Update from the road to recovery...
 

Well...as some of you know, my husband had a bad car accident a little over a week ago. The only major injury he received was a burst fracture to his L1 vertebrae. He underwent back surgery the morning after the accident to remove the debris from his spinal cord and have steel rods & screws put in his back. After a day or two in the ICU, he stayed in intermediate care for 4.5 days, and then was transferred to an inpatient rehab facility. As of Thursday's first evaluation, he is looking at a tentative 6 wks of Physical Therapy. That's gonna be a lot of back & forth for me...and shuffling of the kidlets. But we're hopeful & all we can do is take it one day at a time. Healing thoughts & prayers (or whatever it is you do) are greatly appreciated!

Hang in there! You two will be back in bed, making out like teengers before you know it!

Ug. But thank you for the update. (sympathetic head bobs) from the lizard.

I sincerely hope so jseal!

!!!Another Update!!!
 

He walked a few steps!!!!!!!!!!!!! :cabbagep:

Yesterday they put him on the parallel bars and he took a few tentative steps. Then by afternoon, he took a couple more using a walker and lots of help.
This morning, he walked 15 ft down a hallway with a walker and assistance from one of the therapists. Another therapist used my husband's cell phone and took video for us (about 2.5 mins worth) and my husband uploaded it to FB after his morning session. I saw it and cried tears of unadulterated JOY!
He said, when we were visiting with him this evening (I go EVERY day to see him & am spending the weekend with him at the hospital) that during his last hour of therapy for the day, he, again, got up with the walker and walked about 21.5 feet. The goal is to get up to around 105 ft, as that's one lap around the therapy gym.
Then he used the walker in his room (while the nurse & CNA stood over him) and got himself from his hosp bed to the bathroom and into his shower chair to take the first NON BED bath he's had in 2 weeks! He is not allowed to use the walker unassisted or unsupervised as he's still considered a fall risk. But this is GOOD news!!
Now, if he can get the rest of the muscle memory back and be able to flex his right ankle properly and then be able to come off his catheter we'll be even better!

But I still think the assisted walking is AWESOME! :heartbeat I'm so damn proud of him!! :heartbeat

:line:

Sounds like he's making good progress. That's so great!! Every step is a cause for cheers!! And with you as head cheerleader he's a lucky man.

Keeping you both in thought and prayers.

:thumb:

Sounds like great news, ShadowDancer! Prayers will continue until he's back to 100%!

Thanks dicksbro, Teddy Bear & GG.

There is a reason slow and steady wins the race. Best to keep going just like he is a little at a time, and he'll get there. Biggest problem with anyone in physio is when they get impatient they go to far to fast and end up setting themselves back.

Excellent progress; tell him to keep up the good work (though like LS says, patience is good).

So glad to hear he is progressing! I am sure glad he has you for support! Make sure you are getting support some where too!

Prayers and best wishes for his speedy recovery.

another...
 

He walked 40ft two separate times yesterday...20ft of it was unassisted by the therapist (the therapist wasn't hovering over him and hanging onto the walker). Today it was 56 ft! They also had him go up and down a set of like 3-5 steps w/o his walker and just using the hand rails. Then he had to get in and out of a "car" that is in the therapy gym. They are surprised by his progress in just a week. He is set for 5 more weeks now, pending weekly approval from our insurance. I will be spending tomorrow night and Saturday night there with him and so, I will only be able to access Pixies from my phone since this isn't an "approved" website by their wifi...(if they only knew of the therapeutic benefits of this place, right?!? LOL)

I'm definitely his biggest supporter (well maybe other than his mother and our kids)...and keep telling him on a daily basis to Do It Big and Git-R-Done!! (but safely!!)

Woo, and also, hoo!

Super great news. So happy to hear!

That's GREAT!!!

That sounds like very excellent progress!

Glad to hear it. :)

Saturday was a light therapy day...1.5 hrs as opposed to the 3 hrs he gets M-F. He totally surpasses his personal goal of walking 75 ft. He went 103 ft on his first try, 125 ft on his 2nd try. His ultimate goal (to come off the blood thinners) is to regularly go 150 ft..or more. I think he will hit that milestone this week...probably today (Monday). He has lost like 30lbs since the accident! I really noticed it Saturday night when I helped (well supervised really) with his shower.

Hospital food is "nutritious", but generally tastes like crap and doesn't have nearly as many calories. If it's a cause for concern you can ask his doctors about giving him some kind of protein shake/bar.

If the patient isn't burning the calories, a high cal diet is inappropriate. As a side point, if hubby is 30lbs lighter, holding himself up and walking will be easier.

I agree that high calorie diet is inappropriate should the person in question be incapacitated to some extent. Also keep in mind, that the body burns calories to heal itself. If nothing else showing concern about the weightless to the physician wouldn't be a bad idea. Doctors are human after all, and he might not have noticed how much Shadow's guy has lost. Course I could be wrong. He might have needed to lose 30 lbs to help with other health issues.

A shadow of his former self?

It may help if we knew how 30lbs compared with the start weight.

No question that he needed to lose the weight. The week before his accident he had a doc appt for a check up & weighed 298lbs. He weighed 268lbs this past Saturday morning. Thats 30lbs in 3wks. This time last year he weighed 335lbs and lost down to the 298 by last Christmas. The first week or 2 of recovery, he was eating very little. I was kinda concerned. Turns out it started affecting how he was healing, so last week they put him on 2 different nutritional supplements, Glucerna & Juven in addition to his 3 meals a day plus a snack (he gets a diabetic diet).

This seems to be a multiple health benefit.

Injury bad. Recovery good.

SD- Several years ago when I had to have major surgery, because I was a diabetic they kept giving me insulin shots which I had never taken before. The rule was any sugars over 100 = getting insulin. So I kid you not they would give me a shot and then leave me cookies and milk because they said I was going to plummet. It was crazy and one reason I worked so hard to get the hell out of there as fast as I could. Grats on less of your hubby to love but probably longer to love him now!

It was great to Skype with you two! I hope that you know that you have a whole team of Pixies hoping and praying for a swift recovery for your dear hubby!

Amen to the good wishes for her husband, Lizzardbits! :thumbs:

SD, we're supporting him and you!

Woot! Woot! Yay!!!
 

Last week, my husband was told 4 more weeks of inpatient rehab with Siskin. Today, being Thursday, was evaluation day again. And...drumroll please...
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:nana: HE IS DOWN TO ONLY TWO WEEKS LEFT!!! :nana:

:cheerlead :cheerlead :cheerlead :cheerlead :cheerlead :cheerlead :cheerlead

:line:

Now, of course, once he's home, he'll have to continue with outpatient phys therapy & occupational therapy for a while yet...but I'm just THRILLED he's coming home!!!

FANTASTIC! Glad to hear it ShadowDancer! Glad to hear it!

Shouldn't that be "iMpatient" ? But that issue also seems to have resolved.