Tuesday

Today was a busy day for R.J. He started occupational therapy soon after breakfast. From putting circles on pegs, to kicking a soccer ball in his wheel chair. The staff here is pretty no nonsense and everything is based on a point system. There is an alarm on R.J.'s bed and if he gets out of it, it alerts the staff and he loses points. They want him to do everything by himself, however he needs to be supervised. R.J. is doing everything that he can, to earn as many points as he can, to get out of there as quickly as possible. The staff is saying tonight that it looks like they will release him on Saturday.

Monday

Today R.J. woke up feeling better than he had since first coming to the hospital. He slept about 4 consecutive hours the previous night, and was feeling pretty good. The doctor came in the morning and confirmed that he had a urinary tract infection and started him on antibiotics. She also let us know that he coumadin levels had reached a therapeutic state and took him completely off the heparin. The nurse came in around 10 a.m. to let us know that they would be moving him out of the step down unit and into another room. It was at this point that all of his other doctors came in and actually cleared him for release into the rehabilitation hospital (YAY)! He was immediately moved into another room, apparently they needed his room in the step down, and we began the waiting game for the paper work to be completed so he could move over to the rehab hospital. Upon all this news, the tiger awoke in R.J. He was immediately anxious to be up and walking around, doing things on his own, and making sure that we all knew not to "hold him back". He was moved into the rehabilitation hospital this afternoon and spent the evening going through paper work and learning the rules. He seems pretty upbeat and is VERY excited to be out of the hospital. The rate at which he is recovering is truly amazing. He is a miracle in motion.

Sunday

RJ worked with the Physical Therapist again today, and walked up and down the hallway twice. They tried having him use a walker but that didn't work because of his right arm. Then they tried having him use a cane but the PT reported back to Tricia that didn't work either because he just carried it and wouldn't lean on it.  In the afternoon the Speech Therapist came in to test RJ.  She had him do writing, reading, and math problems, as well as asking questions to test his memory and concentration. She was very pleased and amazed at the results (considering his injuries)  She doesn't think he will need any therapy for this. Focusing and concentrating on things seems to be a bit difficult for him but should be back to normal in time.  The only thing that he really missed on the test was drawing a cube, and he called a rhino a hippo!  The doctor projected this morning that he will be in the hospital for about 1 more week and then into a Rehab hospital for about 2 weeks.  His white blood cell count is high and the doctors are currently trying to figure that out.