An update from the weekend
Thanks again for everyone visiting with Skip during the week and the weekend. I enjoyed meeting Marcie and her husband Andy, in case you didn't know, Marcie is the right hand person to Skip and Dave Howarth. She's an avid reader of the blog and I enjoyed getting to meet her face to face. I also got to meet the Borda's. Dick and his wife came on Sunday and Dick grew up with Skip in the Bay Area. Not only were they High School rivals on the football field, they played ball together at Stanford and have remained good friends since their childhood.
So anyhow, I drove down to Santa Cruz this weekend and was able to spend a fair amount of time with Skip on Saturday and Sunday. Upon my arrival, I was impressed at how much he had improved since the Sunday prior. I walked in the door and said Hey Main Man, and he replied, how ya doing. His speech is making some great strides. We have noticed that when there are several or more people in the room, he's not quite as talkative. I think it's because he's trying to process to many things and when others are talking, he can get a bit confused. I have been fortunate enough to spend a bunch of 1on1 time and these are great. As he's talking more and it's fairly clear to understand. Keep in mind that when I say talking, he'll try to tell you a bunch of stuff, so you'll be able to understand the first few words then he starts to mumble as things get a little too much to process. He enjoys seeing everyone and this speech thing should only continue to improve.
On Friday, Skips bladder was at 700-800cc's, so he wasn't emptying it on his own. As a result, he began to ran a fever and the MD's immediately drained the bladder and got him on some prescriptions. They brought him into the hospital on Saturday morning to do a CT Scan to check for clots and everything came back negative. When something like this happens to a Stroke recovery patient, they don't mess around! They get on top of it immediately and this was clearly displayed with Skip. So we were very concerned at first but relieved when the fever went away and the tests came back negative.
On Sunday, they had again removed the cathater but he needed to have it drained again in the afternoon. So right now they are trying to get this issue resolved but it seems to be something they should be able to resolve.
When I arrived on Sunday morning, Skip had the newspaper open and was flipping through the pages. He was also already dressed and sitting in his wheelchair. I learned that he had wheeled himself on his own down to the gym for a morning workout; this was great as he's got so much internal drive! Skip looked great and was doing something he would've been doing if he was at home.
Skip will continue the therapy this week and his therapists love him. He's such a help and always wanting to give them thanks by a pat on the back, a high five or just shaking their hand. From my perspective, if I was a therapist, I would want to spend my time with the patients that are courteous, grateful and motivated to improve. As we all know, Skip treats people how he wants to be treated and I think this is very beneficial for him during his rehab.
Unfortunately, I am on a busy schedule for the next two weeks, I'm up to Bend, OR for a few days this week then Austin, TX all of next week. As a result it will be harder for me to do the posts, but I'll have someone keep us updated.
In Summary, we are still seeing improvement as each day goes by. Two hurdles that rehab is spending much of their time addressing are his speech and right side mobility. They are also trying to focus on his swallowing so he can eat on his own. At this time, he still needs a lot of help getting in and out of the bed and Wheelchair, so please do not try to do this if you are visting without the help of a nurse.
We thank you for all of your encouragement, cards, visits and love for the Main Man!
So anyhow, I drove down to Santa Cruz this weekend and was able to spend a fair amount of time with Skip on Saturday and Sunday. Upon my arrival, I was impressed at how much he had improved since the Sunday prior. I walked in the door and said Hey Main Man, and he replied, how ya doing. His speech is making some great strides. We have noticed that when there are several or more people in the room, he's not quite as talkative. I think it's because he's trying to process to many things and when others are talking, he can get a bit confused. I have been fortunate enough to spend a bunch of 1on1 time and these are great. As he's talking more and it's fairly clear to understand. Keep in mind that when I say talking, he'll try to tell you a bunch of stuff, so you'll be able to understand the first few words then he starts to mumble as things get a little too much to process. He enjoys seeing everyone and this speech thing should only continue to improve.
On Friday, Skips bladder was at 700-800cc's, so he wasn't emptying it on his own. As a result, he began to ran a fever and the MD's immediately drained the bladder and got him on some prescriptions. They brought him into the hospital on Saturday morning to do a CT Scan to check for clots and everything came back negative. When something like this happens to a Stroke recovery patient, they don't mess around! They get on top of it immediately and this was clearly displayed with Skip. So we were very concerned at first but relieved when the fever went away and the tests came back negative.
On Sunday, they had again removed the cathater but he needed to have it drained again in the afternoon. So right now they are trying to get this issue resolved but it seems to be something they should be able to resolve.
When I arrived on Sunday morning, Skip had the newspaper open and was flipping through the pages. He was also already dressed and sitting in his wheelchair. I learned that he had wheeled himself on his own down to the gym for a morning workout; this was great as he's got so much internal drive! Skip looked great and was doing something he would've been doing if he was at home.
Skip will continue the therapy this week and his therapists love him. He's such a help and always wanting to give them thanks by a pat on the back, a high five or just shaking their hand. From my perspective, if I was a therapist, I would want to spend my time with the patients that are courteous, grateful and motivated to improve. As we all know, Skip treats people how he wants to be treated and I think this is very beneficial for him during his rehab.
Unfortunately, I am on a busy schedule for the next two weeks, I'm up to Bend, OR for a few days this week then Austin, TX all of next week. As a result it will be harder for me to do the posts, but I'll have someone keep us updated.
In Summary, we are still seeing improvement as each day goes by. Two hurdles that rehab is spending much of their time addressing are his speech and right side mobility. They are also trying to focus on his swallowing so he can eat on his own. At this time, he still needs a lot of help getting in and out of the bed and Wheelchair, so please do not try to do this if you are visting without the help of a nurse.
We thank you for all of your encouragement, cards, visits and love for the Main Man!
posted by Jason Crist at 8:10 AM
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