James has been on the new floor for a few days now. He got a new wheelchair that fits much better, and the PICC line came out before he moved floors. That was a little too exciting for my likes though. When they pulled the line out, the end looked like it had been sliced. The PICC lines that they are used to seeing here have a black tip on the end. So they were concerned that there was a peice still in him! They got a stretcher and put him on his left side and a torneque on his arm, and were talking about a CT scan and possibly being rushed to Victoria for emergency surgery! Until, one of the head nurses came in and said, Oh, I am 99.9% sure that that is a power PICC and that is the way the end looks. She ended up calling Pennsylvania to the manufactorer to clarify. And sure enough, it was all a false alarm! James' nurse looked as frazzled as I did! She joked that we all needed a wee sedative now! The rest of the move went much more smoothly! I was hoping that his bed would move with him, but we were told that he would have to have a bed from that floor. I am not liking his new bed as it is much shorter and if he slides down it at all, his feet are pushed up against the bottom.
The planning meeting went well. General feeling from the staff was that we need to find him some rehab! On Thursday when Physio worked with James to was trying to get James to lift his head up (The muscles in James' neck are working overtime and pulling his head to the right and down) He asked James to pull his head up and show us how tall he is, James stood up! So the rest of the session consisted of asking James to stand and sit. Physio worked with him again on Friday. He helped James roll out of bed to a sitting position ( James was not happy about this and I actually saw some good anger going on!) He got James sitting on the edge of the bed and asked him to stand up. ( He did) . They helped him use his hands prop and balance himself and eventually had him balancing himself in a sitting position. I have noticed that since the physio sessions he is starting to use him hand more. He will occasionally bring them to his face on lift them up a little.
After the doctor did some asking about rehab options he told me that his consult in Nanaimo told him that the only rehab that would fit James is in Ponoka Alberta. We are still exploring the options. I think that the only real barrier to rehab right now is expressive language. He still hasnt spoken since the accident and most rehab will not take non verbal clients. We will have to see how that progresses. Just because he isnt talking right now, doesnt mean he wont.
I am going to try sleeping at the hospital tonight. So far two mornings in a row, I have arrived to a drenched boy, with a soaked brief and bed, despirate to use the urinal. Hopefully i can sort things out quickly in that department, because I know that I wont last without sleep for more than a night or two.
you amaze me every time I read your blog. You are an amazing mother, an inspiration. Blessings and prayers to you and the family.
ReplyDeleteLove Lori