December 4-14 (Orem Rehab and Nursing)

Dad's first 10 days at Orem Rehab have gone off without a hitch pretty much. He likes the food, enjoys teasing the staff, and says they are taking good care of him for the most part. His room is newly updated and he's got his own door to the outside (though it is locked, most likely because of the winter season), which lets in a lot of natural light. It is a French door, with the blinds inside the 2 window panes, and the adjustment of which provides hours of entertainment for my girls when we go visit. :)

He wears t-shirts and sweat pants most of the time now so that he can be ready for PT when they come to get him. He says that he wishes they would not come get him because it's like torture, it tires him out so much. Some days are better than others. Jan and I were there for PT on Thursday, Dec 10. By the time I got there, they had had him sitting up in a wheelchair for a couple of hours already, doing reading and arm and neck therapy. At that point, they brought him over to the walking pad, which has bars on either side, and were trying to help him get up from the wheelchair. He grabs a bar and pulls with his right arm and they tell him to put all his weight on his right leg. Two physical therapists tug and pull from each side on his arms and they also use a belt they tie around his torso for supporting him. On that day, he was unable to get up from the chair. He has done so on quite a few occasions before, but that day, he was just too tired, so they tried (along with my encouragement and advice) for about 10 minutes and then decided they would let him go rest.

They replaced his catheter, which had been causing burning and pain, on Friday, November 11. He says it feels much better now. As he is still unable to get up without a lot of help, they have a brief (Depends) on him and his bowel movements occur there, but he has a lot of trouble due to the diet and the lack of moving around. We are encouraging the staff to try to control his regularity more with diet than with pills or laxatives, but we have not had much luck with that so far. All fruit juices taste very bitter and sour to him, and he is usually not very hungry because he feels full and constipated all the time. He does eat fairly well still, so we are not afraid of him being malnourished. He declines showers, to the dismay of all of us, because it is too much of a struggle and is painful for them to lift and slide and crank on him to get him into the position they need him to be in. We have talked to him about it and warned him that he will get bed sores if he is not kept clean, not to mention that he won't smell very good. The social worker at the care center said he has the right to decline showers, so there isn't much we can do but hope one of us is there when shower time comes around so we can talk Dad into it. :)

On Saturday during our visit, Brad and his family showed up. Brad was testing Dad's movement on his left side. We were all a little encouraged by the fact that some nerve impulses are actually making it to his right arm. He was able to make his hand move, ever so slightly and with no power, but still it seemed like a good thing to us. On his left leg, he is able to lift up his femur just a bit (a half inch or so) and is able to push down from the knee when his leg is raised in a bending position. I believe the physical therapy might be responsible for this improvement, so we all gave Dad the cheerleader speech that all his hard work is making progress and if he gets strong enough, he might be able to get out of there.

He has been asking a lot lately, "what is the plan? Am I going somewhere else next?" He has mentioned that he is bored in the care center, and that he might like to go back to Plentywood (I assume to live in the nursing home up there). I have been responding that if he is well enough to stand and get himself to the bathroom, that he could move into the room in my basement that he and Mom shared on their many many visits down here. As always, it is very hard to really know what truly pleases Dad, but for now, we all feel he is best kept where he is.

Dad asks every day (multiple times, usually, because he forgets sometimes) who has called or written or sent emails to us about him, so we are very thankful that everyone is so concerned and we encourage everyone to keep sending cards, etc. He especially loves to hear about what is going on back home, and would love a transcript of all the gossip that carries on each day at the Cafe! (By the way, Dad decided that keeping his cell phone at the care center was not going to work because he has a hard time reaching it, and usually can't hear very well anyway. I have the phone, but we haven't been able to find the charger, so calling the phone probably won't work for much longer.)