Much to our surprise Dougie was moved from Ward 33 to Ward 31 into a single bed room.
I think it'll be much better from his point of view (quiet etc) and does indicate how he is progressing.
However his chest did seem to be a bit rattly this afternoon and was not so productive. I only hope this doesn't mean the chest infection is back.
Importantly the visiting hours are a wee bit different:
3 to 5 pm as before
but 6.30 to 8 pm in the evening.
He really broke me up to-day ........ I got a hand written Fathers Day card (at the instigation of Kay) that was really quite legible. Wow.
Iain
Sunday, 15 June 2008
Update from Saturday
To-day (Friday) was NOT a good day .........
The change from ICU to NHCU was quite traumatic I fear. Poor Dougie was extremely frustrated, partly with our inability to understand what he was trying to write but also by the change from a one bed unit to a four bedder. If we find it a bit difficult to deal with, Doug must feel it much more :-(((
Because of the limited space, personal stuff is severely constrained so we've had to take away all the CDs plus most of the PC's etc..
We're struggling to find a music player that does NOT require the fine manual dexterity of the IPod for control. Now, there's a thought for messrs Apple. Hows about your disabled users fellahs ..............
I think the trying time really starts now ..................
Iain
To-day (Saturday) was a much better day. Dougie had settled down in the new ward environment - much busier and noisier that Ward 20 what with four folk in the same room.
To-day he was up in a chair, although they seem to find difficulty in getting one that really fits him ..... he's too long for most!!
I managed to get his IPod Shuffle charged up and loaded with music, so he was very pleased to be able to blank out the background. (I got a spare Shuffle so we can keep the thing charged and swop music)
He was a bit tired - not a good nights sleep last night I'm afraid but was very responsive.
His writing is getting much better with practice.
He can almost get himself out of bed ....... aah now that'll be a challenge for the nurses!!!
Iain
The change from ICU to NHCU was quite traumatic I fear. Poor Dougie was extremely frustrated, partly with our inability to understand what he was trying to write but also by the change from a one bed unit to a four bedder. If we find it a bit difficult to deal with, Doug must feel it much more :-(((
Because of the limited space, personal stuff is severely constrained so we've had to take away all the CDs plus most of the PC's etc..
We're struggling to find a music player that does NOT require the fine manual dexterity of the IPod for control. Now, there's a thought for messrs Apple. Hows about your disabled users fellahs ..............
I think the trying time really starts now ..................
Iain
To-day (Saturday) was a much better day. Dougie had settled down in the new ward environment - much busier and noisier that Ward 20 what with four folk in the same room.
To-day he was up in a chair, although they seem to find difficulty in getting one that really fits him ..... he's too long for most!!
I managed to get his IPod Shuffle charged up and loaded with music, so he was very pleased to be able to blank out the background. (I got a spare Shuffle so we can keep the thing charged and swop music)
He was a bit tired - not a good nights sleep last night I'm afraid but was very responsive.
His writing is getting much better with practice.
He can almost get himself out of bed ....... aah now that'll be a challenge for the nurses!!!
Iain
Friday, 13 June 2008
Move to new digs ...
Hi folks ....
TRANSFER happening now.
Dougie is being moved to Ward 33 Neuro HDU this morning.
He has been up in his standing frame again this am and seems in fine fettle!
Please be aware that Ward 33 has strict visiting hours unlike Ward 20, so visiting will offer a new set of challenges!!
As I remember it times are as follows:
3 to 5 pm
6 to 7.30 pm
(If I've got these wrong I'll post a correction shortly)
These are strictly adhered to ..............
Way to go maan ...
Iain
TRANSFER happening now.
Dougie is being moved to Ward 33 Neuro HDU this morning.
He has been up in his standing frame again this am and seems in fine fettle!
Please be aware that Ward 33 has strict visiting hours unlike Ward 20, so visiting will offer a new set of challenges!!
As I remember it times are as follows:
3 to 5 pm
6 to 7.30 pm
(If I've got these wrong I'll post a correction shortly)
These are strictly adhered to ..............
Way to go maan ...
Iain
Thursday, 12 June 2008
Another whoopeeeee moment!
Doug had a rather disturbed night last night although the night before he slept pretty well right through. We had kindof expected a quiet day to-day as a result, but no way. The physios descended with a motorised sort of zimmer and, after getting Doug sitting on the edge of the bed, suggested that he'd perhaps like to stand up, holding onto the device.
Damn me if he didn't do it too!!! He stood for a good three minutes, taking balance from the frame and even though he tended to have a list to port, was able to correct it himself.
Later I was recounting this to a passing Doctor and Doug, never one to miss an opportunity waved his hand and held up three fingers - right enough he'd done the standing exercise three times during the morning.
So now this is the standard method of transferring from bed to chair and back again.
He also had a chair outing to the hospital car park to cast an eye over a fine collection of motor bikes (including a Harley which he didn't think much of - and a big BMW shaft drive a la Boreman/McGregor which got the seal of approval) .
Tomorrow ................ well we'll have to wait and see what he comes up with won't we :-)
BTW the planned move to Neurology HDU was postponed due to lack of bed space. So he stays in Ward 20 for the time being.
Iain
Damn me if he didn't do it too!!! He stood for a good three minutes, taking balance from the frame and even though he tended to have a list to port, was able to correct it himself.
Later I was recounting this to a passing Doctor and Doug, never one to miss an opportunity waved his hand and held up three fingers - right enough he'd done the standing exercise three times during the morning.
So now this is the standard method of transferring from bed to chair and back again.
He also had a chair outing to the hospital car park to cast an eye over a fine collection of motor bikes (including a Harley which he didn't think much of - and a big BMW shaft drive a la Boreman/McGregor which got the seal of approval) .
Tomorrow ................ well we'll have to wait and see what he comes up with won't we :-)
BTW the planned move to Neurology HDU was postponed due to lack of bed space. So he stays in Ward 20 for the time being.
Iain
Tuesday, 10 June 2008
And another step forward ........update to update
Doug has had a really mixed four days. Two were really not all that good, partly because of medical reasons and partly down to feeling really pissed off and despondent.
He has had most of the drug intervention points removed but, since he still has around 5 days of anti-biotics still to go, the Docs had tried to get a line in that would allow drugs to go directly to a larger vein. Unfortunately poor Doug had had so many such 'inlets' that his veins declared a go-slow and got very difficult to find.
None of this was too pleasant.
However to-day he was very much brighter. He has had his trachy tube down-sized in anticipation of a move to the Neurology HDU. This is now likely to happen on Thursday some time. I'll post as soon as we know more definitely.
From then on, the physio starts on the rehabilitation phase so I guess he'll be worked pretty hard. Mind you I know he relishes a challenge and it must be better than lying there getting frustrated.
Every day sees some little improvement and I'm sure, since we see him twice a day, we are not really appreciating the totality of it all.
I guess the most significant has been the writing since it shows that the use of language remains largely intact and this is good news for the return of speech when the combination of breathing and vocal chords recover.
Oh dear me .... I've just had another read through the blog and I realise I'd not mentioned the writing business before. So here goes with an update to the update :-)
About 3 days ago, when he was really pissed off, thrashing around in the bed and generally being pretty unresponsive, Sheena wrote on a bit of paper "Douglas, are you in pain?" and held it up in front of him. To our utter amazement, he grabbed the pen from her hand and wrote "YES !!". A little while later when he was pointing over his shoulder towards the window, he waggled his fingers and, when given the pen and paper, wrote "I want to escape .......".
You have no idea how much this means in neurological terms !! As Anna said, since he has not lost the use of language and can transmit to his hand for writing, it really means that his speech returning is much more likely - albeit over time since the other bits like tongue, mouth and throat muscles have also to recover.
He tends to pile one letter on top of another right now so when he goes fast I'm just not quick enough to catch it all but its a comin' :-)) Whoopee !!
Keep fighting Doug.
We're so proud of you.
Iain
He has had most of the drug intervention points removed but, since he still has around 5 days of anti-biotics still to go, the Docs had tried to get a line in that would allow drugs to go directly to a larger vein. Unfortunately poor Doug had had so many such 'inlets' that his veins declared a go-slow and got very difficult to find.
None of this was too pleasant.
However to-day he was very much brighter. He has had his trachy tube down-sized in anticipation of a move to the Neurology HDU. This is now likely to happen on Thursday some time. I'll post as soon as we know more definitely.
From then on, the physio starts on the rehabilitation phase so I guess he'll be worked pretty hard. Mind you I know he relishes a challenge and it must be better than lying there getting frustrated.
Every day sees some little improvement and I'm sure, since we see him twice a day, we are not really appreciating the totality of it all.
I guess the most significant has been the writing since it shows that the use of language remains largely intact and this is good news for the return of speech when the combination of breathing and vocal chords recover.
Oh dear me .... I've just had another read through the blog and I realise I'd not mentioned the writing business before. So here goes with an update to the update :-)
About 3 days ago, when he was really pissed off, thrashing around in the bed and generally being pretty unresponsive, Sheena wrote on a bit of paper "Douglas, are you in pain?" and held it up in front of him. To our utter amazement, he grabbed the pen from her hand and wrote "YES !!". A little while later when he was pointing over his shoulder towards the window, he waggled his fingers and, when given the pen and paper, wrote "I want to escape .......".
You have no idea how much this means in neurological terms !! As Anna said, since he has not lost the use of language and can transmit to his hand for writing, it really means that his speech returning is much more likely - albeit over time since the other bits like tongue, mouth and throat muscles have also to recover.
He tends to pile one letter on top of another right now so when he goes fast I'm just not quick enough to catch it all but its a comin' :-)) Whoopee !!
Keep fighting Doug.
We're so proud of you.
Iain
Wednesday, 4 June 2008
PEG Inserted ........
Dougie had his PEG inserted this afternoon and the whole thing went smoothly. I think he was a bit disappointed to discover that he still had the NG tube up his nose, but this is normal practice until they are sure the op outcomes are satisfactory.
So ........ tomorrow no NG perhaps? :-)
As a bit of a distraction, this morning he was popped into the all singing-all dancing chair and all the ventilator bits were bolted on and he was taken for a quick outside visit!!!!!!!!
Not sure he was all that impressed but the sunshine and fresh air must have been great although probably a bit scary!
We arrived just after he had been brought back to the ward to be greeted by the Receptionist who said "hang on I'll just check whether Dougie is back from his walk".
Talk about dumbstruck!!
To-night he was a bit weary so we just sat, one doing hand holding duty and the other administering foot massage ... a sure way to get him to sleep.
We'll see what tomorrow brings ............
Iain
So ........ tomorrow no NG perhaps? :-)
As a bit of a distraction, this morning he was popped into the all singing-all dancing chair and all the ventilator bits were bolted on and he was taken for a quick outside visit!!!!!!!!
Not sure he was all that impressed but the sunshine and fresh air must have been great although probably a bit scary!
We arrived just after he had been brought back to the ward to be greeted by the Receptionist who said "hang on I'll just check whether Dougie is back from his walk".
Talk about dumbstruck!!
To-night he was a bit weary so we just sat, one doing hand holding duty and the other administering foot massage ... a sure way to get him to sleep.
We'll see what tomorrow brings ............
Iain
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
... and a little bit more .....
Doug has had a reasonable couple of days although he is getting pretty restless during his waking hours. He has taken to working his way round until he's across the bed with his legs over one side and his head resting on the other :-) Looks odd, but I guess it must be comfortable ........
Unfortunately he has managed to dislodge his NG tube a couple of times (the feeding tube down the nose) and finds it both difficult and painful to have it replaced. Luckily he is scheduled to have his PEG fitted to-morrow (Wed 4th) between 1 and 2 pm which, after around 24 hours, will mean he no longer needs the NG tube.
His general strength continues to slowly improve and, whats most amazing, he manages to retain his sense of humour. His dietary input has been increased to support his greater activity.
Tomorrow afternoon he'll be recovering from the anisthetic/sedation used for the PEG op so, if you were planning to visit, either do so before 1 pm or postpone until Thursday.
Keep at it Dougie.
Iain
Unfortunately he has managed to dislodge his NG tube a couple of times (the feeding tube down the nose) and finds it both difficult and painful to have it replaced. Luckily he is scheduled to have his PEG fitted to-morrow (Wed 4th) between 1 and 2 pm which, after around 24 hours, will mean he no longer needs the NG tube.
His general strength continues to slowly improve and, whats most amazing, he manages to retain his sense of humour. His dietary input has been increased to support his greater activity.
Tomorrow afternoon he'll be recovering from the anisthetic/sedation used for the PEG op so, if you were planning to visit, either do so before 1 pm or postpone until Thursday.
Keep at it Dougie.
Iain
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