Update March 8, 2010

Sorry I haven't written in a while everybody. I hope the following catches you up through last night.

Glen had his feeding tube inserted in his stomach on Thursday. Additionally, he had been given steroids to reduce the swelling in his vocal chords and while under the throat doctor also injected his vocal chords with something to fix them so he could speak once he gets the trach out. He was in some pain on Thursday evening when I visited, I think mostly from the incision and from some gas pains that would come and go.

Friday, Desiree spent several hours with him trying to motivate him to move and to keep his spirits up. On Saturday, Doug took Karine up in the afternoon and they stayed and visited for over 2 hours. They communicated by writing notes back & forth and Glen seemed to enjoy her visit. Sunday, Douglas (little Doug) spent time with Glen and he really did seem uncomfortable. His bowels are still backed up and he's having some trouble getting his colon to function again.

On Monday evening when I visited, I put a call in to Dr. Misselback. Because when I went in to Glen's room, I noticed that he was again hooked up to the respirator. Dr. Misselback told me that when they put the feeding tube in on Thursday, they also replaced the original trach with a smaller one. He had been breathing on his own for about 2 weeks and were beginning to try to wean him away. But - as he still has been unable to clear his own airway and swallow, the smaller trach became clogged on Sunday evening and they were afraid his secretions had seeped back into his lungs which would possibly cause pneumonia. So, they inserted the ball trach back in and hooked him up to the respirator for some support until they can gradually get his lung strength up.

Dr. Misselback said that this was a little set back for him. He had hopes of Glen being ready for a rehab setting this week, but it was looking more like either next week or after. In the next couple of days, they will be weaning him from the respirator and giving him some support in that way probably only at night. He doesn't want him to become dependent on it, and we had a long talk about Glen's rehabilitation. After a couple of days, Dr. Misselback says there is absolutely no reason that Glen can't be up in a chair for most of the day.

And in fact, he needs to be up in a chair most of the day. That's the only way he is going to get any stronger. He told me he had conflicting reports of Glen refusing physical therapy. I told him that Glen told me he wanted to be up and walking - and that no one had even been in to see him. So - we have a conundrum. I told Dr. Misselback that if we needed to have somebody come up and stay during the day to make sure Glen accepted the therapy we could. He didn't seem to think that was necesssary, but he did tell me that now was the time to turn into a "bitch" about Glen's care. To be more of an advocate and to make sure the nursing staff was paying attention to his needs of physical therapy.

He said that Glen is more alert than most of the patients in this part of the ICU, and they are more hesitant to get him up and moving about. Dr. Misselback said that Glen HAS to sit up - he is a totally deconditioned man - and that it's up to him to make his recovery happen. He said that it is just as well this little setback happened here at the hospital instead of at a rehab facility as Glen would probably have had to come back and be admitted to the hospital anyway. That part aside, however, I'd like to encourage each of you to help keep Glen motivated to push himself.

I told him he had to be up and in a chair. His butt has been hurting him and he says it's because of Hemorrhoids. I told him he didn't have hemorrhoids because I looked at his butt when the nurse was cleaning him. When he insisted he did, we looked again. I told him that if he had them - they must be up inside because he didn't have anything hanging out his butt. Sorry if this is gross - but this getting better business isn't always pretty. So - I got my first clue that maybe Glen had declined to be put in a chair. I told him that the nurses could get him a donut to sit on and that it wasn't an option not to sit in the chair.

Dr. Misselback said the ONLY way Glen is going to get better is to get himself up in a chair and work on getting his strength back. I also fussed at him - because he saw I was really serious about him getting out of the hospital - about not using the exercise equipment we have brought up to him. And any of you guys visiting him - feel free to ask him about the tools and get them and help him and make him do some reps of exercises while you are there. I bought a Pilates Bar with elastic bands that have openings where he can put his feet in them and then bring the bar up against his chest to strengthen his upper body. He can also use it to help strengthen his leg muscles by doing leg lifts and using the bar and bands to help lift. There are several tennis balls in the room. He can be squeezing them while he talks to you - you can squeeze one, too. He told me he needed a bar hanging from the ceiling so he could practice bringing it down to his chest - and I just got out the bar and put it on him and got him going on it.

Seriously, guys - if he's not gonna on his own motivate himself to continually build himself up, then I guess it's going to be up to us to make sure he at least does it when we are there with him. We'll have to address the issue of him taking responsibility for himself when we can get our hands around his neck and shake some sense into him. (Just kidding).

Dr. Misselback also told me he had talked to Glen's social worker about trying to get him into TIRR. She seemed to think that because he has the gold card, his options for TIRR may be limited. Do any of you have connections, or know of who I might contact to see if we can find out if there is any way we could get him in there? If so, please contact me. dgips@gipsgaits.com or 713-966-9497 . I'm calling his social worker today and I'm also going to call TIRR to find out what they require. I believe that in the next week or so, Glen could be strong enough to go there and Dr. M. said it would be a great place for him because he's fully convinced Glen can make a complete recovery and needs PT at least 3 times a day. I will also talk to Meredith (Glen's neighbor across the street). She works at Texas Children's Hospital as a social worker and maybe she can give me some pointers.

Glen is concerned about whether or not he will have a job when he gets out of the hospital. He asked last night if he could come home and do outpatient treatment. I told him that was an excellent idea - all he had to do was be able to clear his airway himself and at least be able to walk on a walker. He then told me there was a trainer on his street who could help him - and I again told him - excellent idea - just get himself strong enough to be home and it would happen. He's really wanting to get out of the hospital - but I'm wondering if he's realizing how easy it is to stay where he is? That's probably a wrong assumption - but he's sure getting lots of attention that he hadn't been getting. I told Glen it did no good right now to worry about his job. Hopefully they will still have a place for him and that every time we talk with them they say to let him know they miss him and want him to come back. He seemed to be OK with putting that thought on the back burner - after all, there wasn't any way he could work there at this particular moment in time.

well, guys - this is all I know and I hope I've given you some kind of insight as to where Glen is in his recovery. Thanks to all of you who've gone to visit with him. They are very laid back on the visiting hours for Glen. I think it helps the nurses when there are people visiting him because they don't have to check on him as much. If you do go up there and he isn't up in a chair this next make sure you insist he get in one. The nurses should help him. Let me know if you have ANY problem up there and we'll get it taken care of.

Sincerely -
Darla