One Month

Today marks one month since Jackie has returned to Magee.  We continue to remind him of all the progress he has made since he has been here.  He is used to his daily routine and feels comfortable here.  There is no question that he would like to be home, but the staff at Magee has adopted us and has made us feel as close to home as you can get in a rehab hospital.

Jackie’s morning started out like any other.  We spoke with Dr. k, had breakfast and of course morning meds.  We were ready for Becca when she came to the room for speech.  She worked with Jackie on his short term memory, played catch phrase and listened to Jackie’s playlist on his phone entitled ‘college’. This was fun for Jackie and at the same time Becca was noting his familiarity with the songs and if he knew the lyrics.  They also did some shoulder shrug dancing to the beat of the songs. Jackie started his speech session in his wheelchair, but finished out the session from bed since he was experiencing some pain.  He rested in bed after Becca left and then it was time for PT.

Erin used the first half of the session to practice transfers from Jackie’s wheelchair to the gym mat.  She also had him work on lying down and sitting back up.  The second half of the session was spent using the Vector technology for assisted walking.  There are two therapists that assist Jackie. The key now is to get his posture and trunk strength solid since this is the foundation for walking.

As always, Jackie was exhausted after Erin’s session.  He managed to eat his lunch before crashing in bed for another nap. OT was next. Jackie practiced transfers, did some stretching, did assisted standing at a table and also had an electronic stimulation treatment on his left shoulder. He was glad that all of his sessions were over for the day.

We went to the sixth floor terrace for some fresh air and then went back to Jackie’s room for one final nap before dinner.  Jackie worked hard all week and it was starting to catch up with him.

The smell of his dinner tray helped to wake him up.  After he ate we decided to take a quick walk and then watch some golf.  During the stroll we stopped by the pizza and poker room and the boys both picked up a piece of pizza. Jackie ate about half of his slice.  We got him into bed and started watching a movie, but it wasn’t long before he wanted us to turn it off and he tried to go to sleep.  He seemed restless at first but is starting to settle down now.

We are looking forward to Lindsay’s visit tomorrow and a weekend of rest and celebrating Dad’s day.  PTL