![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Richard much better today
Jun. 30th, 2011 05:48 pmHe got a good night's sleep last night, finally, and was much more alert today. Shortness of breath is still slowing his speech, but he is noticeably more fluent than he was yesterday. PT has had him up and doing a little walking. Had enough appetite to eat most of his breakfast today (instead of just a couple of bites), and he was actually trying to figure out the TV remote when I stopped in this morning. Up until now he wasn't able to focus on anything external that wasn't essential, finding even music intrusive, so this was a step forward.
They are recommending that he move to something called a TCU (Transitional Care Unit) for a week or two before coming home. Apparently this is quite common after bypass surgery, especially for patients with some limitations in their mobility. Besides giving a little more recovery time before they have to take care of themselves, it allows them to have physical therapy every day instead of just twice a week, thus speeding recovery. I thought he would be upset by this, but when the case worker explained it he was fine with it.
We don't have a discharge date yet, but the staff is "guessing" it would be Friday or Saturday, esp. if they can get him set up in a TCU. One of the TCU options that works with Park Nicollet is Walker Methodist, which is just blocks from our house in a pleasant residential neighborhood. That would be perfect - Thorin could walk over to see him every day when Amber and I are out of the country, but wouldn't have to bear the whole burden of taking care of him. Nothing is confirmed yet, however. The case worker is checking to see if Walker Methodist has beds available. And of course we hope for no more setbacks. But he's past the critical recovery period and seems to be on a slow but steady upward trajectory now, so I'm feeling much more optimistic.
Thanks to everybody who sent cards. He's been getting two or three a day, which tickles him. Don't feel bad if you didn't send one - an avalanche of cards would have just been overwhelming and served no purpose. It was just the right amount. Kudos to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
quadong for the most amazingly personalized card! Fortunately someone with younger eyes than mine was available to catch the import of the tiny faded text on the front - I thought it was just a graphic of some kind and didn't look at it closely at first. Once I realized what it was I took off my specs so I could read it aloud. It's an excerpt from Minnstf Newsletter #5, announcing "Dick" Tatge's official induction into Minnstf membership while he was home on leave from the Army. Richard is sure that he attended some Minnstf meetings before he was drafted, but the club may not have been formalized enough at that point to have the concept of "membership." But this was all so long ago that he couldn't even remember exactly what year he was drafted (something you would think you would recall!), so this gave us a clear date (1968). Anyway, the whole family was in the room when I read it (Thorin, Amber and Olin) and it was a nice moment.
They are recommending that he move to something called a TCU (Transitional Care Unit) for a week or two before coming home. Apparently this is quite common after bypass surgery, especially for patients with some limitations in their mobility. Besides giving a little more recovery time before they have to take care of themselves, it allows them to have physical therapy every day instead of just twice a week, thus speeding recovery. I thought he would be upset by this, but when the case worker explained it he was fine with it.
We don't have a discharge date yet, but the staff is "guessing" it would be Friday or Saturday, esp. if they can get him set up in a TCU. One of the TCU options that works with Park Nicollet is Walker Methodist, which is just blocks from our house in a pleasant residential neighborhood. That would be perfect - Thorin could walk over to see him every day when Amber and I are out of the country, but wouldn't have to bear the whole burden of taking care of him. Nothing is confirmed yet, however. The case worker is checking to see if Walker Methodist has beds available. And of course we hope for no more setbacks. But he's past the critical recovery period and seems to be on a slow but steady upward trajectory now, so I'm feeling much more optimistic.
Thanks to everybody who sent cards. He's been getting two or three a day, which tickles him. Don't feel bad if you didn't send one - an avalanche of cards would have just been overwhelming and served no purpose. It was just the right amount. Kudos to
quadong for the most amazingly personalized card! Fortunately someone with younger eyes than mine was available to catch the import of the tiny faded text on the front - I thought it was just a graphic of some kind and didn't look at it closely at first. Once I realized what it was I took off my specs so I could read it aloud. It's an excerpt from Minnstf Newsletter #5, announcing "Dick" Tatge's official induction into Minnstf membership while he was home on leave from the Army. Richard is sure that he attended some Minnstf meetings before he was drafted, but the club may not have been formalized enough at that point to have the concept of "membership." But this was all so long ago that he couldn't even remember exactly what year he was drafted (something you would think you would recall!), so this gave us a clear date (1968). Anyway, the whole family was in the room when I read it (Thorin, Amber and Olin) and it was a nice moment.
