Erica was very alert and aware for a bit today, she laughed, she smiled, she
showed off her wrist dexterity. She drank a full glass of cranberry cocktail without help, and she took a few bites without any assistance (with her left hand!) but her back has been hurting so they gave her some pain meds for it and she got very, very tired.
I left around 3 so they could do some tests and take her to dinner, and by the time I got back at 5, she was too tired for visitors anymore.
I told her about the packing help yesterday, and she got very emotional (in a good way) about all of the love, thank you everyone, so very much.
This afternoon she was discharged from Littleton and made her way down the street to inpatient rehab. She'll be there for a couple of weeks, but she looks great! Deanna was with her all day, but I was able to see her through her window, and she looks great. She smiles, knows everyone and will be home soon.
Tomorrow Is packing day and I sounds like there will be lots of people here. yay! I really don't have a plan, except to get 95% of everything in boxes. Thank you all.
Erica got moved to a bed on the medical floor! She is much more alert today due to getting her Ambien and a good night’s sleep last night. PT got her up in the chair and she ate breakfast (thanks to Bryon’s friend for burritos from Santiago’s). She did spike a temp this morning with a slight elevation in WBC count so they are checking blood cultures and chest X-ray but it’s not that unusual to have a fever when not moving around much and not able to take deep breaths. Staff here are working on that. So hopefully everything is negative because her hospitalist said she could go to rehab as soon as tomorrow once the insurance is cleared. She looks better today.
Erica is looking better every day but there still a long road ahead. She ate half her breakfast. PT and OT were going to get her up in the chair but she was just too sleepy. So she sat at the bedside and moved around. Her days and nights are mixed up which is somewhat normal but she also has always had a problem with sleeping. They’re going to rearrange her meds so that she hopefully will be better able to sleep through the night. She still very responsive when awake and recognizes voices on the phone. Still weaker on the left side of course. The goal is to get her into rehab as soon as possible. They think she should be medically cleared within the next few days then it depends on bed availability. She is still in the ICU but doesn’t need to be, they just don’t have a bed on the regular nursing floors right now.
Recovery is progressing well so far. Erica was cleared to have a ground consistency diet with thickened liquids. So she actually had a few bites of food and part of a Wendy’s frosty. She was up in the chair for a couple of hours. When she’s awake she’s oriented to herself and the people around her and knows who we are. She still off and on with memory of the fact that she had the brain bleed and surgery. Her speech is stronger but still hoarse and soft. But improving. Bryon and the case manager discussed rehab facilities and decided on a couple that are close by. Which ever one she can get into. The intensivist is putting orders in for her to go to the regular surgical floor today. Whether she goes depends even if they have a room of course. She’s on a tiny bit of oxygen mostly when she’s sleeping. The intensivist thought she should be able to go to the rehab facility in a few days. So that’s really good news!