12/29 update

Hi everyone!

Well, its been a few days since Dad relocated to HealthPark.  It was a bit of a bumpy transition, just because the folks at HealthPark want to evaluate Dad on their own, and that took a little time.  Things are all straightened out now, and Dad is having physical, occupational and speech therapy on a regular basis.  From what I hear, HealthPark has lots of activities going on all the time for their patients. I think Dad will enjoy having some different things to do.  Its also nice that Sydney is allowed inside to visit, and we can take Dad out when he's not tied up with therapy.

Today, between his appointments, Mom, BJ and Heather took Dad out for a ride.  They stopped by and said hi to some folks at the condo, then picked up lunch and headed over to Aunt Jean's where they sat in the tv room and ate together.  They brought him back in time for his PT appointment, which is where he is as I write this.  He is currently walking around, with PT by his side, without a walker!  Very exciting!

I'm hoping in the next day or so we will have a guest blogger.  If we do, I'll send an email because it will be special, so keep your eyes peeled!  In the meantime, here's a pic BJ just took :)

Merry Christmas!

Good morning and Merry Christmas!  Dad will be celebrating with the Florida family today at the rehabilitation hospital.  We got word yesterday that he will be moving at some point tomorrow to the HealthPark Care & Rehabilitation Center.  They are part of the same hospital system Dad has been in from the beginning and we hear they have an excellent reputation for rehab.  If all goes well tomorrow, the therapists will get Dad into Mom's car and she will drive him there.

We all hope he won't have to be there for long.  He's getting stronger everyday and is working hard to get to where he needs to be to go home.  He's had a great bunch of people working with him.  We can't thank them enough for all they've done.

We all hope you enjoy time with your family and friends today.  Personally I'm thankful for the gift God gave us on this day so many years ago through the birth of His son. And I'm also thankful for the gift He's given us this year: another Christmas with Dad.  It could have been a very different Christmas this year.  We really didn't know how things were going to go for a while. But I truly believe God showed up and not only saved Dad, but has also been walking alongside him every step of the way through his recovery.  It has been incredible to witness the dramatic change in him in just 8 weeks.

Thank you again for your prayers, love and support.  We truly appreciate each and every one of you who has taken the time to pray for  us, or reached out to show your support, or showed up to help us when we needed you.  We are blessed to have you in our lives!


Merry Christmas!

12/22

Hi all -

Just a quick update today.  Dad has continued to do well with his physical therapy.  This week he was able to walk from his room all the way to the therapy gym twice using a walker.  That is a huge step forward for him.  He's getting stronger everyday.   He does have a bit of a limp on his right, but we don't think its because of the stroke.  He was having a bit of trouble with that before the stroke happened.  Hopefully it won't be long until he's back to being as strong, or even stronger,  than he was before.

We expect that Dad will be moving to the next facility in the next few days.  The details haven't been sorted out just yet, but we know the move will be soon.

On another note, Dad has always had a thing for drawing boat or lighthouse scenes, particularly if we were out to eat somewhere with paper placemats.  The waitress would inevitably come to clear the table and find a piece of artwork by Dad.  Mom brought him some crayons and paper this week and he did some drawing.  Here's the result:

We'll let you know of any other developments as they arise.  I pray you all have a wonderful time celebrating this Christmas with your loved ones.  While the Hall family can't all be together physically, we're grateful that we have each other and all of you!  Merry Christmas!

12/17 update

Mom and I arrived to see Dad at 10 am on Monday, and he was fast asleep in bed.  We heard from his OT that he had already had 3 therapy sessions that morning, and was falling asleep in the third one with her, so she let him take a nap.  She also told us she could see that his standing was better since she saw him last Friday.  That was encouraging.  We let him sleep for a while, but I wanted to visit with him before I had to head to the airport so I woke him up.  We convinced him to get out of bed, because I hadn't seen him walk yet.  He got up with a little assistance, and walked pretty well (with a walker) to the bathroom.  Its great to see him making strides.  Almost every time I saw him during the week he made visible improvement.

Mom will be following up with a couple of facilities this week in preparation for his move this weekend.  We want him to go to the place where he'll get the best rehab he can, especially since he's making such great gains already.  We'll let you know how this week goes and where he'll be going from here.

12/16

Well, Mom and I had a nice time at BJ and Heather's place in Cocoa Beach.  It was nice to get away a bit, especially for Mom who has been at the hospital everyday since Dad's stroke.  On our way back today, we stopped in to see how Dad was doing.  It looks like he had a lazy day, as he was in bed when we arrived.  We got him up and took him outside for a bit so he could see Sydney who was waiting in the car.  It was the first time he'd seen her since he's been in the hospital.  They had a sweet reunion...

They were very happy to see each other :)

We stayed for a bit while Dad ate his dinner, and then headed home.  We'll be back in the morning to check in on him before Mom takes me to the airport for my flight home tomorrow.  I won't be back until mid-January, but BJ and Heather will be here next weekend to spend Christmas with Mom and Dad.  The updates will probably be more sporadic now, as we'll be here less frequently.  But, I'll try to post something every few days.

Thanks again for all the love, support and prayers!

12/14 - a little Christmas at the hospital

Hi all -

Today, Mom and I visited the ICU at Gulf Coast Medical Center with a thank you gift for all the wonderful staff who took care of Dad during his 15 days there.  We brought them some homemade goodies, as well as some candies and crackers and cheese and sparkling cider in a basket, along with the photo of Dad that I posted yesterday.  They were all thrilled, especially to see him looking so well.  They said they never get to see their patients looking like themselves, so it was a treat for them.

Then we headed to the rehab hospital with gifts for the staff there as well.  All the nurses, aides and therapists have been great with us as well as with Dad.  He had some OT while we were there, and some PT as well.  We had lunch together, and Aunt Jean came for a visit.

At one point, while Dad's PT, Joe, and Mom were helping Dad in his room, I was checking out the big schedule board they have in the hallway, and noticed they've put a discharge date on there for him.  We talked with his case manager, who explained to us that they can only keep Dad there for 25 days unless they were confident that with a few more days he'd be able to go directly home from there.  We all see that Dad is making great progress, and his therapists agree, but it looks like he will need a little  more time than that.  So, right now it looks like the weekend before Christmas Dad will be relocating to a skilled nursing facility for a little while where he can continue to receive the therapy he needs to get strong enough to come home.  Mom and BJ had investigated several facilities before he was moved to the rehabilitation hospital, so we have a pretty good idea of the places we like and we talked with his case manager to get her recommendations.  Over the next week they have some goals they will try to meet, mostly in regard to Dad's safety.  Now that he's getting more mobile, there is some concern about him falling while trying to get out of bed without assistance.  He's becoming more and more alert and aware, so we're hoping over the next several days he'll understand that he needs to call the nurse with his call button if he needs help.  He currently doesn't seem to think he needs help, so that may be a challenge!  

Tomorrow morning Mom and I are heading up to BJ and Heather's place in Cocoa Beach to see the Christmas boat parade.  We'll be seeing Dad again on Sunday, so I'll post another update then.

12/13 update

Dad had a good day today.  We weren't there to go to therapy with him early in the day, but when we got to the hospital around lunchtime he was lying down for a nap.  His OT, Jon, came in shortly after we got there to get him up for his last therapy session of the day.  He worked on some arm strengthening activities and some cognitive type of stuff.  After that was over, Dad stayed up in his wheelchair with us for quite a while.  We stayed with him while he had his dinner, which he ate all of, and he talked about all sorts of things.  He's clearly trying to figure out what is current.  He asked how his parents are doing, so we told him they're no longer with us.  And he was surprised to learn that BJ and Heather are married.  He mentioned a lot of names we recognized, mostly from their neighborhood in South Yarmouth.  We heard about Joe and Marie and their son Tony, and about Marita, and some others who live or lived nearby.  He talked about Kevin, and Lloyd and Mari and their daughters, as well as about some other names I'm not familiar with.

After he was finished with dinner Mom and I headed home.  He was a little confused as to why he couldn't come with us, but after we explained he seemed ok.

I got this picture of him while he was having his dinner.  He's wearing his new glasses Mom brought over today.  Always the character, he gave me a great smile :)

12/12 update

Hi all -

I arrived yesterday for a visit, and Dad had had a very busy day by the time I got here, so we didn't go see him until this morning.  He had a really busy day today as well.  When he started doing rehab he could only handle 2 30-minute sessions a day.  Today, two weeks later, he was busy all day with therapy and a lunch time stroke meeting, from 9 am til 2:45 pm, and he really didn't have any time to rest in between activities.  He was definitely beat by the time it was all over, but it was great to see him in action.  Mom and I were able to hang out during his PT time, and we watched him stand up from his wheelchair and then step up and down on an exercise step 4 or 5 times.  His PT, Joe, made him repeat this several times.  It was clearly a lot of work for him to do it, but he did it!

Every Wednesday, all the stroke patients in the rehab hospital come together for a lunch meeting to talk about stroke-related issues.  Last week, Dad didn't say anything and asked Mom to speak for him.  This week, he introduced himself, and knew which side of his body has been affected by the stroke.  He had his eyes closed through most of the meeting, but he was clearly listening, because he would nod his head, and give a thumbs up when he agreed with what some of the other patients were saying.

After that was over, it was time for OT.  He was pretty beat by this time, so his OT, Jon, didn't make him work too hard. He tried to get Dad to stand and do the step exercise like Joe did, but he just didn't have the energy.  So, he worked on writing.  Dad wrote his name, and it was just about perfect.  I sent a picture of it to BJ, and he said "WOW!!!  His signature looks the same!"   Keep in mind he's right-handed and his doctor told us he would have weakness on his right side, and may have very little use of his right arm and hand.  Clearly he doesn't know Dad!

Dad still has a lot of mental confusion, but that's to be expected at this point.  For the most part he knows us, but he drifts in and out of the present, sometimes thinking it's many years ago.  Today he couldn't remember what school I went to, but he knew I studied engineering.  And he thought I went to school for longer than 4 years, but I think he just had me confused with Kate, the family scholar, who is on her way to getting her Ph.D.  When I told him he was thinking of Kate he was quick to acknowledge that he was confused and remembered that it's her he was thinking about.

Another milestone is on the horizon for Dad.  We heard today that the doctor is planning to remove his catheter either tonight or tomorrow.  I don't think the feeding tube will be far behind, because they're haven't been using it for a while.  We're pretty excited to see him tube-free.  Now that he's much more alert and aware, he can call the nurses when he needs help to get to the bathroom.  It may be a little bit of a tough transition for him, but we're so glad to see him moving in that direction.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of Dad in action tomorrow.  I'll try to get a good picture of him to post here.

12/8 update

Hi Everyone,

Heather and I drove down to Cape Coral this morning and joined Kate at the hospital.  Dad was resting comfortably in his bed until we woke him up when we arrived.  Over the last couple days, they've had Dad doing more standing and even walking short distances with the help of the parallel bars.  He didn't have any therapy scheduled for today but the Nurse reported that Dad was able to transfer from the Bed to the Wheelchair with the help of a walker first thing this morning (first time without the physical therapists at his side). 

We sat in Dad's room and talked for quite a while and at some point decided to ask the nurse if we could all go outside (knowing that he could transfer to his wheelchair with their help).  It didn't take her long to grab some assistance and get Dad sitting in his wheelchair again, ready to go.  We ended up going outside to enjoy the warm temperature (they keep the hospital on the cool side) and to get Dad some fresh air after his 5 1/2 week stint in the hospitals.  We found a nice area to sit and talk but within about 5 minutes, it started to drizzle so we headed back inside and wandered around until we ended up on the 6th floor to enjoy the view of the city.

This was the first time I've seen Dad sitting up in a wheel chair and being mobile, never mind actually leaving his room since Halloween.  That was a pretty great sight to see.  Over the last 2 weeks, I've gone back to Orlando during the week and come back to Cape Coral on the weekends.  The level of progress I've seen in Dad each week has been tremendous - way more than I expected.  He's still sorting through a lot of confusion and working hard to recall where he left off but you can hear every word he says now, he moves both arms and legs without difficulty, he's starting to stand several times a day and now he's even staring to walk again.  We are truly blessed to have him recovering so quickly and hope he continues moving in the same positive direction we've been seeing.

It has been a great comfort to all of us to have you there, expressing your concern and simply asking "How's your Dad doing."  Thanks again to all of you for your love and support; you are an important part of our lives.

More again in a few days....

BJ

12/5 update

Hi all -

I meant to post this last night, but fell asleep before I got to it.  I spoke with Mom last night and she said Dad had a terrific day yesterday.  He was more awake and alert, and was cooperative during his therapy time.  He apparently had his PT and OT cracking up, so much that they had to take a break a couple of times.

Mom and Dad both went to a stroke support group yesterday at the rehab hospital.  Dad didn't contribute much, but he sat and listened while Mom spoke for him.

Kate arrived last night, and will be heading over to see Dad sometime today.  Hopefully she'll share some firsthand observations later today!

Sydney is doing great.  Kate was surprised to see her so energetic last night.  Mom heard from the surgeon that it looks like they got all the cancer, so we're all happy to hear that.

More later....

12/2 update

Hi all -

I arrived home late last night after  spending most of the day with Dad at the rehab hospital.  I was glad I checked my flight status before I headed to the airport.   My flight was delayed 4 hours, so I got to spend a lot more time with Dad than expected.  We all had a nice visit.  Dad was awake and alert when BJ and I arrived in the morning.  We chatted quite a bit, and Dad made sense some of the time, and other times would kind of drift off a bit.  I think just having all of us visit is tiring for him.

According to the schedule posted for today, it looks like Dad's therapists are mixing things up a bit, so he has this morning to rest and will be busy all afternoon.  We'll see how that goes.

Mom is on her own today and tomorrow, and Kate will arrive on Wednesday.  I told Dad yesterday that Kate would be coming to see him this week, and his eyes perked up and he said "my Kate?".  Sometimes we wonder how much he remembers and understands so that was pretty cool.

Once again we want to thank everyone for the prayers and support.  Personally I'd like to say I've been blessed with some pretty fantastic friends who have stepped up to help me out a great deal.  Special thanks to Dave for staying with my furry girls this week.  I'm sure they'll miss all the attention he gave them and I'll miss the regular photo updates!

Unless dad makes some really dramatic progress in the next day or so, there probably won't be another update until Kate is there to either write one herself, or relay some info to me to write one.

12/1 update

Hi everyone -

BJ and I went over for an early visit this morning, and Dad had been up and out of bed for breakfast, but was not happy sitting in his wheelchair, so the nurses let him lie down again.  He was pretty sleepy when we saw him, but he seemed to be doing well.  We spent some time talking with his CNA for today, as well as his respiratory therapist and physical therapist. His PT told us that they've had Dad up and standing several times (with a lot of help) over the past couple of days.  They're working on getting his strength back, and it will take some time.  The respiratory therapist was going to speak with his nurse about getting him into a better sitting position to encourage him to take deeper breaths.  His lungs are clear now, but because he's been lying down a lot, he's less likely to breathe deeply and keep all of his airways open.  Her thought was to put him in a cardiac chair, which is more like a recliner that they can strap him into.  We thought it was worth a try, especially since he doesn't like sitting in the wheelchair.  So, we'll see how that goes.

Mom and BJ went back over for a visit at dinner time to encourage Dad to eat.  He was still pretty sleepy, but did have a little bit of dinner.  BJ shaved his face for him, and they decided to let him rest.  His neurosurgeon told us early on that when he started rehab he would be exhausted.  He's definitely been a lot more active in the last few days than he had been in the previous month.  Hopefully he'll start to adjust soon and will be able to stay awake and alert for longer and longer periods of time.  We're guessing that he won't have any therapy tomorrow, as the hospital uses the weekend times for makeup therapy sessions.  We're going to ask if we can take him outside for a little fresh air tomorrow.  Maybe some sunshine will do him good!