Thursday 06Feb - Exciting Day!!!

 Today was a great day!

I got a call this morning from the Northern Colorado LTAC today and Brian is officially admitted. We finally did it! 🥳🥳🥳🥳 They are going to call me tomorrow when they know the plan for his move. We are all still hoping it will be tomorrow, but it might be early next week. Everyone was so incredibly excited today after he was finally admitted, one person specifically was his case manager Monica. She ran into Brian's room and was jumping up and down and gave me the biggest hug! 

This segues nicely to what I want to say next. Today was a very emotional day and I've been crying or on the edge of tears essentially all day. When I got back to the hospital today after taking Lincoln to school, the charge nurse today (Tiffany) said he looks so good in that chair! PT had just gotten Brian put in the wheelchair. I was telling her how I am so amazed at his progress over the days/weeks so far and he really is doing so well. She told me that patients like Brian are the reason they do this job and seeing him and his progress is so rewarding to all of them. She also said that sometimes it's really hard to know that they are really doing anything to help out the patients that they are treating in here, and seeing his improvements has really made an impact for them. She had said similar to what a lot of others have said too, that in the first few days, it was really scary because he was completely unresponsive for days, and now he is awake, breathing completely on his own and showing really purposeful movement in all ways. This really hit hard for me because of course we have gone through it too, but hearing that Brian is still making such an impact on the people around him even in his current condition is really amazing to hear. 

I want to continue to gush on them, but I am going to save this for it's own post. 

Now for Brian's updates for today. He was pretty sleepy most of the day but was more awake than yesterday. Each day has been a bit better as he continues to build his strength and endurance with his breathing. I have already mentioned, but PT came by today and got Brian in the wheelchair this morning and he spent a few hours in the chair. They then put him back in the bed for a rest for a few hours. Then OT came by in the afternoon to put him back in the chair again. Then shortly after ST (I didn't know this one at first, but speech therapy) came by and had him use that speaking valve again. He was still pretty tired with the speaking valve, but he did keep it on for a bit while she was still in with him. She also gave Brian ice chips, water, and also tried out some applesauce with him too. He did really well with all these and was swallowing well. This is a great sign and hopefully soon at the LTAC they can do a swallow study so he can do more eating! 

This is a photo from the first time Brian was in his wheelchair today. He was holding this stress ball in his hand but for some reason he decided he wanted to put it in his sock. And he did the movement all by himself. 😂

Overall a phenomenal day today! 

🤍