Monday, August 2, 2010 9:31 PM, MDT
Bill is in the Northern Colorado Rehab Hospital now. He was moved there this afternoon. He has had a tour and an evaluation and is ready to get to work.
He is not yet eating real food, his epiglottis seems to be paralyzed. Apparently there is therapy for that and we hope to get him eating soon.
He is doing amazingly well the doctors and nurses are very excited for his progress so far so you can imagine where he will be in a few weeks.
He is not yet eating real food, his epiglottis seems to be paralyzed. Apparently there is therapy for that and we hope to get him eating soon.
He is doing amazingly well the doctors and nurses are very excited for his progress so far so you can imagine where he will be in a few weeks.
Bill had a good day today. He had lots of therapy, he even got to eat some runny mashed potatoes and peaches and thick water. He also had some strawberry shake, that made his day!
His attitude is very good, even though he is getting a little grumpy. I have been told that is a good thing.
If you would like to send Bill cards or letters send them to our house.
If you would like to visit Bill the best times are evening and weekends. You may call the Northern Colorado Long Term Acute Care Hospital to see if he is available for visitors. We may or may not be here.
PLEASE DO NOT BRING FOOD UNLESS JOY OR NURSE HAS GIVEN YOU PERMISSION, EVEN IF HE ASKS FOR SOMETHING.
His attitude is very good, even though he is getting a little grumpy. I have been told that is a good thing.
If you would like to send Bill cards or letters send them to our house.
If you would like to visit Bill the best times are evening and weekends. You may call the Northern Colorado Long Term Acute Care Hospital to see if he is available for visitors. We may or may not be here.
PLEASE DO NOT BRING FOOD UNLESS JOY OR NURSE HAS GIVEN YOU PERMISSION, EVEN IF HE ASKS FOR SOMETHING.
Thursday, August 5, 2010 9:46 PM, MDT
Bill had another good day.
Just a note about visiting, don't call the hospital after all. Contact me or one of the girls before you come. The hospital won't give any information over the phone. Too many visitors can overwhelm him and tire him out too quickly.
This is going to be a long journey and Bill will need support for some time.
Thanks for all your support we truly need it.
Just a note about visiting, don't call the hospital after all. Contact me or one of the girls before you come. The hospital won't give any information over the phone. Too many visitors can overwhelm him and tire him out too quickly.
This is going to be a long journey and Bill will need support for some time.
Thanks for all your support we truly need it.
Bill was looking forward to getting regular therapy and he really wanted to go home. He kept asking me to take him home, even for a visit. The hospital didn't allow me to take him home even just to drive by. We didn't think it would be long and he would be going home for good anyway so I didn't push the issue.
At the LTAC Bill got to take his first real shower. It took a very long time but he felt so good after. He also decided to grow his beard back. By now Bill was able to sit in a wheelchair and actually move himself around. The nurses let him wander around the hospital by himself and I think that Bill liked having some independence.
Now that I was home it was so hard to leave him at the hospital. I had a hard time being home without him. I was with Bill as much as I could. It was a 25 mile drive from our house, so once I was over there I pretty much stayed.
My parents had been at my house for a week and had to go home. I was so glad that they had been there. My dad made sure Kayla's car was all tuned up and had new tires, before she took it to Grand Junction. Also my mom cleaned out my camper. I don't think that I would have had the energy to take care of that chore. We also brought home, our cat Cleo.
The speech therapist at the LTAC was really good. She had Bill eating "real" food. Bill joked "I finally get to eat food and this is what I get." He had some pretty unappetizing food, at first it had to be all pureed.
I have the most amazing neighbors! They took care of my yard and garden while we were gone and continued after we got back. I would not have been able to do any of that.I would leave home at 8 am and return around 9pm if I could get away.
Reading and remembering all this is so hard because we were suppose to win and beat this awful disease. It makes me sad that we didn't bring Bill home even for a few hours. I miss him.
