Physical Therapy

Today I had physical therapy again. I am tired. I did the elliptical machine, 3 different kind of leg lifts on a set of stairs, toe raises on the stairs, heel touches on the stairs, stepping up and down on the stairs, leg lifts on a machine, toe raises on a machine, hip flexes, side hip flexes, and I was doing pull downs on a machine when I told them I was done for the day. I was there for about 45 min and did not rest much. Needless to say I am extremely tired. I have not worked out this much in years. I will be doing it 2 times a week until my transplant. They gave me a workout to do at home but I know that I would not do it. So I am going to go in and do it. This way I am motivated to do it. Hopefully this will keep me healthy. I plan on doing it after the transplant as well. We went grocery shopping afterwards I was so tired I took a motorized cart. I don't care I was tired and could hardly walk.

Out Patient Therapy

Neal had his first outpatient therapy. It was a little awkward. When we arrived we were put in a room with 8 different therapists asking a variety of questions. At the end I believe they looked at Neal and Neal looked at them thinking, why are you here? Neal then had quick individual sessions with each therapist and all pretty much concluded he could use exercise to increase his endurance, however it is his choice whether he go to the facility or do this at home. He has one more appointment if he chooses to go over some exercises. He is also being scheduled for a follow up swallow test so that he can stop modifying his diet and thickening his liquids. That should be in a week or two.

The one good thing that did come out of this is that he needs to obtain written permission from a doctor to drive. Apparently there could be some legal ramifications given what his diagnosis was the last hospital visit. So Neal did get to drive there, but I drove home! He feels comfortable driving, but we are going to get a doctor to sign off on it. Until then I will continue to ask Stacy and Leslie to be on call and even Matt on his day off. Too bad we cannot afford a limo so Neal could travel in style.

Getting Better

Not much is going on. I am getting better each day. I still don't have to much energy but I am able to get around ok. All I am doing is taking care of the dogs and doing the dishes. Michele has been a saint. She has really been taking good care of me.

Later
-Neal

Nothing new to report

Nothing much going on. Neal is doing good. I am trying to force him to eat more. He is not eating enough calories to get his strength back. So far no headaches. We have been playing more video games than normal and have 20 episodes of How it is Made to get caught up on. We bought good old Sonic the Hedgehog and I must say I am not as bad as I thought I would be. There is nothing else new to report.

Here is a new pic of me. down to 180.5lbs. I have lost a total of about 70lbs now. I look like a total cheese. Michele was doing something that made me laugh. If you look at my neck you can see the tape over my trache. It is gross but what ya gonna do. Talk to you later.

-Neal

Home at last

Neal came home yesterday in the early afternoon for a couple hours, then we went to dialysis. He is feeling good and is happy to be home. The only thing they sent us home on was a different diet. No bread and he must thicken his liquids. We plan to take it easy most of the weekend.

Home sweet home

Neal should be coming home tomorrow in the early afternoon. I am going to meet him at the hospital first thing to have a few therapy sessions and then the plan is to discharge him. He is very anxious to get home and I am very excited to have him back. We will have a follow up appointment with the neurologist in a couple of weeks. I am at home working on disinfecting and laundry. I am unsure I will sleep. I am so happy he agreed to stay one more day as recommended by the doctors. His speech does not appear to be bad at all, no where near what we originally thought. If you did not know him, you would not know the difference, I am not even sure I do. Almost three weeks ago they were telling me he would not have a tongue! His diet is going to be a challenge as he needs to stick to soft foods. I plan to grocery shop after I take him to dialysis tomorrow and cook for him this weekend. I think Neal is starting to realize exactly what he has been through. From what I can gather, he does not remember most of the hospital stay. We still do not know what happened, but doctors are telling us it was an isolated incident related to blood pressure and potentially meds. I actually had a neurologist call me back tonight at 8:30. I was completely shocked. At least someone in the medical world still has a heart.

Neal I hope you realize I am not encouraging you stay to make you miserable. I would prefer the doctors and myself feel comfortable with you coming home. I think we will be there within 24 hours. I want nothing more than for you to come home, however I do want you to be safe. It has been a long year and you have been through a lot. I want this to be the last thing before the transplant.