Oct 29, 2010

Great news! We are officially no longer homeless!!!!!!!! I am standing inside out new apartment! It is wonderful and beautiful and great and super duper. Maybe I'll put up some photos soon!

Jimmy got his trach out yesterday!!! It is wonderful to see him without the nose tube and without the trach! He looks great, and he feels great too!

No trach, beautiful apartment, end of homelessness, plus Halloween! This may just be the best weekend ever!

Oct 25, 2010

Lots of news! On Friday all of Jimmy's food and drink restrictions were lifted! He can now eat and drink whatever he wants! He has really been enjoying diet pepsi, diet coke, and pickles!

This went really smoothly over the weekend, and the nurses were able to convince him to take his pills by mouth instead of through his nose tube. Now that he can consistently take them by mouth, they are going to go ahead and pull out the nose tube! Whooooo!

He has been doing okay with the new trach tube, but he still needs them to suction out his lungs occasionally. It will all get better, and I am sure the trach tube will come out soon!

Oct 19, 2010

Yesterday when I got to the hospital after work Jimmy had his new trach in! It's all metal, and looks super crazy! It stays plugged so Jimmy has to breathe through his nose and mouth instead of breathing through his nose, mouth, and throat too. He says it's like breathing through a straw, but that he's starting to get used to it. He had the nurses save the old trach in a jar so I could look at it when I got there. Crazy! As I said before, when people get the metal trach put in it only stays in for about a week! So excited!

Oct 16, 2010

Hey everybody this is Jimmy. Ashley's typing for me. I want to thank everyone for their well wishes, it's helping me get stronger everyday. Miss everyone back in California, and looking forward to more visits from my Wisconsin friends. Hope everyone's doing well! Getting sleepy....bye!

Oct 15, 2010

Hey everyone! I haven't posted anything new in a while. We've just kinda been hanging out. If anyone wants to visit, please just contact me to set up a time!

Jimmy's arms are getting stronger, and he worked on feeding himself yesterday. He was able to eat some lunch with just a bit of help from his occupational therapist. Yes!

His breathing is also improving so they are going to be putting in a new trach tube called a "Jackson" on Monday. Usually when the Jackson gets put in, it only stays in for a week and then they go ahead and pull everything out and let it heal. It's the last trach tube step, so that's a really good thing!

Next Thursday the College of Engineering is holding a demo of cool adaptive technologies that have built for people with disabilities. Jimmy's physical therapist is going to drive him over, and I will leave work and meet them there. It should be cool! Can't wait to see all the vendors, all their gadgets and doo-dads, and what we can look forward to!

Oct 8, 2010

Jimmy took another swallow test today and he did pretty well! He is still not allowed to drink thin liquids, but he can have normal food now (with the exception of raw fruits/veggies and nuts). Today when I got to the hospital he had already ordered and nibbled on a burger, fries, and a slice of cheesecake! And for dinner he ate some pizza and lemon meringue pie. You should have seen the smile on his face when his pizza arrived...priceless!

In other news, I went to visit the apartment we will most likely be moving into. The landlord is SUPER sweet, and had the place completely gutted. The last tenants were pretty hard on the place so we are getting: all new carpet, new vinyl flooring, new kitchen and bathroom cabinetry, a new stove, new light fixtures, and they are remodeling the bathroom for us to make it 100% wheelchair accessible. It's going to look ridiculously awesome! She also gave me a whole bunch of ideas on how to use our space well and "make it look really cute". It's in a quiet neighborhood, and there is a community garden that no one uses (that means I can take over it, right?) Such an awesome apartment and it's super duper wheelchair friendly! Yay!

Oct 6, 2010

Yesterday Jimmy's physical therapist got him into his wheelchair and took him outside. He then proceeded to have Jimmy navigate the wheelchair in the dirt and on a little hill. Totally went off-roading!

The physical therapist is trying to demonstrate the difference between front-wheel-drive and mid-wheel-drive wheelchairs. They'll go off-roading again today in a mid-wheel-drive wheelchair so Jimmy can feel the difference. I looked up the differences between the two and we have discussed them extensively. Jimmy's pretty sure that he's going to go for the front-wheel-drive, but of course he wants to go off-roading again!

Oct 5, 2010

Today they let me put Jimmy's wedding ring back on him! Whoo! I have been wearing it on a necklace for a month now, so I'm probably going to have at least 5 moments over the course of the day where I'll think I have lost it.

Oct 3, 2010

Hi everyone! It's been a couple of days since my last post! Things are going about the same over here. Jimmy still has the sore throat, but an Ear/Nose/Throat doctor came in to look at him. Everything down there looks pretty normal, but they are thinking that it's a viral infection. Looks like we are just going to have to wait it out. They have this numbing medicine that they give him just before he eats to allow him to eat much easier. Today he ate a whole bowl of cream of wheat for breakfast, and a whole little bowl called a "Magic Cup" for lunch (Magic cup= ice cream packed with nutrients and protein). When he first started eating, he'd take like 4 bites of Magic Cup and be totally stuffed. He has come a long way!

They get him into his power wheelchair everyday. They usually do this during the day, so by the time I get here in the evening, he is back in bed. The last time I saw him in the wheelchair was on Wednesday afternoon, the day he got it. Since it's the weekend, I have been with him constantly and could see him and his chair in action. He's SO GOOD at driving it! I am amazed! When I get in that thing, I hit every wall in sight. It's actually much much harder than it looks. He's getting a lot more adventurous and wants to go for walks around the hospital. Today we went and visited the Neuro ICU and got to reunite with our nurses there. They were all so happy to see him! Then we puttered around the lobby and looked at the paintings, the sculptures, and this cool area with a glass ceiling. After that, we laid down in his bed and watched Date Night. It has been a great weekend!