Unfortunately, today was not transfer day. The LTAC is still waiting for their patients to discharge, so hopefully we can get Brian over there early next week. I do actually believe the "early next week" this time though. According to our clinical liaison over at the LTAC, Brian will be getting the next available bed. 🥳
Today was another great day with the therapists. OT came by in the morning and got Brian up in the wheelchair. He spent about a hour and a half in the chair and then they got him moved back to the bed for a rest. PT came by in the afternoon and had him sit on the edge of the bed. He was able to sit unsupported on the edge of the bed for probably around 10 minutes. This is so phenomenal. His physical therapist said she is hoping he is more awake when she visits next time so she can maybe try to get him to stand up with some support, but he wasn't quite awake enough for her to do that today. She also got him situated in the chair after his time spent on the edge of the bed.
Then speech therapy came by. She and the respiratory therapist got Brian's trach balloon deflated around 2 ish and that was still deflated when we left the hospital tonight around 8. The respiratory therapist used to work at an LTAC and said he was comfortable leaving the balloon deflated as much as possible since ultimately that is the goal. However, they do like to have the balloon at least mostly inflated overnight just to protect Brian from aspirating. With the balloon deflated, the speech valve was put on. The goal is to keep it on and for Brian to tolerate wearing it. Bonuses are if he makes some noises, tries to talk, and is able to swallow. Today Brian did all three! He made some noise when he coughed, he attempted to talk (even though he didn't really succeed, just even attempting it is an improvement from the previous days), and he was able to swallow some ice, some water, and some apple juice today.
So in summary, while it is a bit disappointing he didn't get transferred today, he is getting a lot of therapy time at Good Samaritan too! And today was another great day!
🤍
Comments
Post a Comment