Josh is ready to roll!

Sunday, June 10, 2007

I arrive at CareMeridian.  Josh is sitting in his wheelchair shooting the breeze with Neil's (one of his buddies)  parents, Nancy and Jeff.  Josh is acting appropriately.  They are amazed at Josh's progress since they haven't seen him in a few weeks.  This makes me feel great since I see him everyday and the progress seems slow to me.

Dr. Stenehjem, director of Sharp Rehab, comes to the facility and greets us.  Dr. Stenehjem is a great guy, has two sons of his own, ages 21 and 23 and lives in Solana Beach.  He is friendly with a great bedside manner.  I immediately connect with him.  Nancy and Jeff take off and Dr. Stenehjem starts talking to Josh.  Josh is right on, very charming, smiling and is responding to Dr. Stenehjem's questions.  "What kind of sports do you play, Josh?"  Josh says, "football and golf".  He asks Josh to reach out with his right arm.  Josh does it.  Then the left arm.... it's hard for Josh.  He's trying like hell.  Dr. S mentions that he would use some botox in the left lower arm above the wrist to straighten out the wrist.  It is a temporary drug which lasts about three months.  He feels Josh would benefit from that tremendously and be able to use the left hand more freely.  Dr. S is impressed with Josh's strength in his legs and says he is strong.  Dr. S. tells me Josh is a great kid and that he just had some bad luck.  We chat about the fraternity he was in in college.  He says "that could have been me easily..."  I like this guy.  He is not judgmental in any way...

Dr. S tells me that an anoxic injury is better than a traumatic brain injury in some cases since with trauma you often have crushed parts of the brain which do not recover.  Dr. S believes in hyperbaric oxygen therapy and has studied it.  He believes Josh is a prime candidate for acute rehab NOW and says getting hbot would be no problem.  He thinks Josh would benefit immensely from acute rehab coupled with hbot.  He says the trach is probably ready to come out and that would be done in the hospital.  The g-tube would also be removed in the hospital but he would leave that in for a while to administer meds easily.

Dr. S reviews Josh's chart and meds with Marci, the nurse on duty.  He tells me Josh is not overly medicated at this time.  He would reduce thedosage of the pain patch. 

Next step is Dr. S will communicate with the CareMeridian staff about the move to acute rehab.  He says Josh is "more than ready"...   I tell Dr. S. I will take his recommendation and that I am very pleased and thankful he came to the facility on a Sunday morning and was so generous with his time.  Dr. S takes off.

My grilfriend, Ellen, comes to CareMeridian and we hang out with Josh.  Lori and Keri Lawrence,  Josh's buddy Kyle's parents, come to visit.  Josh is acting appropriately and is making us laugh.  Later on the staff puts Josh in a special chair so he can move around and he is like a speed demon on wheels.  I get a chair myself and we were doing all kinds of maneuvering with our legs, stepping with our left leg first, right leg next, etc.  Josh is doing great.  We then played this game where you throw these velcro balls which stick to a board which is similar to a dart board.  Josh is throwing with his right arm.  He's doing great.  He did this about 40 times.  The staff was cheering him on.  He even leaned down to pick up the ball when it fell out of his hand.   Josh is on his way....

Dave Edens' parents arrive, Bruce and Jane and their daughter, Taylor.  Josh is back in his room and is a bit tired.  He is acting appropriately and is making the Edens laugh.  They are amazed and pleased with Josh's progress since they haven't seen him in a while. 

Things are progressing nicely, but Josh, can you put on some speed, buddy???   Your mother is getting weary....