Slow Down

This is Cortney tonight. I got the opportunity to go to rehab today with Dad. We started the day with occupational therapy where our motto for the day began "Slow down." Dad gets in a big hurry with his therapies which is when he starts to fumble and make mistakes. Although, Dad had some very hard challenges today in therapy, and he did extremely well. Throughout the day he made a grocery list, booked airline tickets (for pretend), stepped over cones, walked like crazy, took four flights of stairs, did lunges, and rode 3/4 a mile on a stationary bike. After every therapy session he would look at me and ask "how did I do?" I would reassure him he was doing amazing. By the end I was exhausted by watching him and requested a diet coke break! He is still a little wobbly and veers to the right, but is improving everyday with walking.

Dad also had some exciting news today when the speech therapist told him he could move up to the next diet level. This includes more solid foods, and will widen his variety. They also discontinued all tube feedings. So he is officially not relying on any tube!!! Although, the feeding tube has to stay in for four more weeks for it to heal properly when removed.

All in all Dad had a great day. His neuro doctors came to pay him a visit this afternoon, and walked out at first thinking they had the wrong man. They were amazed at his progress, and I think this was very encouraging to him. He is very anxious to get home, and start his new normal. He is still very concerned he will be dumb, and I keep reminding him not to worry he is a genius!!

Feast, Family, Love

Today has been a great day for Dad and the family. I had planned on making Dad a nice big Sunday meal all week. I brought over some mashed potatoes, bread pudding, and rolls for him to eat while he watched Conference. I was pleasantly surprised to find Cortney waiting when I walked in! She decided to sneak down with Max and spend the day here with us. I wasn't sure if he would be very hungry since it was only a few hours after lunch. Oh boy-- one whiff of good old Idaho spuds and he was demanding that we pour that gravy on, and give him a fork! He ate with very flattering enthusiasm. (I don't think he would enjoy my cooking so much if he hasn't had a decent meal in more than a month.) Oh well, I'll take it while it lasts! :) While he was eating we got even more pleasantly surprising visitors! Cade and Katie brought their family for the weekend. My aunt Lisa and her husband Dave are also in town for a quick visit. We have recently been taking a little bit of heat from the nursing staff here about visitors. Because we are such a large family, and Dad is such a magnetic type of person, there always seems to be someone in and out of his room. This is a little unsettling for the nursing staff because of the type of injuries Dad has. I know that they are worried about us overstimulating his brain. Although I see the logic, and I have been taught about this very thing in school, I can't help but look around today and think that this is doing more for my Dad than any medical intervention ever could. He is literally surrounded on every side by people who love and adore him. He has been cheered on, prayed for, cried over, and loved harder than anyone I know. I am so grateful for all these wonderful people in the room today, and the countless others cheering him on from a distance. I know it has really made the difference for him. He seems to come alive around his visitors. He and my Mom are quick to take up their witty banter right where it left off. (The Bickerson's as I lovingly refer to them.) :) He cracks jokes, and talks about his long future when he gets back to farmin'. For the first time in months, things almost seem normal. We are not plagued by the nagging elephant in the room when we talk. We do not have to feel guilty for laughing any joking around Dad. He is laughing right along with us. Dad gets a day off from therapy on Sundays, so he will be free to visit until he is tuckered out and needs a nap! I am sorry if this blog is becoming a little monotonous. It is hard not to repeat my gratitude and happy feelings over and over. I am struggling not to shout from the rooftops how much I love this man, and this family. Happy Sunday all! Hope yours was as enjoyable as the Crapo's. Tomorrow we will be back at it in therapy. And we are hoping for a little outing with Dad in the next coming week now that he is IV free!

Serious Progress

I came into dad's room this morning to find he and my Mom watching the Saturday morning Conference session. I sat with them until dad had therapy before lunch. During his physical therapy the aide walked him around the unit several times. I haven't seen dad walk very frequently, and I was completely amazed. He is walking almost entirely by himself. The aide just offers one hand for support when necessary. The aide would tell dad to look right, left, up and down while he was walking. I noticed that he got a little off balance when he looks to the right. He still seems to prefer that left side a bit. Dad's therapist commented on how much dad has improved just from yesterday. He said that he believes dad will be walking on his own very soon. My mom and I were so elated with this news. Walking has been a major concern for us since dad began waking up. We couldn't help but notice the other patients around us as dad was doing his exercises. Mom and I commented on how amazing his capabilities are. We are very aware of the limitations that dad could have had, and we are so very very relieved and grateful by what he is doing everyday! Dad continues to have a nice healthy appetite. Though I will say, hospital food is not exactly the caliber of cooking he is used to. :) Even so, I have yet to hear him complain. My mom said that he gobbled up his tuna sandwich and soup today with no problem. And he loved his eggs and fruit for breakfast. I think that being able to eat and discontinue the tube feedings have really done wonders for dad in therapy. He is becoming more physically and mentally strong after overcoming that very important hurdle of food. In other fantastic news, dad is no longer on the heparin drip! The doctors rounded shortly before lunch and ok'd the discontinuation of the constant drip. This, along with the absence of the tube feedings, means that dad can walk around freely now! We are all so happy to get rid of the darn IV pole and pump that we have been dragging for weeks. As I thought back to the first few days of this mess, I remembered the double row of IV pumps that Dad needed just to stay alive in Idaho Falls. It's just another physical testament to how far his body has come. Dad continues to have a good attitude today. He seems to be a lot less grumpy, and I think he recognizes that he is doing so much better. He seems to be as encouraged as we are by his progress. I hope everyone is enjoying conference. I know that I have never felt so faithful and grateful to my loving Heavenly Father, or excited to hear the messages of our apostles.

Another Day in Paradise

Hello there everyone. This is Carlie again. Ill be posting for the next few days. Today has been a day much like any other here in rehab. Therapy went quite well this morning. Dad is doing more and more for himself every single day. Looking at him today, I notice that his increased strength is becoming visibly evident. He has muscle tone in his arms and legs, and it is obvious in his more purposeful movements. It is truly amazing how fast atrophy of the muscles took place when Dad got sick. Sadly, it is a lot harder to get back than it was to lose it! Physical therapy has been working Dad very hard to regain his balance. Sometimes they really push, but it's so worth it to see the improvement in his mobility! He has been working on walking a lot, and he needs less and less help all the time. He is going longer distances with each session as well. Today he is planning on braving the crowds in the main lobby of the hospital (we know how much Dad loves those Utah crowds!) The only problem with all this increased movement is that he thinks he is a little steadier on his feet than he is. his wrist band for the hospital states that he is a fall risk because he is a "little impulsive." (That is a bit of an understatement.) We will definitely need to work on getting him to slow down a bit. :) He is also working hard on cognition and problem solving exercises. He is doing exercises and games that are meant to strengthen his critical thinking. I have to say, some of the things he was doing would have been difficult for me! He is really making huge strides. He did tell his occupational therapist that he wants to be doing exercises on his 4-wheeler. Oddly enough, she said she couldn't deliver. :) Being able to eat has made Dad a chipper fellow the last day or two! He was finally served mashed potatoes and gravy at lunch today! They came with puréed corn and some sort of mystery meat loaf. He is such a good sport and tried everything on his plate. His comment... "Whew, that meatloaf is horrible!" Che and I got a good chuckle out of it. It's nice to know that he is still pretty hilarious. He also got ice cream with the meal. By the time he got to it, though, he said it was mostly cream. Oh well, it was delicious creamy sugar either way! I promised him a nice, proper, non-mystery meat Sunday feast for conference this weekend. All in all, I couldn't be more proud of my Dad. I am amazed by his great attitude and his willingness to give this his all. He is very motivated to get home, but I think he realizes that this is very necessary for a great outcome once he gets there. The same can be said for my amazing mom. She has been there all day every day since the second this happened. My dad never wants her to go, and he always requests that she stays and takes care of him over anyone else. They're really in this together. I'm so glad I have them, and that they have each other.

Pancakes

We passed the swallow test! I say that as if I sat next to him and swallowed a giant swig of barium myself. Not so, but we are all so deeply invested in his recovery and progress that 'we' seems fitting. He is now allowed to be on a soft diet which means... Pancakes! As soon as I heard I ran across town to my favorite pancake place. Unfortunately, they would not let him have blueberries but all in good time. It was so amazing to watch him sit up and put something in his mouth. I cannot imagine not eating anything for over a month. Although they have been consistently feeding him an adequate diet via his PEG tube, he has been so unsatisfied and hungry! Hopefully we can start working on putting some meat back on his skinny back, arms and legs.

Therapy went well today. Physical therapy has been a little monotonous as they just walk around the gym with him three times a day. We all know this is a very important and necessary skill, but we are starting to feel there are some aspects of his physical recovery that are not being addressed. Don't you worry though, Colby took control of that and insisted they work with Dad on his balance for one of his sessions. He is getting much stronger. We feel comfortable walking with him to the bathroom now but will be thrilled when he no longer has to drag a giant IV pump behind him.

Dad works so hard in the mornings at therapy sessions and is always exhausted in the afternoons. Hudson loves to take advantage of this situation and cuddles up for afternoon cartoons. My Dad is genuinely the best Grandpa I know and it's been a longstanding joke that my child loves Dad more than he loves me. I am so beyond grateful that my Dad survived this horrible experience not only for his wife and children, but for his adoring grand babies. There is just no way to adequately describe our relief that we have him here with us. We need this man.

Independent breathing!

That's right! No more tracheostomy! This morning after rehab the respiratory team came and removed that horrible tube from Dad's neck. He has been eagerly anticipating this day for a week and it is so nice to see him nearly entirely tube free (he still has a peripheral IV for his Heparin drip and a PEG tube for his feedings). He says that his breathing feels fine without it and we are all so unbelievably grateful for this progress. I was thinking today back to the beginning of this nightmare when I was so thrilled to come to his room in Idaho Falls to see him assisting the ventilator on the occasional breath. I can't believe how far we have come. As I have said on here before, they told us early on that breathing is a brain stem function (the location of Dad's bleed) and that he may never accomplish this feat again on his own.

Therapy was very busy this morning. Colby encouraged him through four straight sessions with no breaks. This schedule exhausts him and he indulged in a long afternoon nap. When he woke up we went out to the patio to spend some time as a family. Here Dad made several comments about needing to return to work, his frustrations with his current abilities and even said he was worried he would 'be stupid forever'. I honestly cannot convey how deeply it hurts to hear him say these things. We have watched him make such amazing progress that it is easy to forget how exacerbating this process is for him. I was glad Colby was here because he was able to encourage him and ensure him that everything is fine back home.

Tomorrow he will have a swallow study to see where we are on his ability to eat. We are praying so much that his swallow is strong and that they can advance his diet as I know it is such a priority for him to eat food! Above all else and no matter the results, he continues to work so hard and we are unbelievably proud of him.

Two days in pictures

The blog is becoming slightly monotonous lately and I'm sure my Dad would say the same about his last few days.

He is walking well with support but is very wobbly so he needs at least one person to hang on to him. He is able to transfer from his bed to the wheelchair with very little support but luckily realized he is not invincible after his first solo attempt at walking. He keeps telling us that his nurse was 'very mad' about the whole incident. Which I'm sure she was, as I am well aware of what kind of paperwork goes into an incident like that.

Occupational therapy is going okay but he is still constantly complaining about his double vision. In a creative attempt to solve the problem, the therapists equipped him with a fancy pair of glasses in which one side is wrapped in press 'n seal. This supposedly blocks the vision out of one eye and allows him to see with only one. He claims it is helping, so we will go with it.

Today he shaved, sent an e-mail, made a grocery list and walked... A lot. He is hating this process as much as ever and constantly reminds us that he needs to get back to work. Which is hilarious considering his current physical state.

He is down getting an X-ray of his lungs right now to check the status of his pneumonia and is still doing well breathing without supplemental oxygen in his Trach. They are still hoping to take it out within the next few days. They are allowing him five ice chips an hour (a privilege he constantly abuses). He does get to eat pudding and applesauce occasionally with supervision of the therapists but that's just not cutting it for him. He still wants a blueberry waffle! Random.

He is less confused but does still occasionally come up with something totally off the wall. All in all it is so amazing to have Dad back in this capacity. Although grumpy, he is overall affectionate and understanding of the process. We are so grateful for his small progresses and constantly remind each other that this will be a long, slow process. Please continue to remember him in your prayers as this is a very humbling and difficult situation for a strong 50 year old farmer.