapy soon as well, though she said it might take a bit longer for speech therapy to start due to people being out for vacation.

Randy is doing much better with his walking. His balance is so much better. Unfortunately, with his improvements, he is starting to feel like he can do a lot more than he actually can. Something fell on the floor today and he bent down to pick it up and ended up on the floor himself. Thankfully he was already close to the floor to begin with! He up just laughing at himself and throughout the day, anytime anything fell to the ground, he would jokingly ask if I wanted him to pick it up.

All in all, we had a pretty relaxing day today. We both ended up falling asleep late morning and slept for a couple of hours, which I think we both desperatley needed! We played on the computer a bit and he ended up taking some IQ test (http://uk.tickle.com/test/iq.html) and didn't do too bad ~ his score was 111. Then I had him help me make dinner and for walking practice, I took him to the movie store and had him walk the wall of new releases. He did much better with walking in a public place than he did two days ago.

It is so nice having him home!

Our First Full Day at Home

We made it through our first full day at home. I think Randy was bored a bit this morning because I had a lot of things to take care of, but then I got him started on the Sudoku puzzles (I found an easy one online). He was doing great with them! Then Jerry Otis from RAMP came to install the railings and he invited Randy to hang out with him and his helper. I think it did Randy a lot of good. Jerry talked about his story of what happened to him years ago and he talked to Randy a bit about what Randy is going through.

I got a call from the home health services today. They are going to be able to start Randy's therapies tomorrow.

Randy had his first fall last night. I am letting him walk short distances by himself and he is doing absolutely amazing with it. Well, I left him at our bedroom door and went to check on my daughter's hamster. As I opened her door, I saw the cage wide open and no hamster. I said outloud "Oh great, the hamster got out", which brought Randy into the room. He was convinced he was going to help me find the hamster. I told him he could sit on the bed and he could help by watching for anything running across the floor (if Kim is reading this ~ remember some 11 or so years ago when I called you when our hamster got out. I wouldn't get off the bed until you got there. I have come so far since then!!). While Randy was sitting on the bed, he spotted the picture of a hamster on the hamster food and he was so sure that was Hammy, our hamster. He kept saying "Isn't it right there" to which I said "Right where?" and as he was trying to use his cain to point to the hamster picture, he slipped right off the bed. Thankfully, he started laughing. I still feel that he is so fragile. What is really funny, though, is that the hamster was right behind the food. So he did help me find it.

Randy is Home!

We finally left Good Samaritian Hospital around 2:30 this afternoon. They had quite a few discharges today so it took awhile to get our paperwork. While we were waiting for everything, we went ahead and went to classes for the last time. Randy asked every therapist what he should be working on so we have a list of stuff to do while we await the start up of home health (hopefully they will call me sometime this week and we can get started, if not by the end of this week, then by the beginning of next week.

In his speech class today, Randy's first therpaist was trying to challenge him and he flew right through everything she threw at him. She gave him analogies and he had to finish them, but she made it progressively harder. She started by giving him all but the ending word (example ~ Time is to clock as speed is to...). She then just gave the first part and he had to come up with the second half (example ~ Night is to Day as ...). She then only gave him one word and he had to finish it. He did absolutely amazing through all of it. He then told her that he decided to keep a journal. Since last night, he has been writing down thoughts, questions, and happenings that he has throughout the day. He did this completely on his own without prompting from anyone. She was very amazed.

Upon his release, I had to drag him to run errands with me since it is just he and I here (his family went back to Yakima this last weekend, taking Cass with them). At the drugstore, I made him walk so he got a bit of therapy there. At home and at the hospital, he is pretty much walking on his own ~ meaning he is using his cane and not needing someone to hang on to him). In the store with other people around, his balance was a bit off. I think it was because he was very selfconscious about how he looked to other people and was focused more on that than he was walking. Then I dragged him to the grocery store, but I had him use his wheelchair. It is interesting having to deal with someone in a wheelchair when you aren't use to it. I didn't feel comfortable with having him in one of the powered ones they supply with baskets on them, so he and I used our problem solving skills (picture Randy, sitting in his wheelchair, with food and other stuff piled on his pretty much up to his eyes!)We made it work! I did get him some things that the therapists said would be good for him to use ~ small 1 lb weight for his left hand and some weights for his left leg.

It has been absolutely great having him here! Anyone who wants to come visit him is more than welcome to. He loves having visitors (probably more so now that he is stuck only getting to see me everyday :-)!For those who need our address, you can just shoot me an email or give me a call.

Randy Goes Home Today

Randy will be going home today. I don't know what time yet ~ probably right after lunch. I am still trying to get in contact with the social worker here to work out details of the home health services. From what the RN said, the social worker has ordered Speech, Physical, and Occupational therapy, but I don't know who with or when it starts. So I don't plan on leaving until I talk to her!

But Randy is very excited that today is the day!!!!

Quick Updates

Randy had both his doctor and the eye doctor visit tonight. The eye doctor will order the prism glasses and Randy should have them in about a week. Per the recommendation of friends, though, we still want to try to get Randy into a Neurooptamologist. The doctor thinks that Randy can be released from here tomorrow. It will all depend on us having the time to set up everything such as the home health care before we leave. Randy is so very excited!!!!

Randy's Day

Today has gone very well! We told the therapists how well the weekend pass went. They talked about it in rounds and think Randy could be discharged sooner than expected. It is up to the doctor at this point.

In physical therapy today, Randy practiced walking without a cane. His balance is getting so much better! For occupational therapy, they worked on weight bearing activities. She had him grab rings (she placed them where he had to reach for them, putting weight on the left hand for balance) and then tossing them. Then she had him practice tossing them with his left hand. That left side is getting stronger everyday. He is able to do so much more with it than he was 3 weeks ago.

For speech, the first therapist gave Randy common proverbs and he had to say what their meaning was. She gave him one that I had never even heard before (something about swallowing a camel and straining a gnat)and, though he hadn't ever heard it before, he was able to deduce the meaning of it. That therapist commented on how much progress she has seen in such a short time. She feels that over the last week, he has made huge bounds ~ even just since last Friday there is definite improvement in how his mind is working. She suggested that when Randy gets home, to watch sitcoms and when they are over, reiterate what it was about and also to ask Cass about what she thought of it so that his mind would have to process her response. In the second speech class, that therapist did the exercise where she gives him a list of three words and he has to come up with another word that fits into the lise ~ making him figure out what the words have in common and then finding something that fits. Last week, he really struggled with that exercise. Today, he only struggled with one and it happened to be the one that was the most obvious one (Randy has always been an "over thinker", often making things more complicated than they needed to be!). The list was Hot Tamales, Hot Cakes, and Hot Peppers. He just couldn't get the connection, but of course the more complicated ones that I even struggled with, he got right away.

I think that is it for updates today. As soon as we see the doctor and find out when Randy can be released, I will post and let everyone know.

RAMP

I wanted to put a little "plug" for the organization that will be putting in the rails for our house.

The story can be found here: http://www1.dshs.wa.gov/word/ea/Otis.doc (when the box pops up asking for a password, just hit "Cancel" and the document will appear).

I think it is an amazing story of how one man took something negative that happened to him and turned it into something positive for others. It is a volunteer and donation based organization. For those of you out there that are handy at building things and have wanted to find a way to use your skill for those in the community, this would be a great way.

After Jerry left our house on Sunday (he came to see what tools and materials would be needed for our steps), Randy said that when he gets better he thinks he would like to help out ~ he has always loved to build things and had actually started building Cass a playhouse that he had designed before the accident.

Thank you to Jerry and to those who brought me into contact with him.

Randy's Weekend Home

The weekend went great. It was so nice to have him there. I wasn't ready to bring him back. We actually got back late because we were having such a nice time sitting on our back patio talking to our neighbor. Someone had joked with Randy earlier in the day that if he were late returning they might keep him longer. As the time that we were suppose to be here passed, Randy started asking if they really were going to make him stay longer or how else they might penalize him for being late. He is so worried that he won't get to come home this week ~ he wants to be there so much! They actually didn't say anything about our lateness.

Randy had such a nice time throughout the weekend. We all went to church today. Randy told me throughout the day how nice it was to go. He played a game on the Gamecube with Cass for a little bit. He didn't do too bad with it ~ Cass and I just had to walk him through parts of it. He was only able to play for a short time due to his vision.

Last night, Randy did well with being outside of a hospital bed. I was a little worried about him falling off so I made him sleep in the middle of the bed (which he use to do anyway). I was worried for nothing, though. He did absolutely fine.

One thing Randy is struggling with, though, is still feeling very unsure about himself. With all of the visitors we had this weekend, as soon as it was just he and I he would ask him if he was embarrasing or if he sounded stupid. He also kept asking how he was different than before the accident.

2nd Weekend Home

So far our overnight visit is going pretty well. Randy hasn't wanted to do much except sit on the couch and read through all of the blog. He is so funny, every so often he bursts out laughing at some of the things he has said and done. At one point (I think while he was reading about trying to get out of restraints), he turned to me and said "I guess I have been a pain in the butt".

We got to leave right after breakfast this morning. They didn't schedule Randy for any classes today because all of the therapists knew he was coming home this weekend.

He was asking me who all was visiting him ~ he was wanting visitors. However, when people were there, he would wait till we were alone and ask if he was embarrassing or if he was sounding normal. He seemed to be very unsure of himself. It kind of breaks my heart that he is so self conscious. He also started talking to me about wanting to ask the doctor for anti-depressants. I am not sure if he came up with this on his own or if he heard/read it somewhere. I think he is really feeling far from normal and is having a hard time dealing with it. I hear the same Randy ~ same sense of humor, same soft spoken, polite man. I think it was also a bit hard for him when people at the house were moving around in rooms he wasn't in and he was sitting there stationary, not really able to participate. I just wish I could make this all go away for him.

People have been amazing today (as they have been many other days as well). Randy got to see the work that our neighbor has been doing on the bathroom project that Randy had started. He loved how it is turning out and he was appreciative! Then our other neighbor brought us over some very good ribs. Another neighbor anonymously donated to us ~ which will be going for the rails on our steps. Last, our friend Jon came over today and installed bars in the bathtub, a shower head that is easily accessible for Randy, and bars for the toilet. Jon was going to install the railings today, but the cost of what we could find at Home Depot was a little too much. Per a recommendation, I called the non-profit group R.A.M.P and they are able to do it a lot cheaper! I talked to the head man for quite some time last night and it sounds like an amazing group ~ it is all volunteer based.

Today was a great day!

Through his recreational therapy, Randy was given the chance to go on an outing today. He chose Baskin Robbins. He did quite well during the outing. We brought his wheelchair just in case, but he didn't need it. His legs started getting a bit tired when waiting in line, but he was able to handle it well.

Also today, during his physical therapy, he was able to walk 500 feet with his therapist only having to put her hands on him once to help him catch his balance. He went most of the way all on his own (with the use of a cane). She then practiced walking without a cane, but he is not able to do that without someone helping him balance.

During speech class today, the therapist asked him situational questions and asked what he would do and why, for example, what he would do if a kid pushed ahead of him in line at the grocery store. All of Randy's responses were very typical Randy ~ very polite. For the kid, he said he would say "excuse me" and the kid nicely to please go to the back of the line.

During occupational therapy, the therapist really worked his left hand. She had him unscrewing bolts with just that hand.

Tomorrow we get to leave here and have our first overnight pass. Randy is very excited! At this point we are planning on going to church (the Real Life Church in Covington) as long as Randy is still up to going Sunday morning.

Quick Update

The eye doctor just visited Randy. He had hoped that Randy's double vision would have been getting better on its own, but it isn't. So he will be writing a prescription for prism glasses for Randy. He said that, as Randy's body continues to heal, we can hopefully wean him off of the glasses. For now, though, they will help Randy not see two of everything.

Our Day

Today Randy continued to work on his balance and his walking in his physical therpay sessions. One therapist had him walking through the cones again and he did much better this time at turning. When walking down the hall with another therapist, she had to barely hang on to him ~ he only lost his balance a couple of times. He continues to improve with his walking every day.

In occupational therapy, that therapist had him put pegs into a board. She didn't give him any pattern to do. She just wanted him to use his left hand to put them in. Of course, Randy had to put them in a pattern, but he did great with using his left hand. There were a couple that were rather difficult for him to get in. I was so proud of him ~ he didn't get frustrated, he just kept trying over and over until he got them in.

In speech, the therapist really worked Randy's brain today. She started by giving him words and then he had to tell her opposites. He did very well with that. She then gave him a list of words and his task was to find what they had in common and give an object that would fit in with the list. He struggled at first, but towards the end he seemed to be really getting it. She then gave him a list of words and he had to say which one didn't fit and why. He correctly identified which one didn't fit on all lists but had difficulty with explaining the why. She then read him a paragraph and asked him questions about the paragraph. He did better on this than he has in the past ~ he averaged about 8 out of 10 correct. The last thing she did was give him logic problems (like the ones you would find in the crossword puzzle books). He struggled with doing those ~ most of the struggle was with following the directions of "x"ing the incorrect ones and "o"ing the correct ones. His mind was just having a hard time grasping it.

He continues to have headaches every day, which I guess is to be expected with his injury. Pain medication isn't making them go away, it just dulls it a bit for him. I am hoping those fade with time. All in all, though, he seems to be doing well medically. At Harborview, we came across quite a few people who went on to rehab and then had to come back to the 3rd floor because of medical issues. I feel that Randy has really been blessed. He continues to make improvements and really, the only issues he has had to deal with have been his eyesight, his headaches, and the left side (which continues to get stronger every day).

Also, Kelli called me tonight with an update on the benefit. She ordered a lot of food and it all sounds wonderful!! She has also had quite a few more people donate items. There will be food from a variety of places (Greek, Italian, and Pizza just to name a few of the different types). She also had a place donate 2 rounds of golf and a lunch from the nearby restaurant (the Firecreek Grill). She has had jewelry donated (a variety of types) and even had a dentist donate a toothbrush that isn't on the market yet. Lots of stuff to auction off!

RE: Jon's Comment

As Jon stated in his comment from yesterday's post, even if you didn't RSVP for the benefit, please don't feel like you can't come! Even if you decide that day that you are able to make it, come see us. Randy will be there, at the very least, for the first part of it. Items are being added to the list for the silent auction as well. One fun item is from Randy's flight instructor ~ he has donated an hour scenic flight around the Puget Sound area. The headcount request was just to get a rough estimate, but there will be plenty of food and beverages for even those who decide last minute they can come!

Mr Funny Man

Randy has been asking me a lot lately if he seems any different. He says, to him, he feels the same, but he thinks he sounds different. His voice is a little monotone, but that is very common with head injuries. However, he is definitely the same Randy! His sense of humor has definitely remained intact. In one of his speech classes today (with the same therapist who didn't get his joke about reindeer living in the North Pole) was reading him paragraphs and Randy's task was to say why the paragraph couldn't be true. One paragraph she read was about a farmer in Iowa who was claiming to have amazing fertilizer that made vegetables grow 10 times bigger than normal. The fertilizer was made from meteor dust. Within the paragraph, no name was given for the farmer, but upon her finishing reading it, Randy made some comment about the farmer, calling him Mr. Kent. The therapist looked at him very confused and she looked at the paragraph again then asked Randy who Mr Kent was. Randy responded "Clark Kent's father". It isn't as funny explaining it now because I am not adequately describing it, but being there, it was quite humorous. The fact that he would make that correlation and do it so quickly really amazed me.

Also, throughout speech, the therapist worked a lot on memory recall. She read a paragraph and asked Randy a series of questions about the paragraph. He did excellent today ~ so much better than before. She also read paragraphs and had Randy give the topic of the paragraph with being given 3 different choices. He did pretty well with that too. She then gave him the beginning of various sayings and he had to finish them. He got almost all of them right. One that he didn't quite get was "There's more than one way..." Randy couldn't think of the word "cat" so he finished the sentence with "to skin a snake". At least it was somewhat close! The last thing she did with him today was to ask questions and he had to think of objects that fit into them. One was "What can be green or red". For this, I would have answered "apples" or "Christmas lights". Randy's answer was "leotards". I am not quite sure where that answer came from!

In physical therapy, they continued to practice his walking and worked on balance and stairs. For occupational therapy, they worked on his left arm. They had him stretching it as seen in the picture. They also had him work on a machine where he had to turn a wheel and the therapist had him do it with his left hand. Another therapist had Randy stand at a table where she had written different amounts and poured out a bunch of change. Randy had to use his left hand and on the amounts, he had to put the correct amount of change. He did very well with this.

Randy is so excited about getting out of here. When I told him that the tentative date is the 24th, he went to his planner and put a smiley face on that date. He wants to be home. I am really glad they want to do in-home therapy for a bit before starting outpatient. Randy doesn't like to be in cars right now because, with his vision issues, he gets a little car sick. It will be nice for him to get to do things around the house.

Great News

Randy will be getting an overnight pass this weekend to see how he does at home over a 24 hour period. They are estimating discharge on the 24th, but will decide for sure when they meet again on the 23rd. They will be setting up in-home health services for when Randy first goes home to get him use to his home surroundings. Then he will be moved to outpatient therapy.

Today, we got a free wheelchair. The lady who owned it told us that the wheels on it weren't that good, but my sister-in-law just picked it up and said they seem to work just fine. The lady who owned it is in a wheelchair permanently, so it wasn't up to the standard that she needed, but it will work perfect for us! And the price was right ~ can't get any better than free!

Another Day at Rehab

Randy continues to get better everyday! Today, when walking with the physical therapist, she was barely hanging on to him. His balance has gotten so much better. The one area he still has a hard time with is turning corners. She had him practice walking around cones (as you can see in the picture) to work on turning. Today in physical therapy, he also practiced walking up the stairs and he did excellent at it with the use of a rail. She didn't have to really help him at all ~ she just stayed behind him to spot him in case he were to lose his balance. In another session of physical therapy today, he also worked on how to get up in case he were to fall.

In occupational therapy, they had him shave while standing to work on bearing weight on his left hand. In his second session, that therapist had him work with his left hand. She had him remove pegs from a board and then put them back all with just his left hand. He did quite well, but you could tell it was a lot of work for him.

Speech class is Randy's favorite class. He loves working his brain. In the first session, that therapist read Randy paragraphs and then had him repeat what the paragraph was about. He did quite well with the short paragraphs, but struggled with the ones that had more facts in them. So, if given too many facts at a time, Randy's brain goes in overload. He has always been someone that takes notes, though, because his memory even before the accident wasn't the greatest. In the second session, that therapist let Randy takes notes while she read a paragraph and went onto another exercise and came back to the paragraph 15 minutes later and asked Randy a bunch of questions about it. He did very well with that, but needs some practice as note taking because he was trying to write down far too much information. Both of the speech therapists commended Randy on his use of the planner they gave him. He uses it to know which class is next and he does a great job of writing down who he saw for what class and what he did. He even took notes about how his memory couldn't handle large amount of facts at a time and his need to write things down to better retain. it is so great that he has the awareness that his memory is bad and he is actively using tools to help him work through that deficit.

Tomorrow, Randy's group of therapists and doctor will meet again and should have an updated estimate of when he can get out of here. I love the amount of therapy he is getting as an inpatient and the inpatient therapists are great ~ I have been so impressed by them.

A long day!

Frank and Dean (seen in the picture) visited Randy this evening. He loved it! They talked a little work, they talked a little flying and Randy loved all of it!

We hadn't been able to really figure out how much of Randy's memory from before the accident was gone. While they were here, Dean and Frank were asking him about things that happened in May and he could remember them. After they left, his mom, sister and I started talking about my brother's wedding which took place the Saturday before the accident and Randy started remembering it and other things that happened that weekend. As things are talked about, I think he they are starting to come back to him.

In addition to his 4 hours of therapy today, Randy also met with a neuropsychologist and did an hour and a half of testing to see where Randy's deficits are. When asking Randy questions, Randy would have to take a second to think of the answer except when he asked Randy how his memory is ~ Randy answered very quickly "crappy", and then when he asked Randy if he smoked, Randy answered "not anymore" and the Dr said "let me take a guess ~ you quit on June 20th?" and Randy laughed and said "Yep". From the testing, the Dr said Randy's deficits are his memory, his executive reasoning, and the speed at which he processes information tends to be rather slow.

For his speech classes today, Randy was given two objects and had to give similarities and differences. For the most part, he did quite well. For some reason, though, day and night tripped him up, but he did very well with smile and frown ~ even getting the emotions behind the two. During his second class, she did the drill again where she would read a paragraph and give statements and Randy would have to say if the statement was true, false or unknown. One paragraph was about people getting snowed in and the statement was asking if the story could have taken place at the North Pole and Randy said that statement was true. The therapist asked Randy if families could really live at the North Pole and she asked him what lived there and Randy responded reindeer. The therapist didn't get it and went on to tell him that people don't live at the North Pole, so I commented that Santa didn't count and his sister said the elves don't count as families. The therapist finally got it and laughed. Yes, Randy still has his sense of humor!

During occupational therapy, the therapist took Randy outside and had him watering flowers. She made him use his left hand to do it ~ making him stretch out to reach some of them. Then she had him walk around the flower area to work on maintaining balance. He also worked with the pegs again, having to put them into a board into a given pattern. For some of them, the therapist had him put the pegs in with his left hand. It was difficult for him, but he was able to do it. His left hand gets better everday.

For physical therapy, one therapist had him doing a bean bag toss. She would hold the bean bags and him reach to get them and then he had to toss them into a net basket. He did quite well with getting them into the basket.

I have been posting pictures on an msn space for Randy to view. Anyone can find them here: http://rarush.spaces.live.com/photos/ under the rehab album.

2nd Day at home

Randy got his feeding tube taken out today. He was so excited. It was a very easy process ~ they just pulled it out. They said the stomach will heal very quickly. The skin will take a little bit longer.

Randy had a nice day at home. He didn't get to eat breakfast this morning because of having the tube removed, so his mom and sister made a wonderful brunch for him. He loved it. Throughout the day he kept telling me how great the food was. He had a great time just relaxing around the house. He laid on the loveseat reading books and magazines throughout the afternoon and he had a great time visiting with those who came by. Cass told me today that things felt more "normal" ~ her dad reading or working on the computer while her and I played games.

It was very nice. Randy said he really liked being home, but he doesn't like to ride in the car. I can't say I blame him! As soon as we got back to the hospital, he started obsessing about the accident again. He has spent the last hour and a half trying to find any news articles on the accident. I have told him several times that there was no news on it becomes something else happened that night that took up the news (I just can't remember what it was that happened), but it hasn't stopped him from looking. I think he is just trying to sort through what's happened. I can't even imagine what it must be like for him in not having any memory for that block of time.

The Benefit ~ Need Headcount

For the benefit taking place on September 9th, the event is being catered so those hosting the event (Jon and Kelli) would like to try to get an estimate of how many people are planning on coming. Kelli is meeting with the caterer on Thursday, so it would help them out if people could either post a comment here or call them to give them a rough estimate.

At this point, Randy is planning on attending for at least part of the event. He is looking forward to seeing everyone!

Randy's first day pass

The dogs were excited to see Randy today! We had a good day away from the hospital. It took awhile to get out of here, though. I got his phsycial therapy session moved to 9, but the RN was so busy today that it took her until 11 to get the form we needed to us, which consisted of Randy's name, the fact he got a day pass, a line saying he doesn't need any medication while he is out, and that he has to be back at eight.

Randy got a little car sick, but once he got home he seemed to do fine. He was happy to just sit in our living room and hanging out. Of course, within half an hour of being home, he had his work computer out and was trying to log on to it. It took him a bit, but he ended up remembering his password. He was able to log in, but I guess his access must be restricted due to the leave of absence because he wasn't able to get into anything he wanted to check out. It amazes me how much his mind is improving every day.

It was so nice having him there!

Tomorrow, they are taking Randy's feeding tube out, which he is very excited about. It has been irritating him. After they get done with that, we get to spring him out of here again and take him home for a few hours.

Randy got a day pass!

Great news ~ Randy was given approval to have 2 day passes this weekend. So we can bring him home Saturday and Sunday (but he can't stay the night with us). With Saturday, though, he can't miss any classes. Thankfully he only have physical therapy scheduled, but they scheduled it right in the middle of the day. I will see if I can get it moved, but if not, we have to work around it.

Randy is so excited. He wants to be home. Anyone that was planning on coming to visit Randy this weekend is more than welcome to come to the house to see him. You can call my cell to make sure we are there ~ 206.226.1488.

As for Randy's day today: he has become addicted to a concentration game that the speech therapist was telling him she played all of the time. Here is the website for it http://www.zefrank.com/memory/index.html. I had to make him turn the computer off last night around 11 in order to go to sleep and as soon as he had a chance today, he was asking to play it. Also today, Cass was playing WordWhomp (it is a game in which you are given 6 letters and you have to see how many words you can make out of those 6 letters in the timeframe given and there is always at least 1 word that can be made with all letters). Cass was struggling a bit with it and Randy looked over and told her the 6 letter word. He did great at helping her out with a few others as well.

In physical therapy, he of course worked on his walking. That keeps getting better every day. He also practiced going up and down stairs and we practiced doing it with two people with no use of the railing so we could be prepared for this weekend. We will have railings by next weekend, but Randy wanted to do his day pass now.

In speech, the first therapist did a test that was given to Randy last Saturday ~ one with 2 different shapes that came in 2 different sizes with 5 colors each. It tests your listening skills and comprehension of directions. I saw a big improvement fromt he last time. He only got 2 wrong this time and last time he had struggled through a lot of it. She also asked him random questions such as who is George Washington, where is Las Vegas, what do you do to get a car ready for winter, where is the Golden Gate Bridge, and who said "Give me Liberty or give me death". He did great with all of the questions except that last one so she gave him the assignment to figure out who said it. As soon as he had a break from classes, he jumped on the computer and looked up the answer.

In the second speech class, that therapist worked on his recall memory. She read him short paragraphs and then read statements that he had to determine were true, false or unknown about the paragraph. I saw a definite improvement in his ability to recall what was read than from last week.

One thing I noticed throughout the speech classes was that, when given instructions for doing something, Randy would repeat it in his own words to cement it in his mind and to make sure he was understand the instructions. That has really helped him. He is just improving so much. Little improvements everyday.

His left side is getting stronger and stronger. The occupational therapists today really worked on stretching out that arm and building a little bit of tone. The picture is one contraption they used where he had to reach up with his arm and pull the things down. He was really pushing his arm to work. He is so determined and I am so thankful for that. At this point, he could easily be angery or letting himself get frustrated but he isn't. He keeps pushing to get better and he keeps being the great, polite man he has always been ~ thanking everyone for everything and telling me constantly how much he appreciates all I am doing. I have fallen in love with him more through this whole experience!

With Randy's eyes, the eye doctor came in today to review his vision. He was great ~ he knew the right questions to ask Randy. I thought the double vision was all of the time with everything and it isn't. Randy can focus on things close ~ so things he can touch. The doctor said it is because of how the eyes, arms, and legs are sending messages to the brain. There was some damage to some nerve (he told me which one and all I can remember of the name is Superior) on the right side, not the left which I thought was interesting, that is causing the issue. He said it could be caused by swelling and might get better as swelling goes down, which can take months. For right now, we can help by doing the near far thing with him ~ getting close to him where he can see one of us, then slowley backing up making him focus farther out but still only seeing one of us. When I took him to the bathroom, he was seeing two sinks so I had him reach his hand in front of him and slowly take it out until it touched the since and he could see only the one sink, so that really helps him.

Last thing we have been having issues with is pain in the area where his head was hit. He has been having it the last couple of days, but I kept forgetting to post about it. The doctor said he sees no signs of infection and since Randy is continuing to improve in his therapies instead of declining, he is lead to believe that he is feeling more pain due to moving around more and the decrease in medications (the doctor completely stopped the Seroquel and Randy is doing great without it ~ more energy throughout the day). He said they should hopefully die down or stop within the next couple weeks.

I think that is it for updates. I know the posts have been long lately, but he is doing so much and I want to make sure I capture it. He reads through the blog regularly and I think it is a good reminder of the things he has done. He is loving reading the comments and has read all of the emails people are sending, though he still hasn't had a chance to reply back to many of them. He wanted me to put in here that even though he hasn't had the opportunity to respond he is thankful for the emails and blog comments from everyone.

More rehab

Randy had another great day in rehab. He is really working hard. He keeps telling us his goal is to go home and he is working hard to get there!

In physical therapy today he practiced more walking. She had him walk with me to see how we did together. He is getting more and more steady on his feet ~ just has occassional wobbles. She cleared me to take him on short walks so whenever he needs to go to the bathroom he gets to walk there now. The picture is of him and one of his physical therapists practicing standing up. There are times he is still a but unstead with standing and he tries to use his right leg a little too much to overcompensate for the weaker left leg. But he is really working on it because he understands that by using the left leg, it will make it stronger. He just needs to remind himself sometimes.

With occupational therapy, she had him work on puzzles ~ he had a bucket full of different colors and shapes. She gave him a pattern and he had to put together the pattern. He did quite well with the puzzle part, but she added the twist of having him do it standing up and she put the bucket on his right side and a little behind him so he had to turn to the right and grab them, making him using his left arm to balance himself. They are really working on that left arm, which is good. It is getting better everday. She also put this thing on his arm which made him stretch is out straight. It was kind of a cool device ~ it looked like a plastic bag that zipped up, but you zip the arm up in it and then you blow air into it and it tightens around the arm. She also worked on having him practice getting in and out of the bathtub and on and off the toilet. She tried a couple of different avenues with the tub so that I could know what modifications need to be done to the bathtub. It looks like Randy will do well with just a couple of grab bars to help him stabalize and then a chair for him to sit on inside the tub. Then there are things that can be bought for the toilet that can just be screwed on, so we won't have to do a permanent one and it is something that can be taken with us if we go stay somewhere.

In speech class, one of the therapists (he has 2 different speech therapists, meeting with each one once a day), had given him an assignment yesterday to ask the other therapist today what type of pets they had and Randy did great in doing the task. They had given him a planner a couple of days ago and he wrote the assignment in his to do list section. Then this morning, when reviewing his to do list, he saw the assignment again and wrote a note on the daily therapy schedule they give him. So he was aware he wouldn't remember and found a way to remind himself. It was great. That therapist gave him another assignement today. This one was to call and leave her a voicemail with what he ate for dinner. His mom ended up reminding him of that one on accident, but other than the little reminder, he did great at completing that one as well. She also had him list as many things as he could in a given category within the time limit of one minute. She gave him the category of "Things you grow in your garden". As soon as she gave the category, I could see his mind working ~ you could tell he was seeing in his mind, his garden and where everything was planted and as he moved through it in his mind, he named the various things.

The other speech therapist asked him to name 5 things in different categories. He could think of 3 or 4 things, but struggled with the last 1 or 2, but he could think of descriptions of them. For example, when given the task of naming 5 holidays, he thought of "Turkey Day" as his clue for himself for Thanksgiving, he thought of fireworks which lead him to Independence Day, and for New Year's, he thought of the song that is sang on the eve "Auld Lang Syne". The therapist commented that it was great to see Randy has such a great sense of humor through all that he is going through. She was talking about how it is typical that people don't remember events from a timeframe before the accident and after the accident, and Randy joked about how he didn't necessarily want to remember things from before and he has joked about not having a memory before anyway.

Tonight, he was so funny ~ his mom commented how it must be easier on the cooks to make the same things throughout the month (they have a Sunday through Saturday schedule with different things for each day, but then they start it over on Sunday) and Randy said "Yeah, it's not like we remember anyway".

Medically, Randy is doing well. They have moved him twice already since we got here, but we should now be staying in the same room for the rest of the time ~ we are in room 32, the very last room, right past the eating area. It is the only private room they have, so it is rather nice. They said Randy had C-diff (which is that bacteria that he had a couple of times at Harborview) so they put him in isolation. The infectious disease doctor just came in tonight and said that he doesn't believe Randy is contagious from that because he has no syptoms and he said the test they used wouldn't have given them accurate results. He also has something in his nose called MRSA. I guess it is something that is very typical for people for have ~ it is something that commonly colonizes on people. It can cause issues if it turns into an infection, which can happen with people with poor immune systems. With Randy it hasn't causes any infections, but because there are other people here with poor immune systems, he has to be in isolation the entire time he is here, which is fine with us ~ we love the room. It doesn't interfere with his rehab ~ it just means the therapists have to put these yellow gowns on to not get it on them and give it to another patient.

For those who have been emailing Randy ~ he has read all of the emails and he loves getting them. It might take him a bit to respond to them, but I want you all to know, he has read every single one of them!

Updates

We got the estimate for how long Randy will be here ~ 2 weeks. He wasn't happy with that. He said he was thinking a week.

Everday, though, he kepts getting better and better. He, of course, is still having issues with his memory, but he is doing great at using the planner that they gave him to help remember what he does throughout the day. When he has a hard time thinking of words, he is doing great at thinking of descriptions of the words. For example, when he was telling me he was dizzy today, he said it was when he closes off one of his avenues of seeing (his eyes being the avenue of seeing).

In physical therapy today, he worked on his walking. His balance is getting so much better. With occupational therapy, he worked on weight bearing on the left arm. It is getting stronger everyday. In speech, the first session was spent working on orientation questions, which he did very well with (knowing the year, the president, where he is now and why he is here, things like that). They also worked on reading, which he did well with. Then she gave him a sentence ~ he would have to read the sentence and then she would cover it up and then he had to answer questions about it. The first time she did it, he really struggled. A few minutes later, she did it again with another sentence and he got them all right. The second speech class, they reviewed the planner again ~ how to use it and where to find information in it. She then had him write out words to check his spelling (he only got one incorrect). She then had him write out the alphabet, but leaving out the letters in the word AUGUST. He got it 50% correct, which I don't think is too bad.

Right now he is just ready to get home and I am ready for him to be home. I just need to get the railings into the front steps and I think the house will be ready for him.

Also, so you all know, Randy is reading the blog everyday now and reading through everyone's comments. A couple of days ago, he was even checking his email (Randy.A.Rush@gmail.com), though I had to remind him what his password was. He is amazed and thankful at all of the support from everyone out there!

Working Hard Today

Randy had 4 hours of rehab today. His day started off doing the usual getting dressed session. Every day he gets a little better with it. The therapist is having him stand up now to brush his teeth to help work on his balance and he was pretty steady.

Most of his sessions today were late morning and throughout the afternoon so after breakfast he played the Brain Age game I got him for the nintendo ds. He was doing amazing with it. There is one exercise on it where you have to count the syllables within the given sentence and he got most of them right. Then he wanted to keep working on it, so he did some mathmatics. There was one exercise that he was having a little bit of a hard time with, so I helped him with writing it out. Later in the day, during his occupational therapy class, when she was working with him with getting change back, he grabbed a pen and started writing things down to help him work through it and he did much better today with figuring out the right change than he did the other times he had done that exercise.

Also during occupational therapy, she tested his strength again in his arms and his left arm has gained some. He was also able to almost straighten that arm ~ he was only 5 degrees off. It is definitely getting better and he is trying so hard to get it working. Another thing he did in occupational therapy was to work with the phonebook again. She asked him to look up a pizza place. He struggled a little with it and then commented that it would be easier to use the internet. When she asked him to read a phone number in the book, he wasn't able to do it. They still need to get a doctor to test his eyes. She also worked on testing his perception. She would show him a picture of something and then flip the page and he would have to find that item amongst 4 items that were similar. He did quite well, though there were a few times that he would choose the inverted image.

For physical therapy, he continued to work with walking. His steps are getting better ~ he is keeping his feet more apart rather than stepping one right in front of the other, which is great. At the last session, he was dealing with some light-headedness. I am hoping it was just from him being so tired from having such a long day.

I asked for a wheelchair that was a little lower to the ground. The one he had, his feet didn't quite touch the ground. With this lower one, he can "walk" himself around and work on getting his left leg working a bit more throughout the day.

The last type of therapy he had today was speech therapy. She did some tests with him and he did great. She gave him a bunch of pictures and then handed him a sentence and he had to find the picture that went with the sentence. He got all of them. She also showed him pictures and he had to name the item in the picture. When they did this test on Saturday, he struggled. He did so much better today. She also did the test where she gave him a letter and he had to name as many words as he could that started with that letter with a time limit of one minute. Saturday, he wasn't able to do this. He struggled a little, but was able to get more than Saturday. She also played the concentration matching game with him and he did quite well with that. She asked him what he wanted to work on and she mentioned a few things, such as his speech, reading, his writing skills, and his memory. It was kind of cool ~ I was able to tell her that I have been working on his reading (and the only issue he has right now is his eyesight, he needs larger print) and I have had him writing and he is doing quite well with that too. Then Randy started telling her about the brain game and she commended me for all of the stuff we are working on. What I think is really great, though, is that Randy really wants to work on these things. He wants to go home and will do whatever he needs to in order to get there!

The speech therapist also gave him a planner so that he can start writing down what he does throughout the day to help his memory.

One very cool thing that happened today was one of Randy's coworkers came by (she came during one of his phsycial therapy sessions so she got to see him in action!) and she brought him ice cream. He loved it (thank you Liz!!) It made a great after dinner snack this evening for him.

Tomorrow he gets another overly full day ~ another 4 hours scheduled with the last class ending at 4:30.

More Work Today

After his day of rest, Randy started his work again. In physical therapy, he had 2 sessions today. They worked with walking with the walker, standing and balancing (he was really having a hard time with putting equal weight on his two legs, he really favors the right leg). His balance is getting a little better every day.

Randy also had a couple of sessions of occupational therapy today. They really worked on stretching out his left arm since the main issue with that arm is tight muscles due to having it cramped up close to him for so long and not using it. They also had him work on the board seen in the picture. This exercise was a mixture of following directions, but she also used it as a way to get him to bear weight on his left arm while he was using his right arm. He had to take pegs out of the bucket and put them onto the board in the pattern hanging in front of him. This part he did great at. However, when she asked him to put the pegs back into the bucket, he struggled. He would put them into the bucket, but as soon as he let go of them, he grabbed them again and put them back into the board. But when she took down the pattern in front of him, he didn't have issues with putting the pegs in and leaving them in the bucket. I thought that was interesting.

Randy also had a bunch of tests done today. The doctor he has at the rehab place wants to see a base line for everything, so he had x-rays done and is taking samples of various things, so Randy was busy with that today as well. He also got Randy a patch for his eye. When both eyes are open, Randy is having double vision, but when he closes one eye (and it doesn't matter which one he closes) he can see fine. So he is suppose to alternate the patch between the two eyes, though all he did was wear it for a couple of minutes and take it off.

Today, Randy also asked quite a bit about the accident or moreso about what has happend to him since the accident. At one point, he said "What's it called when your brain goes on holiday" ~ he was referring to a coma. I just thought that was a great way of putting it ~ his brain has just been on holiday.

One thing we need

I thought of one thing that we will need:

Our house is a one story house, but it has two concrete steps to get into it both in the front and into the backyard. I fully believe that Randy will not need a wheelchair, but he will need railings on the steps to help get up them whenever he is able to either visit the house (they allow day passes when they feel the patient is ready to go out for a bit).

If anyone either knows how or can put me in touch with someone that knows how to install railings into conrete steps, I would greatly appreciate it.

Randy's Memory

I forgot to post one thing last night. Yesterday, I was asking Randy questions about recent events to try to gage his memory loss. He doesn't remember anything from the day of the accident, even things that happened earlier in the day. He doesn't remember the party that he and I were planning for Cass (we had been planning it for about 3 weeks and it was suppose to be held the Saturday after the accident). When I asked him which office he worked out of, he said Renton, though when I reminded him of the new position, he did remember doing through the interview for it. I don't know if these memories will come back or if they are just gone.

A day off

Today was Randy's day off from rehab. I worked with his brain a bit in the morning, playing a game that has math problems on it and then in the afternoon his Aunt played him checkers, so we didn't let him do jus nothing all day.

Randy said he felt "lethargic and lackadasical" all day (his words exactly). I am sure his body needed a rest after two full days of rehab when he hasn't been doing much for the past 6 weeks.

Tonight, he got a shower, which I am sure must have felt great. He hasn't had a real shower since the accident. He also has been asking about the accident ~ but he waits until he and I are alone to ask about it. He has wanted to know every detail and he has wanted to hear them over and over. He tries to repeat them but when he gets stuck, he asks me to say it again. He told me he was sorry I had to help him so much and he wishes he could do more for me. I reminded him that we are partners and he responded "yeah, but you didn't sign up for this". My response: "I signed up for a lifetime with you."

Day 2 of Rehab

Good news ~ I found a wireless internet connection around here so I can post from Randy's room. Hopefully it remains there. It makes it kind of nice to be able to post during the day and not have to wait until I get home.

Saturdays are suppose to be half days of training. I was expecting an hour, maybe an hour and a half of sessions. Per the printed schedule, Randy had 2 hours of therapy and then during lunch time, the speech therapist wrote in another hour for her evalution, so he had a full 3 hour day today. He didn't mind at all. I think he likes it because he is determined to get better and it gives him something to do during the day.

The first half hour session was the usual getting dressed. Randy did quite well with it today. The therapist he had today had him sit in a chair and that seemed to be better than the bed because when he would start to lose his balance, he would have the chair arms right there to help him regain it.

The second half hour session was with physical therapy. That therapist worked with his walking. Today, she had him start with a single based cane. He did pretty well with it ~ occassionally he would lean to the left too much and use her too much. Then she had him try a walked so that he had to work with his left arm. It was a little difficult for him, but he says he prefers the walker because of the working with that arm. He did pretty well with the walker when he would go slow enough.

Then Randy had an hour session of occupational therapy. She worked with stretching his left arm ~ she believes the pain Randy is feeling in that arm is all muscular from not using the arm for so long. She also had him fill out a paper where he had to write the date, his address and his age. He did okay with it. He left some numbers out of the date, such as the 0 for 06 in the year. For the address, he put our address at 21st street instead of 261st street. He got his age right. Then she asked for his home telephone number and he gave the number from before we bought our house (it will be 3 years ago at the end of August that we bought the house). I explained to her that he and I don't use our home phone number so she asked him for his cell #. He gave her mine. He finally did get his cell number ~ he knew the area code and I just gave him the first number in the prefix and he could fill in the rest. Then she gave him a phone and asked him to dial my cell # and he dialed my work number. But upon asking him again, he was able to dial correctly. She then asked him what number he would dial if there was an emergency and he gave my cell number. But after a little prompting, he got 911. She then gave him the yellow pages and asked him to find a dentist. He seemed a little confused and finally said "This should be an internet query" (he and I don't even use our phone book). He was finally able to find a dentist. Then she had him draw a clock. That didn't go so well. He couldn't fill in the numbers. She finally drew a clock for him and asked him to draw the hands for 9 o'clock. He was able to draw the small hand to the 9 but didn't know how to draw the secondary line. She then worked with money again. He did great with naming the coins and counting up their value, but with giving change, he struggled.

Then, the last hour was with speech doing an evaluation. Randy got very frustrated throughout this session. They evaluated his memory, listening, and attention skills. They started by giving him 2 shapes (squares and circles) that came in 2 different sizes and 5 colors each, so 20 pieces altogether. He did great at following her directions until she started making the requests a little more complicated with things such as "Touch the red circle instead of the blue square" ~ he would touch both of them. She also told him a short story and asked him to repeat it. He didn't do so well with that. He did pretty well when she gave him numbers and he had to do the opposite sequence from what she gave him (for example, she would say 361 and he was to repeat 163). He started having issues when it reached 4 numbers. He also had issues when he was given a letter and given 1 minute to come up with as many words that started with that letter as possible with the rules that it couldn't be proper names. She gave him the letter "C" and he got one word, and then got stuck on Cassandra, which of course was against the rules and that frustrated him. She then gave him a category of animals, but instead of naming different types of animals, he started naming off the names of our animals. Then she gave him pictures of things and asked him to name it and that whole process frustrated him. Simple things such as house weren't coming to him, but more complicated things such as stethoscope came right away. At the end of the session, she asked Randy what he did and she said they would work on trying to get him back to that point if possible but she warned him that he might not be able to return to that point again. This session was the first time since last week I have seen some of the deficiencies he currently has, other than the phsycial ones that are obvious.

Next Wed, after his whole team of therapists meet together, we should get a better idea of where they think he is at and where they think he can get to and how long they think he should stay here in rehab.

When the speech therapist came to grab us today (we hadn't done speech yet so she came to grab us to show us the way), she asked Randy how he was doing and he said he could really use some ice cream. At Harborview, that was the typical dessert and they also had a yogurt machine in the cafeteria that we would often bring him. So far here, he hasn't had ice cream, but they do keep some in the freezer. He ended up eating 3 of those little containers and then his dad went to Dairy Queen and got him more.

I also let Randy see some pictures of his car after the accident, both at the scene and the ones from the car insurance. I wasn't sure how he would take it, but he wanted to see them. He commented that "they crunched my little Saab" and then when he saw the one where they are cutting the top off, he said it was a "new convertible style". I showed him pictures from the Blog of how he looked towards the beginning and how he looked now so he could see the huge difference. He really seemed to do quite well with the whole thing.

Day 1 of Rehab

Check out Randy walking!

Day 1 was pretty tough, but Rand did amazing. He kept pushing himself. During the session pictured here, the therapist asked Randy if he wanted to stop and take a break and he said no. After all of the sessions when I got him back into bed and he was compltely exhausted, he kept working on his left arm. He kept trying to flex it out and move it around. He is absolutely determined to get that arm working.

So how the rehab works is that they provide Randy with a schedule at the beginning of the day that includes three hours of therapy, but the three hours are broken up into half hour sessions. They will usually include Physical Therapy, Occupational therapy and Speech therapy. Today, though, they couldn't schedule the speech therapy because they couldn't get him into their schedule for today so they started that therapy tomorrow. Randy gets some breaks in between the sessions, at least he did today. The longest break he got was an hour. During the last break, he and I both fell asleep. Thankfully the doctor came in to introduce himself ~ he woke us up in time to get ready to go to the last session.

Here is what he did throughout the day:

First up was Occupational therapy with washing himself and getting dressed. He did pretty well with it. The therapist was very impressed with how well Randy was able to follow her commands. One thing he did, though, was continuing to go back to washing his face. When she would ask him to wash something else, such as his legs or arms, he would wash his face and then go to the area she had instructed. He did that with each command. I thought that was interesting.

Second half hour was physical therapy. This first session was just an evaluation time. She evaluated his movement and the strenght in both his left and right side. She had him practice walking on the balance pole things (where you have a pole on each side to hold onto), but she had to be his left side because he couldn't hold onto it. She said that physical therapy will concentrate on improving Randy's balance, coordination (because he really had very little coordination) and strengthening his left side.

Third half hour was occupational therapy. She used a machine thingy to test Randy's strenght in both arms. His left is quite a bit weaker than his right, of course. She also tested the mobility of his arms and then worked with money. He did well with naming the coins or, if he couldn't remember the name, he would state their value. He did quite well with adding up a handful of coins. He struggled a little, though, with giving change back. You could tell his mind was really working to try to process what was needed, but it was a definite struggle.

Fourth half hour was physical therapy again. This is where they really worked on Randy's walking. She tried a walker, but with his left side not being able to hold it, it didn't work too well. She then tried a quad base cane and he was doing quite well with that. He is having issues with balance, but he was really working on it. He ended up walking 300 feet, which is amazing since he didn't get much therapy at all at Harborview. Towards the end of the walk, his steps were evening out a bit ~ they seemed a little more coordinated.

Fifth half hour was another occupational therapy session. His therapist worked on practing getting in and out of the tub and on and off the toilet. He did such an amazing job. She also worked on bearing weight on the left hand. There was some pain with that and he had a rough time doing it. She had to keep getting on to him about using his right side. In such a short time, he has really learned how to compensate for his left side by using his right side for so much. He has always been great at problem solving and it has really shown in the last few days!

The final session was another physical therapy. This therapist also worked on walking ~ he did another 300 feet. Through this walk, though, he really wasn't using the cane, but he did have to lean on her a bit to compensate for his left side. But through this walk, I saw a great improvement in his balance. He actually did so well with getting up and transfering from wheelchair to bed or toilet so well that I was able to assist him with going to the bathroom by myself a couple of times today. it makes it nice not having to wait for the nurse, who has 4 other paitents she is helping as well. It was great!

One issue we did have today was with his diet. In the orders Harborview sent over, they didn't include the update of him being able to eat whatever he wanted so they were only giving him these thick, disgusting juices and stuff. I told the nurse and the doctor that they had told us they were changing it and we have been giving him tons of thin liquids and he does absolutely fine. They were very quick to get the speech therapist in and she evaluated him today on his swallow and was very convinced that he was good to go on eating whatever he wanted. So that is all fixed now.

So far, I have to say, I am really liking our experience at Good Sam!

One kind of funny thing that Randy said that I have to share: He has been drinking tons of liquids today. After every session I would make sure to give him something to drink. I commented on how much he was drinking and he said "I need to prove I don't need a catheter anymore". He is so determined that that thing is not going back in!

He is just doing absolutely amazing. I tell him constantly throughout the day how much I appreciate his hard work and I tell him how great he is doing. He is really working hard!

Tomorrow he gets a little break ~ only a couple of therapy sessions in the morning and none in the afternoon. Then Sunday he gets the entire day off. Monday morning, though, we get to start the intense days again. I am really looking forward to seeing how much he will improve over the next couple of days with how hard he is working!

Good Sam

We made it! The picture here is from Harborview (the camera was packed away when we got to Good Sam). I wanted everyone to see Randy's new hair cut ~ thanks to my wonderful neighbor Virginna!

But Randy arrived safely and is all set up at Good Sam. The ride over was a little rough for him. I really wanted to ride with him, but I didn't have anyone to drive my car and our stuff wasn't quite all out of the room yet. I walked him down to the ambulance, telling him all the way down where he was going and how exciting it was that he was getting to start rehab. I actually found that I had a very hard time seeing him get into a vehicle. Paranoia set in a bit. As soon as he was in the ambulance, I ran upstairs, grabbed the rest of the stuff, and hit the road to get there as soon as I could. I got there as the people who drove the ambulance were walking back outside. When I got in the room, Randy kept saying how scared he was and how lost he had felt and he started crying. I felt so awful! He kept asking me over and over where he was at. After a few times, he seemed to relax a little.

For directions to the hospital, you can go here: http://www.goodsamhealth.org/maps_rehabilitation.html. The address is 407 14th Ave SE. For parking, as you turn into the parking garage, you start out on the top floor and the garage goes down from there. The entrance directly into the rehab part of the hospital is right on the top floor of the garage. There are double glass doors you go in and its right there. I will have to post Randy's room number later because I didn't pay attention to what it was tonight.

I had thought that since we are so late into the week, that they wouldn't do much with him as far as rehab went. They had an occupational therapist come in tonight and work with him for about half an hour, evaluating where is at right now with some things such as being able to wash himself. He has his day planned tomorrow as well, startng at 8 am. The sessions, I believe are half an hour each. I think the day ends at 4 pm, but I am not positive on that. We will find out more tomorrow as he jumps into it.

For visiting, they ask that the patients have no visitors other than family after 8pm. As I find out what his therapy schedule is, I will post and let people know so everyone can know best times to visit him. He loves having people visit! He was still talking about Karen and Dave's visit (work people) today.

Tonight, it was hard to leave him, but I had to come home and grab some of his clothes (for therapy sessions, they work on him dressing himself). They also do not have any internet connection so I had to make sure to come home to post to you all that we made it safely. As Randy was getting ready to fall asleep, he kept repeating my cell phone number to make sure he had it right.

I kept telling him I would be there first thing in the morning. They let family be part of the therapy so I want to make sure I don't miss it!

Benevolent Account Info

As per Darcee's request, here is the Benevolent account info ~ you can donate at any BECU location and the account number is 3576052894.

We are leaving today

A bed at Good Sam is opening up today, so we are leaving Harborview today at 3 pm. I am so excited to get to start this next phase and Randy is so ready!

He had a bit of a tough night last night. When he had the bacteria infection, they stopped his stool softener and they never started it back up again. With eating solid foods, it created a bit of an issue. They finally gave him something last night to help, but he spent the night having to go to the bathroom constantly. He also had issues with his bladder throughout the night. Per the scans, it was completely full but he felt no urge to go. They were going to put the catheter back in, but decided to wait to see how he did in the morning. Then, this morning, he was finally able to go but wasn't emptying out his bladder, so they again talked of putting the catheter back in. So Randy started asking for liquids again and he was able to empty it out. So no catheter. All it takes is them talking about them putting it back in and he gets to work on going.

Yesterday and Today

Sorry I didn't have an end of day post for yesterday. In the evening, Randy started to not feel too well. He kept saying he felt "yucky" and he started running a low grade temp. I stayed with him all night since I wasn't sure he could call his nurse if he needed to go to the bathroom.

He is much better today, though. He slept through the night and woke up feeling so much better. This morning, he played Go Fish with me and the only issue he had with playing was holding his cards since his left hand doesn't work that well still.

Since he is getting up to go to the bathroom, I asked them to try to take the catheter out again, so they took it out this morning. Becky (his nurse) and I both told him that if he was not able to urinate on his own today he would have to have it back in, so he drank all liquids left in the room and sent me downstairs for more! He has been doing great with going to the bathroom all day today.

Physical and Occupationsl Therapy just came to work with him. They walked him down the hall. They kept asking if he was getting tired and wanted to turn around ~ nope he wanted to keep on going. They finally decided to turn him around and bring him back.

Our neighbor came to visit him today and evened out his hair ~ it looks great. I have pictures, but I don't have a way to transfer them from my card to the computer here, so I will post them when I get home (I will probably stay one more night and then go home tomorrow night).

As for the rehab place, I would really like for him to good to Good Samaritan, but there might be an issue with beds there as well, which leaves the UW. I know the UW is a good place, too. I have just had several contacts with the people at Good Sam and have been impressed with how they have dealt with me up to this point. For them to take him, though, he has to be off restraints for 24 hours, which we would have had today, but I asked for one arm to be restrained last night because his catheter was bothering him and I was worried he would pull on it during the night. So tonight, no restraints (which is why I might not go home, just to make sure he doesn't try to get out of bed). If he makes it through with no restraints then we just have to hope that a male bed becomes available there.

Anyway about it, he will be moved out in the next couple of days ~ whether it be to Good Sam or to UW. I will post as soon as we know for sure.

One last thing ~ for those wanting to contact Jon and Kelli for questions regarding the silent auction, in case you did not see Jon's comment, you can call Kelli at 206-369-4866 or email Jon at jon6foot4@hotmail.com.

Small Update

There are no bed available here in the rehab area and they don't expect one to be available anytime soon. So they are looking into Good Sam to see if they have availability. If they don't, we will have to look at the UW, which has the same program as they have here.

I will post when we know for sure where and when he is going.

Quick Update

Physical and occupational therapy came to work with Randy today. He did quite well. They had him stand up and walk a bit. He was able to bear weight on his left leg, but walking with it was a little harder. They had him walk to the sink (with their help), brush his teeth, brush his hair, and wash his face. Then they took him for a short little walk outside of the room (he only went a few steps and then they turned him around and came back). He can't stand on his own because his balance is a bit off, but he is really trying.

They said their recommendation will be that he is ready for full on rehab (Yeah!). The process is, they turn their recommendation in to the team of doctors working on Randy, they okay it, then send the orders to the rehab team and we wait for bed availability. So, it might take a few days. Randy thinks it should happen today. He is ready!

Whenever we are able to move up to rehab (it is on the 4th floor in the same wing of the hospital we are currently in), I will post so everyone will know where he is at.

Randy's Raffle

So many people have been so supportive throughout the last month and a half. We have felt so blessed with the amount of support we have received! We have appreciated all that people have done ~ the taking care of our yard, the gift baskets, the gas card, the money to help with parking, the visits in the hospital, the posts on the blog - just to name a few things! Everyone has been so amazing.

I wanted to let all who are reading this know that one of Randy's best friends is hosting a benefit for Randy just to provide another avenue of being supportive with a way for those who come to get something out of it as well. Jon McClary and his wife are hosting a silent auction. They have gotten a number of businesses around the Puget Sound to donate items to auction off.

Some of the things they have recieved so far:

• Gift certificate for babysitting from Washington's top nanny agency (80.00 value)
• In home dog training for the life of your pet from Bark Busters (500.00 value)
• 3 hour photo session (at your location) by MDR studios (450.00 value)
• Aidrondack rocking chair (200.00 value)
• Xbox 360 (400.00 value)
• Gift certificates from local restaurants

Jon and his wife Kelli are donating food and beverages so all money received will go directly to Randy and myself.

Details on the event:

• Will be held September 9th from 5 to 10 pm
• Cost to attend is $25 per person or $40 per couple with dinner and drinks included (To let those you drink as well as those who don't know, there will be alcohol there as well. It will be open bar)
• Will be held at Jon and Kelli's house ~ 21036 100th Ave SE Kent, WA
• For questions, you can email me and I can provide their phone number via email