Just got report from Lyn at the hospital. Walter had a good night, sleeping well. He had a bad migraine headache yesterday, apparently due to removal of the EVD; according to the nurses, not unusual. Lyn said that he seems very comfortable today. He is still on percoset, but they'll start cutting that back if he continues without pain. Big news: yesterday's CT scan showed that the ventricles are normal (confirming the decision to remove the "brain drain" and not insert a shunt) and that the brain swelling has further reduced. All this is very encouraging in terms of his rehabilitation and recovery.
With the continuing reduction in swelling comes visible improvement. His eyes are tracking much better, Lyn says, and he is turning his head from side to side. Until recently, his head pretty much stayed over to the left, his impaired side. One of the therapists said that the goal for today is to work to establish "eye-to-eye" contact. So for those seeking prayer direction, there's one. He is moving his left leg and foot a good bit. Moving the left arm and hand is more difficult for him, although he does move his fingers some and has squeezed with his left hand. He's keeping his mouth closed more and breathing out of his nose. Apparently aware of the paralysis of his left side, he sometimes lifts and works his left arm with his right. He worked well with the physical therapist yesterday.
We expect that he will move today into "intermediate ICU" at Emory, which, again, is a major step. The next step is a bit uncertain; again, point for prayer. The next "goal", if you will, is for Walter to get to Shepherds for "acute rehab", the program that I mentioned before. Walter, to enter that, must be able to tolerate 3 hours per day of rehab. One way they determine if he is ready is to see if he responds to direction from a therapist. Until he responds appropriately to 90% of these directions, he is not eligible. So, until then, there are a couple of options. The one (which to us is preferred) is to enter the "pre-rehab" program at Shepherds. This is just what the name implies— "rehab lite"—a program to prepare him for the full acute rehab. The immediate hindrance to moving him into that is lack of a bed, since Shepherds has only seven or eight beds designated for this program. Pre-rehab can last initially up to three weeks. If within the three weeks he shows progress, but is not ready for acute rehab, then he may continue in pre-rehab for a longer period. Other alternatives, depending on how it all goes, are for him during the interim to go into another facility (such as nursing home providing the required services) or home care. This decision would be driven largely by insurance requirements.
Lyn has started to play old Seinfeld episodes for him, and he sometimes smiles and laughs best he can. So, we have both the music and the laughter going—both healing.
Continuing, sincere thanks to all for everything—prayer, encouragement, food, offers of help . . . . We appreciate you all.
When can we see him?
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