Monday, August 13, 2007
Today we went downtown in the convertible for Josh's oxygen treatment. We practiced with Erin, his physical therapist, getting Josh in and out of the car. Josh did great! We walked to the car, got in and drove off. Josh sat next to me and checked out the scenery. He looked a bit confused, but did extremely well. He asked where we were going and I told him, "We're going downtown for an oxygen treatment." Josh says, "Okay". He's pretty agreeable these days....
Once we arrived at San Diego Hyperbarics, Bob Sands had an entourage of doctors there. Bob is so thrilled with Josh's progress. He boasts about Josh to all his colleagues and they wanted to see for themselves "the wonder boy". I met Dr. Cummins who spoke to my brother, Mike, several times when Josh was in a deep coma at University Medical Center in Tucson. He is doing his fellowship in hyperbaric medicine at UCSD. Mike had called Dr. Cummins a few times to see if they would get Josh in a hyperbaric chamber at UCSD. UCSD would not treat Josh as traditional hospitals do not use hyperbaric oxygen therapy for anoxic brain injuries. Dr. Cummins wanted to check out San Diego Hyperbarics since he had never been there. I shot the breeze with Dr. Cummins when Josh was gettting his treatment. There were two other doctors present when Josh got out of the chamber. They all watched as Josh stood up and walked to the chair. Bob gave Josh a bottled water and he guzzled it down. Bob says, "You don't mind, Paula, if I tell these guys about Josh, do you? " I said "No, I don't mind at all." Bob tells the guys about Josh being in a coma and coming by ambulance for his oxygen treatments in early May. He tells them how he progressed from coming in an ambulance to coming by wheelchair van. And today, Josh walked into the place!
Josh was sitting in the chair, taking this all in.... Josh then says, "When do I get my treatment?" I said, "Josh, you just had your treatment..." Josh looks a bit puzzled. I tell him not to worry about a thing that he is just having trouble remembering things. Everything will be okay in time. We walk out of the place, get in the car and head back to Sharp Rehab.
It's interesting. Once Josh is standing up and gets his balance, he starts walking really fast. I am trying to break him of the habit of learning forward with his upper chest. I constantly remind him to pinch his shoulders back and look up so as not to fall forward. He's getting it. Once we arrive back at the hospital, Josh gets situated in a sitting position in his bed and tells me to call room service....he's hungry.... After I call the kitchen to order Josh's dinner I say, "Hey, Josh, did you enjoy riding in the car today?" I was expecting him to say, "I didn't ride in any car today." Instead, Josh says, "Yeah, I did." I say "Josh, you remembered! That's great!" Josh looks at me like I am crazy and says, "That was only ten minutes ago, why wouldn't I remember?"
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