10/16/2020- Day 5 Dodd Hall for Stroke Rehabilition

 Schedule for the Day:

8:30- 9:00 Meal Time

9:00- 9:30 Physician Consult- Neurovision Clinic

9:30-10:00 Neurovision Occupational Therapy

10:00- 11:00 Speech Therapy

11:00- 11:30 Recreation Therapy

12:00- 12:15 Physician/Consult- Neurovision Consult

12:30- 1:30pm Meal Time

1:00pm- 2:00pm Physical Therapy

2:00pm- 3:00pm Occupational Therapy


Today was a great day for milestones. For one, Billy's voice was heard and I was able to come in at 1:00pm to assess my skills with physical therapy to be officially approved as his safety person. Which means, that Billy has been cleared to have me as his stand by assistant when I am visiting. He can take showers, walk the hallway, and even walk outside in the green spaces that he has been desiring. His wish was granted and we walked outside in the sun and grass and explored the green spaces in front of Dodd Hall together. This was a big frustration on my part as I am trusted to walk with and take care of every other person in the world except for my own husband. However, I understood and I complied and as a result they gave us some grace and made it "official." These little bits of freedom are certainly raising his spirits and confidence in his recovery. Of course, as his type A wife, I always made sure he had freshly laundered clothing and everything he needed to keep up with his daily grooming habits. Today, I was able to stand by while he had his favorite 30 minute hot shower that he likes to take everyday at home. It helped him feel refreshed and renewed. This is his serenity time, and it was good to see him have that back again.

At 2:00pm, we met with his endocrinology team to assess his skill level and get him back on his insulin pump! This is a huge victory and milestone for him. The Lantus and Humalog ACHS was not controlling his blood sugar. He would dip down into the 40s at night and then during the day he was in the mid 300s. We knew that the only way he was going to get back to having better control was for him to have his pump again. However, this was very risky because he needs to be able to count his carbs appropriately, bolus himself for those carbs, and not get the buttons mixed up or give himself too much insulin. Essentially, this was one of the biggest hurdles and certainly the scariest as there is very little room for error. However, I was also able to be apart of this meeting to increase my knowledge base with insulin pumps and help him navigate his pump supplies, carb counting, and bolus correction. I was fascinated to learn more about this little lifesaver. He barely needed my assistance as all of this is second nature to him at this point. I was so proud to see him have some confidence and autonomy back in his diabetes management. He is such a wealth of knowledge and I enjoyed seeing another part of "my" Billy back. They decided to do a basal rate of 1.1 during the day starting at 0700 until midnight. Then the basal rate changes to 0.9 overnight from midnight until 0700. With control IQ he has a correction of 1:40 above 100 with a target of 110 and a carb ratio is 1:7. I was also able to link to his Dexcom with an app on my phone so that I am also alerted if his blood sugar gets too low. I love that I can help him with this and be there to support him even when I cannot be physically there while he is at the hospital. It gives me a bit of reassurance and peace that he is ok. Lauren from his endocrinology team gave me her phone number and asked me to text her when I helped him get all of his stuff up and running. She is an amazing person and I just adored working with her. When I left for the night, I felt confident that he was all tucked in bed and ready to rest for the night. However, I received a phone call from him at approximately 9:00pm that I needed to come back to the hospital with additional pump supplies. Apparently, the pump tubing was in his vision deficit and he forgot to feel for it before he moved his arms too quickly. He then ripped out his insulin pump site. I gathered enough supplies for 3 additional tubing changes and came back to the hospital. His nurse was Ben who was my preceptor when I was a new grad nurse. I felt very confident that Billy was in good hands as I admire Ben and his nursing skills. We chuckled a bit about the mishap and he thanked me for bringing his pump supplies. When I was helping Billy put his new site on, he did become a bit confused. He wanted to go through the entire process of changing the insulin cartridge, new tubing, and then a new infusion site instead of skipping to his "step 3" of just inserting a new infusion site. This will be our new hurdle to overcome; learning to do things out of sequence, taking time to move and not rip out tubing, and probably reinforcing his insertion site to give himself some grace. It's a work in progress but overall I'm impressed with all that he's achieved today!

I texted Lauren to let her know of what transpired with his tubing. She said that they made belts with a pocket for the pump that I might want to look into for him. We both decided that maybe a fanny pack might be a good idea. I just cannot decide between "The Sherman" or "The Allen." Her vote is "The Sherman" haha! 


Of course there is also the "6 pack" which means he may not have to wait until Summer 2021 to win his bet with Annika after all! 😂 


 



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