Thursday 13February - More Visitor Info!

 FYI before reading, this is rough one. 

So you know how early on I said that we will likely have recovery that is two steps forward and one step back. Or even one step forward and two steps back. Well I would say today was a pretty significant step back. Unfortunately.

So I don't want to drag the LTAC too much, but in the first 24 hours there Brian has managed to pull out his peg (this is an emergency situation) and also managed to get out of bed and fall with no one there. In the fall he hit his left arm (yep right across that incision) on a chair in the room and now has a bruise across it, a new x-ray is scheduled for tomorrow, and dislodged his trach (another emergency situation).

Here is where my frustration is. This place is supposed to be expert in these types of patients. Therefore his behavior Brian is currently exhibiting of being very confused and over confident on his abilities should not be new to them. Also I have mentioned to them constantly that Brian likes to try and get out of the bed. He tried last night when we were all there. I went into the bathroom in the room and the bed alarm started. Last night the nurses had just left the room so they were there. Tonight, no one was close and Brian was able to completely exit the bed before falling.

Now, this is clearly unacceptable and will be addressed tomorrow with the doctor and staff in order to remedy this situation. 

Here is the updated visitor info as of right now. This hospital is more strict on visitors due to the goals of the hospital. They are working the patients hard (when they aren't letting them fall out of bed...). So we (the hospital and Brian and I) have a few rules for visitors. We will try this out for now, but if this doesn't work out, we will say no visitors at all. 

• First, Brian has requested no visitors until Saturday. This will allow us to settle in a little bit (we clearly need that). 
• Only 1-2 visitors are allowed in the room at a time and for a max of 15 minutes. We also don't want visitors to come in back to back since that can likely be too much stimulation for him. This is why I'm requiring people to let me know prior to visiting. This will make sure Brian isn't in therapy, and we don't currently/didn't just have visitors. 
• In term of stimulation: he is still on the low stimulation protocol. So that means when visiting, it's not a party. Keep voices down and stay calm. Overstimulating Brian can cause him to be more agitated and can lead to setbacks.
• They also do not allow children under 12 (it says for flu season, so this may change as the days go on) but also remember that Brian needs his room kept relatively quiet, so it's a good idea to limit time with the rambunctious kiddos around Brian at least for now. 

I know everyone wants to come and visit him, but with injuries like Brian's we might have to say no visitors all together just depending on how his recovery goes. And I know that is tough, but I also know we are all wanting Brian to recover as quickly and as completely as possible. 

Thanks everyone!

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