Monday, May 21, 2012

Update

My apologies for the long delay in updating the blog - work has been interfering with my life lately, unfortunately.  It also means I haven't had a chance to see Scott lately so I am curious to hear from the many others who have visited him recently - feel free to email me your comments to post or post updates in the comments. 

Scott is still in the post-acute care (skilled nursing facility) in San Leandro and what I gather from Jen is that the day to day has been pretty routine down there.  He has physical therapy every morning around 11 am and then usually speech therapy sometime after that.  Scott has continued to make progress - he is vocalizing much more, eating more solid foods (still the hamburgers and shakes and not interested in much else) and he is working hard in physical therapy too.  At this point he has taken some steps while assisted by the therapists.

Last week he was touching the side of his head where he has had surgery and asked Jen, "What happened?"  So, there is definitely some indication that he is becoming aware of the accident.  Jen has said that he also seems to be a little frustrated these days -- it could be that he wants to communicate more but feels unable.  Who knows?  But it definitely seems like a good sign that his brain is working hard to put all the puzzle pieces back together.

He has had many visitors over the last few weeks and even a puppy dog (which apparently you can bring if you have all updated vaccination records to show.)  This was his second canine visitor and again he responded really well to the dog being there and seemed very happy to see him.  Scott's friend Chris has also been here from out of town and visited with him daily. 

The daily commute is no doubt exhausting for Jen but for now it seems that Scott will remain in San Leandro for the near future.  He has to be able to feed himself (no more feeding tube) and be able to follow commands regularly before they will transfer him to the specialize TBI rehab facility so, that is the goal he is working towards at this point.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Hamburger and a Shake

The speech therapist has been working on trying to get Scott to eat more solid food, rather than simply relying on the feeding tube.  So far he has been pretty uninterested in it.  That is until his good buddy, Scott Renner, brought him a burger and a shake from In and Out burger.  He apparently scarfed down half a burger and a shake, his first real meal since the accident.  Since then Jen has been bringing him daily shakes to try and put a little weight back on him.  I'm sure that will start working in no time.

In other news, Scott stood on his own (without being held by physical therapists) for a few seconds during therapy this week.  The therapists believe he is capable of movement and are pushing him hard.  At this point it seems that he is having much more difficulty moving the right side of his body.  They believe that the difficulty he has moving is more to do with his body being inactive for so long and less to do with any neurological damage.  I'm not exactly sure what they base this on, and I suppose it really doesn't matter, we will go with it.  This is amazing, especially considering that doctors reported right after the accident that the primary trauma to his brain was in an area that impacts movement.

Scott continues to try and communicate and appears to be responding really well to all the visitors.  Jen believes he is very motivated to communicate with visitors and thinks he makes great progress with all the familiar faces around.

Scott's friend Anthony apparently also made a break through by putting a phone in Scott's hand last week.  As Jen says, "nobody likes to talk on the phone as much as Scott Jones."  He seemed very happy to simply have a phone in hand and even said a big "HELLO" to his mom and his sister Ashley.

Scott's next surgery is scheduled for June 20th.  During that surgery they will place an artificial bone in his skull.  We are all anxious for this surgery to happen and it is a great relief that it is finally scheduled.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

First Steps

Scott has settled in to his new digs in San Leandro.  His days are starting to become more routine now, which is great after so many ups and downs, emergency procedures, scans, etc.  It finally feels like he is in a recovery phase.

He has great physical therapy staff at this facility who are pushing him hard.  They focused immediately on getting Scott up and out of the bed and by day two had him in a wheelchair.  By the end of the week, with much assistance, Scott took his first steps.  The physical therapists feel that he'll probably be mobile again before he is even cognitively ready.  So, again, close monitoring will be required to keep him safe if he is mobile before he is able to make safe decisions.

Unfortunately, as long as he is still without part of his skull, he has to wear a helmet any time he is out of bed.  He hates it.  He spends a lot of energy being preoccupied with helmet during therapy sessions and any time he is out of the bed.

He is not quite ready to participate during speech therapy...yet.  But, he is definitely swallowing, able to eat some pureed foods and even took a bite of a sandwich and swallowed it.  All this is helping him get some voice behind his words and he is definitely trying to talk and communicate.

Jason, Sean and Sandy spent several hours with Scott today.  They felt that he definitely recognized them and was happy to have some visitors.  They said he seemed a little frustrated with his inability to communicate with them.  They are pretty sure they heard him say something along the lines of, "My eyes and my head aren't in sync" and "is it awkward?"  As hard as it is to hear that he may be starting to become aware that something is wrong, it is also a very great sign.  They also got some good laughs out of him and, as usual, he was quick to start tapping his toes as soon as they put some music on.

Tomorrow he will be taken back to Redwood City for a neurology appointment.  They will check on his progress and, I think, will take out the sutures in his scalp.  Jennifer plans to talk to the doctors about when they will try and perform the surgery to put a replacement bone in his scalp.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Time For Visitors

Scott is now at the Kaiser Post Acute Care Center in San Leandro.  It seems that every transition gets off to a shaky start but he has now settled in to a nice room near a big sliding glass window with lots of light. Hopefully that will help him get his sleep schedule back on track.  He has a "sitter" to stay with him through the night and one is available to be with him when family or friends are not there during the day.

He is doing physical therapy once a day and has had two very good physical therapy appointments.  Yesterday they were even able to hoist him to a standing position and today they plan to try to transfer him from his bed to a wheelchair.

It is unclear how long Scott will remain at this facility.  The ultimate goal is for him to transfer to the rehabilitation facility in Vallejo.  He will not be eligible for transfer to there until he can follow verbal commands and is off the feeding tube and able to feed himself.  So, he has lots of work to do until then, but he is doing it.

Now is a good time for Scott to have visitors.  Having weekend visitors who will come and sit with Scott for a couple hours at a time would be very helpful.  It will allow Jen to take a little break from the hospital so that she can be with Floyd.  It seems especially important for Scott to have friends and family around during the weekends to answer questions for staff and, since staffing is reduced during that time, to make sure that Scott's needs are being met.  And, most of all, so that Scott can see a familiar face when he is awake.  For this weekend, if you are interested in visiting you can email Jen (godboldster at gmail dot com) and let her know what day/times might work for you.  Visiting hours are 11 am until 8 pm.  I believe there are a limited number of visitors allowed at one time so, it may not be possible for everyone who wants, to be able to visit this weekend.  But, there will be plenty of more opportunities in the coming weeks and I anticipate we will be able to set up more of a formal schedule or calendar once we figure out just how the visiting is going to work.