Paul finally took his first shower this morning in over 5 weeks. He said it felt good, but was amazed at how tired he was after it was over. He looks great and continues to improve every day. His doctor mentioned this morning that they will be changing his blood draws from every day to every other day since all of his numbers are looking so good. This is great news for Paul as he really has no veins left to work with. He said his blood draw is one of the worst parts of his day.
He had another EKG for his heart this morning (or late yesterday) and everything looks real good. The doctor had mentioned that he had no reason to believe that is heart would ever return to A-Fib (irregular heart rhythm). This is great news also.
It looks like surgery to remove the pins from his left foot is set up for Monday or Tuesday of next week. Paul is really looking forward to having those pins removed. He knows the longer those pins are in there, the longer his stay is at the hospital.
Needless to say, he is still really looking forward to going home! Today completes his first week at Evergreen Rehab. Initially, when Paul arrived someone had mentioned a possible 3 week stay, but I have heard other people talk of earlier departures. I think at this point it is too early to speculate how much longer he will be there. What I do know is that he is working as hard as he can to get home as soon as possible.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
9:30 pm Update
Today was supposed to be a pretty eventful day for Paul, but turned out to be more uneventful.
His IVC Filter was supposed to be removed at 5:00pm, but as they were preparing to do this they found a blood clot in the filter. This is actually good....the filter is doing it's job. The filter will remain in him for a few more weeks until the blood clot is gone. They will then attempt to remove the filter again. As I understand it, the filter can remain in him for approx. 2-3 months, but they like to remove them as soon as possible. Once the filter is removed, the coumadin (oral meds) should prevent any other blood clots from forming. He was finally able to eat his first meal of the day around 6:30 pm once he got back to his room.
The pins in his left foot were not removed today as originally planned. The surgeon that is supposed to do this surgery is on vacation this week. We are not really sure why we are just finding this out today. It sounds like the pins will be removed next week when the surgeon returns.
His IVC Filter was supposed to be removed at 5:00pm, but as they were preparing to do this they found a blood clot in the filter. This is actually good....the filter is doing it's job. The filter will remain in him for a few more weeks until the blood clot is gone. They will then attempt to remove the filter again. As I understand it, the filter can remain in him for approx. 2-3 months, but they like to remove them as soon as possible. Once the filter is removed, the coumadin (oral meds) should prevent any other blood clots from forming. He was finally able to eat his first meal of the day around 6:30 pm once he got back to his room.
The pins in his left foot were not removed today as originally planned. The surgeon that is supposed to do this surgery is on vacation this week. We are not really sure why we are just finding this out today. It sounds like the pins will be removed next week when the surgeon returns.
Monday, April 9, 2007
9:30 pm Update
Paul is still working real hard every day at rehab. His ribs were really hurting him today. He thinks it is because the Occupational Therapist worked him so hard yesterday. Sounds like he even had to work on Easter!
The IVC Filter was not removed today as originally planned. No worries, it should happen in the next day or two. As I understand it, they have to make sure there are no clots, take him off of the coumadin and let the blood thicken up a bit before they can remove the filter.
As of this afternoon, the doctor's were still planning on taking his pins out of his left foot tomorrow, but as we are learning everything is always subject to change. Once the pins are out of his foot, he should be able to put a small amount of weight on that foot.
Kathi said he had a lot of visitors tonight. One visitor was Dan from 21 Central who brought him a T-Bone steak for Dinner.
Will update tomorrow and let you know if any of the procedures happened and how they went.
The IVC Filter was not removed today as originally planned. No worries, it should happen in the next day or two. As I understand it, they have to make sure there are no clots, take him off of the coumadin and let the blood thicken up a bit before they can remove the filter.
As of this afternoon, the doctor's were still planning on taking his pins out of his left foot tomorrow, but as we are learning everything is always subject to change. Once the pins are out of his foot, he should be able to put a small amount of weight on that foot.
Kathi said he had a lot of visitors tonight. One visitor was Dan from 21 Central who brought him a T-Bone steak for Dinner.
Will update tomorrow and let you know if any of the procedures happened and how they went.
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