Josh is wired and acting crazy!

Friday, June 8, 2007

We have our oxygen treatment at 9:40 a.m., 1 hour at 1.8 atmospheres.  Josh is fine and is acting appropriately.  He says hi to the techs, greets and smiles at the ladies who are having treatments.  He handles the treatment well.  When we get Josh out of the chamber, he says "I was in there for about half an hour."  We tell him he was in there for over an hour and that he did great.

We arrive back at CareMeridian.  As Josh is sitting in the wheelchair, he unbuckles the seatbelt and says he is leaving with me.  The nurse is reasoning with him.   I leave for several hours and return early evening.

JOSH IS WIRED AND ACTING CRAZY!  He wants OUT!  He is in bed and trying to get up.  He is sitting up with one leg over the rail of the bed.  I tell him he has to wait for Jon and Tim, his therapists, to help him.  He is insisting that he can do it.  He is sweating and is frustrated.  He is yelling.  It is not a pretty sight.  I am wondering if the hbot is stimulating him too much.  The oxygen burns through your blood sugar quickly and speeds up the metabolism.  When the brain is not functioning properly, this is a distressing sight.  Josh obviously does not have control of his emotions.   I am drained.... 

Earlier in the day he had physical therapy with Jon and they stood him up on the standing board for several minutes.  He did well, they tell me.  He was then put into some kind of wheelchair with his body secured so he wouldn't hurt himself and fall.   They tell me he was making everyone laugh as he was like a "speed demon" on wheels, going all over the facility from room to room checking everything out.   Nurse Reggie tells me that Jon was on the floor laughing.  Josh's legs are strong.  He just needs to get his coordination back.  We're working on it! 

Later on Josh was watching the fishing channel on television in the family room of the facility with Janet, the head nurse.  Some guy had a huge fish on the line and was pulling like crazy to haul the fish into the boat.  Josh was screaming for the guy to sit down!  He's so funny.

When I left the facility last night, Josh was WIDE AWAKE.  I told him I had to get some sleep, he started making crazy Donald Duck noises....     I should go to San Diego Brain Injury Foundation support workshops to brainstorm with other caregivers on their experiences.  They are having a workshop on caregiver burnout (that's me) on Saturday, but I can't go because I need to get the house ready for a pre-prom party.  Natalie is going to the prom tonight and is so excited.  I need to give that girl some serious attention.  All my energy is going to Josh, my high maintenance kid!