Thursday, March 29, 2012
Moving again...
Onwards and upwards! Today Andrew moved to GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre. The steady stream of rehab physicians and therapists upon our arrival means that Andrew is going to be a very busy guy fine tuning his recovery. The next week and a half will allow all of the team involved in Andrew to decide the best treatment plan and his expected length of stay. The best news received was his "Weekend Pass" to home for the Easter weekend. He isn't the only one excited with the thoughts of sleeping in his/her own bed!
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Andrew Land
Bye bye walker & wheelchair, hello hard floors and running shoes. Andrew continues to amaze us on a daily basis. He is now motoring around the hospital and is itching to get on with his rehab in a more aggressive manner. He has had visitors this past week which was a great distraction. Life is pretty much centered around friends, food and exercise. He is sporting the new Nike Fuel band and so every exercise/action counts in his daily goal total. He could be the next "Just Do It" Nike model at this rate.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Not Counting the Days
March 19, 2012
Greetings from the Queen. Steve did a fabulous job of blogging through the tough times and so now I can just give you the essentials as we move down the path to recovery. It had been a busy week with the removal of more medical attachments and final assessments. Andrew has begun to Skype friends and check email. If you want to get in touch with him, you can send him a message and he will get back to you. As you can imagine after a head injury, it doesn't take much to tire him out. It is kind of like our bellies in that if we eat a big meal the next thing that we do is rest and sleep so that we can digest; the brain works like that, too. In other words, after a big 'information meal' the brain needs time to digest the information and so it is time for a nap...lots of those daily. This is typical for this kind of injury even though Andrew continues to amaze us daily So if you Skype Andrew, turn off the video of your face in order to keep the brain meal small and then Andrew won't need such a big nap later. So far we are keeping conversations short but anything beats the heck out of having to talk to your mother all day. As for Facebook, that is the fast food of brain information and that will happen once the brain is 'Olympic-rower- fit' and able to afford the occasional cheeseburger and fries.
Andrew realizes there is still much work ahead but he is up to the challenge every day. You know he is getting tired of all things medical when he laments the inability to do a 6k erg (rowing speak for hard horrible hard).
Andrew's big brother, Spencer, came by for a visit this weekend and that was a real treat. He will have to wait on Fraser to finish exams for his visit and until then it will be Skype. What a world of difference the technologies have made to bring family together right from Skype to blogging.
On a final note, Steve is being well-fed by friends and neighbours who know that feeding himself his own cooking might be dangerous. Thank you ever so much for that kindness. Steve says that life is taking on its order again and the freezer is getting full...so he will survive from now on. Thanks again!!!!
Greetings from the Queen. Steve did a fabulous job of blogging through the tough times and so now I can just give you the essentials as we move down the path to recovery. It had been a busy week with the removal of more medical attachments and final assessments. Andrew has begun to Skype friends and check email. If you want to get in touch with him, you can send him a message and he will get back to you. As you can imagine after a head injury, it doesn't take much to tire him out. It is kind of like our bellies in that if we eat a big meal the next thing that we do is rest and sleep so that we can digest; the brain works like that, too. In other words, after a big 'information meal' the brain needs time to digest the information and so it is time for a nap...lots of those daily. This is typical for this kind of injury even though Andrew continues to amaze us daily So if you Skype Andrew, turn off the video of your face in order to keep the brain meal small and then Andrew won't need such a big nap later. So far we are keeping conversations short but anything beats the heck out of having to talk to your mother all day. As for Facebook, that is the fast food of brain information and that will happen once the brain is 'Olympic-rower- fit' and able to afford the occasional cheeseburger and fries.
Andrew realizes there is still much work ahead but he is up to the challenge every day. You know he is getting tired of all things medical when he laments the inability to do a 6k erg (rowing speak for hard horrible hard).
Andrew's big brother, Spencer, came by for a visit this weekend and that was a real treat. He will have to wait on Fraser to finish exams for his visit and until then it will be Skype. What a world of difference the technologies have made to bring family together right from Skype to blogging.
On a final note, Steve is being well-fed by friends and neighbours who know that feeding himself his own cooking might be dangerous. Thank you ever so much for that kindness. Steve says that life is taking on its order again and the freezer is getting full...so he will survive from now on. Thanks again!!!!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Day 19
March 15, 2012
Marcie is now blogspot Queen after this post. Her posts will be short and less frequent (weekly), she tells me.
Andrew is a busy guy. He is getting lots of support in his new surroundings. He is making progress every day. When you are 18 and you have experienced life on basic hospital food, it is a big day when you are told that you can eat a 'general diet'...well, it wasn't fondue and not even bacon, but the first thing was a McDonald's milkshake and french fries. He is eating everything in sight after losing some of that rowing muscle. Mobility is improving and we have gone from laying in a hospital bed to becoming ever more mobile, being back on Facebook (if only as an observer...no replies just yet but that will come), a phone call or two to some of his friends, visits from grandparents, aunts and cousins, and of course lots of hospital work to get him going. He has come a long way in two and a half weeks and we are amazed and blessed. If you are 18 years old, one could argue that your life is pretty good when it involves a few of your friends, McDonald's, and Facebook. Andrew will start to take a few phone calls with approval from Marcie (and she would like to be called the "Great Wall of China"), because there has to be tremendous order in Andrew's life as he recovers and she will control visits from family and friends, phone calls and other outside interactions; all key to keeping Andrew on the path to a great recovery.
Steve has returned to work and can't wait for the phone calls to Andrew in the morning and evening as Andrew recovers his energy and tells him about the day's events. Friends have kept Steve well-fed and so thanks for that. His next project will be to help create a way for desperate families to navigate the Vancouver International Airport in times of severe emotional distress when trying to reach loved-ones in far away places when a missed plane connection may mean enduring the possibility of loss of the chance to see a critically ill or dying family member...it was by a stroke of luck that we made it to see Andrew quickly on the horrible day two and a half weeks ago; thanks again go out to two people who broke rules to help after pleading our cases. There is no such fast track process in our international airport to move a desperate family through the ticketting, screening and customs process...that is something that Steve is going to work hard to change so that no family ever has to go through the dreaded uncertainty of not spending precious moments with a loved family member in times like this. Stay tuned.
Marcie is now blogspot Queen after this post. Her posts will be short and less frequent (weekly), she tells me.
Andrew is a busy guy. He is getting lots of support in his new surroundings. He is making progress every day. When you are 18 and you have experienced life on basic hospital food, it is a big day when you are told that you can eat a 'general diet'...well, it wasn't fondue and not even bacon, but the first thing was a McDonald's milkshake and french fries. He is eating everything in sight after losing some of that rowing muscle. Mobility is improving and we have gone from laying in a hospital bed to becoming ever more mobile, being back on Facebook (if only as an observer...no replies just yet but that will come), a phone call or two to some of his friends, visits from grandparents, aunts and cousins, and of course lots of hospital work to get him going. He has come a long way in two and a half weeks and we are amazed and blessed. If you are 18 years old, one could argue that your life is pretty good when it involves a few of your friends, McDonald's, and Facebook. Andrew will start to take a few phone calls with approval from Marcie (and she would like to be called the "Great Wall of China"), because there has to be tremendous order in Andrew's life as he recovers and she will control visits from family and friends, phone calls and other outside interactions; all key to keeping Andrew on the path to a great recovery.
Steve has returned to work and can't wait for the phone calls to Andrew in the morning and evening as Andrew recovers his energy and tells him about the day's events. Friends have kept Steve well-fed and so thanks for that. His next project will be to help create a way for desperate families to navigate the Vancouver International Airport in times of severe emotional distress when trying to reach loved-ones in far away places when a missed plane connection may mean enduring the possibility of loss of the chance to see a critically ill or dying family member...it was by a stroke of luck that we made it to see Andrew quickly on the horrible day two and a half weeks ago; thanks again go out to two people who broke rules to help after pleading our cases. There is no such fast track process in our international airport to move a desperate family through the ticketting, screening and customs process...that is something that Steve is going to work hard to change so that no family ever has to go through the dreaded uncertainty of not spending precious moments with a loved family member in times like this. Stay tuned.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Day 14
Today was Andrew's trip home. He saw pretty much all of his teammates from Cal crew. Organizing repatriation was extremely complex and now it will be easier. Thanks for everyone who stepped in with everything from well-wishes to transportation and then to the favour of the admitting physician and of course to Mike K for that connection.
Andrew is moving through the expected stages of brain recovery and things have gone from terrible in the first few hours to very promising 14 fast days later.
Finally, over the next weeks family and friends will want to visit. Andrew's life will require structure. Marcie will create part of that structure and will let family and friends know when it will be appropriate to visit. Andrew's energy will be all about strengthening his brain and we will be all about the energy to create that environment. Marcie may become a little protective regarding visitors but understand there will be time for visitors as time goes on.
Thanks everyone. Now Marcie gets to be the blogger starting monday
Andrew is moving through the expected stages of brain recovery and things have gone from terrible in the first few hours to very promising 14 fast days later.
Finally, over the next weeks family and friends will want to visit. Andrew's life will require structure. Marcie will create part of that structure and will let family and friends know when it will be appropriate to visit. Andrew's energy will be all about strengthening his brain and we will be all about the energy to create that environment. Marcie may become a little protective regarding visitors but understand there will be time for visitors as time goes on.
Thanks everyone. Now Marcie gets to be the blogger starting monday
Friday, March 9, 2012
Day 13
Andrew had a pretty good day. He loves all the meals judging by his ability to Hoover up every last bit. He will never forget Romaine,his CNA who concocted some fancy mishmash out of whatever she could find. Debra put him through more PT and a few more successes. We are getting closer to repatriation home. That is turning into a pretty good challenge between the sending doc and "where in the world is 'Dr. Waldo' in British Columbia". The best advice if you ever have to do this is have three phones at your disposal, a computer and lots of friends who are health care providers and unlimited patience! But Marcie said no rants.
All said, progress is in a forward direction. Thanks for all of the people who stepped up on our behalf taking time from their professional lives to call in favours for Andrew today. We are truly grateful.
All said, progress is in a forward direction. Thanks for all of the people who stepped up on our behalf taking time from their professional lives to call in favours for Andrew today. We are truly grateful.
Day 12
11:00pm
Another busy day. Debra and Jason from PT came and put Andrew through the motions and for the first time Andrew was in a real wheelchair...then Debra gave some really helpful brain rehab information to mum and dad so that we can be better caregivers and work with the kind of expected stages of recovery that we will see. It is going to be hard on young Andrew and maybe even harder on mum and dad at times. Andrew devoured his food like a vacuum cleaner. More medical tests to get him one step closer to the door. More great people involved in Andrew's care...Juma the nursing aide gets special mention for her hard work and care, Dr. Moure's two physician assistants for going the extra mile, and a friendly security 'guard' who we met on the first day and many of the following days. She always had great empathy and treats everyone well.
Finally, a couple of the Cal crew came by (Fred and George) and offered a little familiarity to Andrew. Fred and George are holding team blankets that Andrew has...a Cal blanket and a Wisco blanket . The competition is on now to see which team has the best blanket. They brought Andrew's shaver so he looks a little more respectable but a haircut to even out the long and short bits of hair after a bad haircut in the emergency room is in order tomorrow, we think. Friends from Courtenay, B.C. were coming for a conference and brought some extra clothes for Marcie. They also dropped off a great book to get mum and dad started on the process of becoming knowledgeable regarding brain rehabilitation...thanks Paul and Christine. I bet we will have a few of these books before the next year or more is over. Insurance wars are beginning to rear their ugly heads but I had a very positive experience today with Blue Cross folks who really went the extra distance to help us through this complicated process. It is likely that we will send Andrew home by medical jet when the time comes. So, if your Lear Jet is gathering rust and needs a good spin up to Vancouver, let us know; the skiing is good this time of year. Hopefully a little more progress tomorrow and a little closer to getting Andrew back home.
Another busy day. Debra and Jason from PT came and put Andrew through the motions and for the first time Andrew was in a real wheelchair...then Debra gave some really helpful brain rehab information to mum and dad so that we can be better caregivers and work with the kind of expected stages of recovery that we will see. It is going to be hard on young Andrew and maybe even harder on mum and dad at times. Andrew devoured his food like a vacuum cleaner. More medical tests to get him one step closer to the door. More great people involved in Andrew's care...Juma the nursing aide gets special mention for her hard work and care, Dr. Moure's two physician assistants for going the extra mile, and a friendly security 'guard' who we met on the first day and many of the following days. She always had great empathy and treats everyone well.
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| George on the left and Fred on the right...Fred drew the short straw. |
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