SpanishCastleAle
Well-Known Member
Hope he double-fists you PTN.
Babalu
- Thread starter frankw
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
paulthenurse
Fecal Transplant Super Donor
- Joined
- May 14, 2007
- Messages
- 12,278
- Reaction score
- 2,208
Get well soon and Happy Halloween, Babalu!
DrawTap88
Well-Known Member
Update: 11/4/2010
Jeff continues his slow but steady progress. He's gained movement in his other foot now. So that gives him movement in both hands and feet and movement in his left arm, wrist and elbow. He's been mouthing words a lot lately and to get him one step closer to talking, they replaced his tracheotomy tube with a smaller one. This one will allow him to at least partially breathe through his mouth and nose. Once he get's used to it, they will be able to cap it and it will allow him to at least whisper.
They continue to slowly increase his central nervous system stimulant and slowly reduce his phenobarbital. As a result of that, he seems to be even more alert. They had him sitting on the side of his bed doing therapy for 45 minutes today. His caregivers are very happy with his progress lately.
He's still got a long road to recovery, but he's moving in the right direction and that's something we can all be thankful for.
Keep up your prayers and positive thoughts. They seem to be working!
Jeff continues his slow but steady progress. He's gained movement in his other foot now. So that gives him movement in both hands and feet and movement in his left arm, wrist and elbow. He's been mouthing words a lot lately and to get him one step closer to talking, they replaced his tracheotomy tube with a smaller one. This one will allow him to at least partially breathe through his mouth and nose. Once he get's used to it, they will be able to cap it and it will allow him to at least whisper.
They continue to slowly increase his central nervous system stimulant and slowly reduce his phenobarbital. As a result of that, he seems to be even more alert. They had him sitting on the side of his bed doing therapy for 45 minutes today. His caregivers are very happy with his progress lately.
He's still got a long road to recovery, but he's moving in the right direction and that's something we can all be thankful for.
Keep up your prayers and positive thoughts. They seem to be working!
Let's go big man... you gotta get to Spalding asap.
Frank, which foot did he gain movement in? When Glen and I were there, the therapy dog was licking the $4!t out of his left foot. I'm wondering if that pissed Babs off enough to will that leg into action, just in case that dog came around again.
DrawTap88
Well-Known Member
Good to hear another great update. Thanks, frankw.
Update 11/10/2010
Jeff had a pretty good day today. They've been capping this trach tube and his oxygen levels have remained normal. The speech therapist would like to keep it capped all day and take the cap off at night. They want to give him every opportunity to talk. His doctors need to approve that, but I would imagine that will happen in the next day or so. This also means he's now able to actually smell things now.
His wife brought in a Magnadoodle few days ago. They've been writing words on it and Jeff is able to read and whisper/mouth the words back. Today the gave him the pen and asked him to write his name on it, left handed by the way. He wrote a J, a pretty sloppy E, they helped him with the first F and he wrote the second F on his own. This is all great news.
He didn't want to kick the ball today, just shook his head no. So they had him catching and releasing the ball instead. They roll it to him and he traps it with both hands, holds it and releases it wen they tell him to. Thus far he's been able perform all of the therapy tasks they've asked him to.
He's still having trouble keeping his eyes open. They've asked him a number of times and he confirms that his eyelids feel very heavy and he just can't seem to keep them open. They're still trying to figure out why.
A lot of good progress, especially with his communication abilities. Keep up the positive thoughts and prayers!
Jeff had a pretty good day today. They've been capping this trach tube and his oxygen levels have remained normal. The speech therapist would like to keep it capped all day and take the cap off at night. They want to give him every opportunity to talk. His doctors need to approve that, but I would imagine that will happen in the next day or so. This also means he's now able to actually smell things now.
His wife brought in a Magnadoodle few days ago. They've been writing words on it and Jeff is able to read and whisper/mouth the words back. Today the gave him the pen and asked him to write his name on it, left handed by the way. He wrote a J, a pretty sloppy E, they helped him with the first F and he wrote the second F on his own. This is all great news.
He didn't want to kick the ball today, just shook his head no. So they had him catching and releasing the ball instead. They roll it to him and he traps it with both hands, holds it and releases it wen they tell him to. Thus far he's been able perform all of the therapy tasks they've asked him to.
He's still having trouble keeping his eyes open. They've asked him a number of times and he confirms that his eyelids feel very heavy and he just can't seem to keep them open. They're still trying to figure out why.
A lot of good progress, especially with his communication abilities. Keep up the positive thoughts and prayers!
Mermaid
Well-Known Member
That's fantastic news! Hope he continues to heal up
DrawTap88
Well-Known Member
Fantastic! He's in my thoughts every day. Good to know they're not in vain. Tell'em to keep up the good work.
Tell him he NEEDS to kick the damn ball, Gostkowski went on IR!
Great to hear that he's improving. Thanks again for keeping us updated,
Great to hear that he's improving. Thanks again for keeping us updated,
A quick Jeff update.
Just got word today that the folks taking care of Jeff feel that he is ready to move on to a full service rehab facility. He still needs insurance company approval. But it should happen in the next week or so. While there he'll receive more aggressive physical, occupational and speech therapy.
I'll keep you posted when I hear more details.
Just got word today that the folks taking care of Jeff feel that he is ready to move on to a full service rehab facility. He still needs insurance company approval. But it should happen in the next week or so. While there he'll receive more aggressive physical, occupational and speech therapy.
I'll keep you posted when I hear more details.
DrawTap88
Well-Known Member
Good to hear.
The move to the new rehab center is a huge step and the one I have been waiting anxiously to happen. This move basically means that he's made a ton of progress and while there's no way to put a "date" on when he'll be somewhat back to normal, the time frame would have to be short enough to warrent him being at this new place (if that made sense). The new rehab center is much more geared to aggressively whipping him back into shape instead of the much slower monitoring and 'do what you can with him' place that he has been in over the last few weeks.
When I say, "back to normal", I mean he'll be up and around and reasonably functionable. He'll still probably have months and months ahead of him before he's really close to 100% but this means that we should (fingers crossed) have Jeff back in the not too distant future.
When I say, "back to normal", I mean he'll be up and around and reasonably functionable. He'll still probably have months and months ahead of him before he's really close to 100% but this means that we should (fingers crossed) have Jeff back in the not too distant future.
Update 11/26/2010
We made it up to see Jeff yesterday. He wasn't very responsive most of the time we were there. He did come around for 15 minutes or so. We had the Pat's game on and he watched TV most of the time, although he did look at me when I was talking to him. He was doing this mostly with one eye open. And it stiil seemed he was struggling to keep his eyes open.
He's been making good progress with his therapy and he should be moving to to the new rehab center maybe Monday or Tuesday, if a bed is availalbe. They had his trach tube capped for several hours yesterday and he tolerated it well. His wife said he was talking a bit earlier in the day. They will keep increasing the amount of time his trach is capped and eventually they will remove tracheotomy tube all together.
Still slow and steady progress. Hopefully when he gets to the new rehab center the progress will begin to speed up with the additional physical, occupational and speach therapy.
Please keep up the positive thoughts and prayers for Jeff and his family, especially during this holiday season.
We made it up to see Jeff yesterday. He wasn't very responsive most of the time we were there. He did come around for 15 minutes or so. We had the Pat's game on and he watched TV most of the time, although he did look at me when I was talking to him. He was doing this mostly with one eye open. And it stiil seemed he was struggling to keep his eyes open.
He's been making good progress with his therapy and he should be moving to to the new rehab center maybe Monday or Tuesday, if a bed is availalbe. They had his trach tube capped for several hours yesterday and he tolerated it well. His wife said he was talking a bit earlier in the day. They will keep increasing the amount of time his trach is capped and eventually they will remove tracheotomy tube all together.
Still slow and steady progress. Hopefully when he gets to the new rehab center the progress will begin to speed up with the additional physical, occupational and speach therapy.
Please keep up the positive thoughts and prayers for Jeff and his family, especially during this holiday season.
There will be good days and not so good days, but good to hear there's still some progress!
Yeah, that happens to the best of us. But, Babs will be back, he just needs time. Every step he takes backwards, he takes several forwards.
Keep fighting Babs, and if PTN ever shows up again, punch him in the nose for me.
DrawTap88
Well-Known Member
Glad to hear he's doing well. Keep the updates coming and we'll keep the positive thoughts and prayers going out.
paulthenurse
Fecal Transplant Super Donor
- Joined
- May 14, 2007
- Messages
- 12,278
- Reaction score
- 2,208
I was there on the Tuesday before T-day and did my best to get him to take a poke at me with no success. Someday soon, I hope.
PTN
Did he at least flip you the bird?
dataz722
Well-Known Member
Here's to hoping that Babs is up and flipping ALL of us the bird, myself included, before too much longer.
paulthenurse
Fecal Transplant Super Donor
- Joined
- May 14, 2007
- Messages
- 12,278
- Reaction score
- 2,208
the_bird was home in the hills of Western Mass and unavailable for flippage.
PTN
PTN
Jeff is now at the rehab facility in Boston. The insurance company has been giving them a hard time and he's there on a two week trial. I won't get into this, it makes my blood boil.
He really needs to step up to the plate and make some serious progress.
He could an extra dose of prayers and positive thoughts.
Frank
He really needs to step up to the plate and make some serious progress.
He could an extra dose of prayers and positive thoughts.
Frank
DrawTap88
Well-Known Member
Extra dose on the way.
This is an email from CapeBrewing. I'm sure he'd be posting this here later, but I thought I'd spread the news now.
I was over to see Jeff today and got lucky as I was able to sit in for two of Jeff's one hour therapy sessions. The first hour was speech therapy and he was being a bit of a lazy bum. He really didn't want to stay awake too long BUT... the therapist was able to get him to whisper a few words: yes, no, Ben (his son's name)... and he was making sense with his answers. While he was being a lazy bum, the good thing was it was more than yesterday. He's only been there for two days so in their, that's progress... and that's what he needs to show them. So, in the end, it was a positive session.
The second hour was physical therapy and that was great. They use a hoist and a harness to get him out of bed and into a wheel chair. When they do that, it wakes him right up. I got to see him open his eyes completely and focus. He absolutely knew I was there and knew who I was. Per usual, I was busting his chops and got a couple good smiles out of him.
Sorry to be all sappy here... and I can't totally explain why, but I left today knowing HE is in there. It's HIM. He's just gotta get his damn body going!
So... the good news on physical therapy.... they had him sitting on a therapy table so his feet were on the ground and they had him sitting on the edge by himself. They would steady him and ask him to lean one way or the other and he was doing about 98% of it with very little help. Then he had to simply keep himself steady and upright for a 10-count... which he was able to do. Grip his left hand... he did great. Raise his left arm... raised it but not all of the way (but still better than yesterday). He's still struggling with movement in his right arm although he's getting decent movement in his right hand. The therapist then put a wet face cloth in his left hand and asked him to wipe his forehead. ALLLLMOST got it... wipe his nose... got it... wipe his chin.. needed a hair of help because I think his arm was getting tired. Then a really cool part was she had me sit on one side of him and harass him until he looked at me. He had his eyes wide open, turned his head almost all the way to the side and looked me right in the eyes.
The therapist was really happy with ALL of this though because she said all of it was more than he could do yesterday. Again, the really important thing is that he continue to make progress while at the new rehab and both of his therapists today felt like he had.
The therapist was saying for right now he seems, even though it has only been two days, that he is making good progress but they need to just get him stretched out. She said his neck was really stiff (not surprising being in bed 22 hours a day)... so she would push his head to stretch the muscles all the while asking him if it hurt and he would instantly shake his head no. "Are you ok", quick head shake yes. "can I keep going", quick head shake yes.
Anyway, sorry for the long email. Yeah, yeah... I write long emails. You'll live. Like Frank keeps saying, keep up the positive thoughts and prayers. I was really excited leaving there today and I think everyone's thoughts are working.
I was over to see Jeff today and got lucky as I was able to sit in for two of Jeff's one hour therapy sessions. The first hour was speech therapy and he was being a bit of a lazy bum. He really didn't want to stay awake too long BUT... the therapist was able to get him to whisper a few words: yes, no, Ben (his son's name)... and he was making sense with his answers. While he was being a lazy bum, the good thing was it was more than yesterday. He's only been there for two days so in their, that's progress... and that's what he needs to show them. So, in the end, it was a positive session.
The second hour was physical therapy and that was great. They use a hoist and a harness to get him out of bed and into a wheel chair. When they do that, it wakes him right up. I got to see him open his eyes completely and focus. He absolutely knew I was there and knew who I was. Per usual, I was busting his chops and got a couple good smiles out of him.
Sorry to be all sappy here... and I can't totally explain why, but I left today knowing HE is in there. It's HIM. He's just gotta get his damn body going!
So... the good news on physical therapy.... they had him sitting on a therapy table so his feet were on the ground and they had him sitting on the edge by himself. They would steady him and ask him to lean one way or the other and he was doing about 98% of it with very little help. Then he had to simply keep himself steady and upright for a 10-count... which he was able to do. Grip his left hand... he did great. Raise his left arm... raised it but not all of the way (but still better than yesterday). He's still struggling with movement in his right arm although he's getting decent movement in his right hand. The therapist then put a wet face cloth in his left hand and asked him to wipe his forehead. ALLLLMOST got it... wipe his nose... got it... wipe his chin.. needed a hair of help because I think his arm was getting tired. Then a really cool part was she had me sit on one side of him and harass him until he looked at me. He had his eyes wide open, turned his head almost all the way to the side and looked me right in the eyes.
The therapist was really happy with ALL of this though because she said all of it was more than he could do yesterday. Again, the really important thing is that he continue to make progress while at the new rehab and both of his therapists today felt like he had.
The therapist was saying for right now he seems, even though it has only been two days, that he is making good progress but they need to just get him stretched out. She said his neck was really stiff (not surprising being in bed 22 hours a day)... so she would push his head to stretch the muscles all the while asking him if it hurt and he would instantly shake his head no. "Are you ok", quick head shake yes. "can I keep going", quick head shake yes.
Anyway, sorry for the long email. Yeah, yeah... I write long emails. You'll live. Like Frank keeps saying, keep up the positive thoughts and prayers. I was really excited leaving there today and I think everyone's thoughts are working.
Good to hear he is progressing. Thanks for the update.
Another email from Brian. Our brew club is on a pub crawl in Boston today and he went over beforehand to visit Jeff. Kicking myself now for missing the crawl...
---------------------------------------------
I just hung out with the big man for an hour. He was sitting in a wheel chair when i walked in. I woke his ass up and told him he needed to look at me and talk to me since I had come all the way in to see him on the train.
He was awake almost the entire time and talking a lot. The only problem is he still has a tracheotomy an it is brutally hard to hear and understand him.
I asked him if he remembered my name and he nodded yes and said, "Brian". He was having trouble opening both eyes yesterday but had them both open today. He tried to scratch his right ear and got his hand up to about his nose and he couldl't lift it anymore. I asked him if he had an itch and he said "yes" and then he said "my right ear". I scratched it for him and asked if I got it and he said "yes".
His right hand is still a bit swollen from not being used (according to the therapist). The therapist said to just move it for him so i kept opening and closing the hand and then made him lift his left hand and grip mine... Which he was doing well.
At the end i told him i had to go, "ok".
"i'll see you on monday"..... "ok"
"you gotta keep working. You have to keep moving your hands, arms, head and any other body part because the more you work the easier it is going to get". And he said "i will"
It was great because while i havent been to see him that many times, that was by far the longest he had his eyes open and he was looking right at me. It was also the most words i've heard him say... And there were a ton of other words i couldn't hear/understand.
---------------------------------------------
I just hung out with the big man for an hour. He was sitting in a wheel chair when i walked in. I woke his ass up and told him he needed to look at me and talk to me since I had come all the way in to see him on the train.
He was awake almost the entire time and talking a lot. The only problem is he still has a tracheotomy an it is brutally hard to hear and understand him.
I asked him if he remembered my name and he nodded yes and said, "Brian". He was having trouble opening both eyes yesterday but had them both open today. He tried to scratch his right ear and got his hand up to about his nose and he couldl't lift it anymore. I asked him if he had an itch and he said "yes" and then he said "my right ear". I scratched it for him and asked if I got it and he said "yes".
His right hand is still a bit swollen from not being used (according to the therapist). The therapist said to just move it for him so i kept opening and closing the hand and then made him lift his left hand and grip mine... Which he was doing well.
At the end i told him i had to go, "ok".
"i'll see you on monday"..... "ok"
"you gotta keep working. You have to keep moving your hands, arms, head and any other body part because the more you work the easier it is going to get". And he said "i will"
It was great because while i havent been to see him that many times, that was by far the longest he had his eyes open and he was looking right at me. It was also the most words i've heard him say... And there were a ton of other words i couldn't hear/understand.
paulthenurse
Fecal Transplant Super Donor
- Joined
- May 14, 2007
- Messages
- 12,278
- Reaction score
- 2,208
Great. I'll get over there on Monday and keep kicking him in the shorts.
PTN
PTN
DrawTap88
Well-Known Member
Sure he was wishing he was going on that crawl. Glad to see progress is still being made. Thanks for the update.
Hang Glider
Beer Drinker
Thanks for the updates!
Might be time for another try at smell therapy? - hops? Get him really wanting his improvement...
Might be time for another try at smell therapy? - hops? Get him really wanting his improvement...
Hippie
Well-Known Member
I've been offline for a while, but his was one of my first stops... I am glad to hear about the move to the new facility, but I am disgusted to hear that his insurance company is dragging it's feet... ****ing leeches. It is heartening to hear about all of his progress, and I hope that it keeps coming in faster steps.
Keep going Jeff, best of luck to you and your family and I look forward to seeing you at a brew session soon.
Keep going Jeff, best of luck to you and your family and I look forward to seeing you at a brew session soon.
Update 12/8/2010
His wife called me this afternoon to report that Jeff's sarcasm muscle is fully functional. He had her laughing. She said to him today that she missed being able to really talk to him and she asked him if he missed talking to her. His response, "Sort of." This morning he had Speech Therapy and Physical Therapy and they decided to give him some time to rest before Occupational Therapy this afternoon. They're cutting him some slack 'cause he's fighting a urinary tract infection right now and is on some antibiotics.
His wife and the nurse were talking in his room and out comes a big "SHHHH!"
"Oh, I'm sorry are we keeping you awake?"
Nods his head, "yes"
"Want us to keep quiet so you can get to sleep?"
"SHHH!"
By the way, he got his tracheotomy tube removed the other day and that situation is working out well. He's able to speak a bit better, but it's still pretty quiet. He had a good speech therapy session and a good PT session. They put an empty pint glass in front of him and asked him to pick up the "mug." He shook his head, "no." "Jeff pick up the mug." Again shook his head. Maureen interjected, "Jeff pick up the pint glass." He did.
They also had him picking up one of his son's toy cars and one of his toy NASCAR guys. They had him pick up a Dale Earnhardt Jr. guy a few times. His wife asked him who it was. Jeff thought for a while. She asked "is it Jimmy Johnson?" Jeff replied, "no...Junior."
He continues to make daily progress and has had a few more visitors lately. If you can fit it in, try and make it up to see him.
Keep up the positive thoughts and prayers. Our Jeff, the "real" Jeff is definitely emerging and can use all the help he can get.
His wife called me this afternoon to report that Jeff's sarcasm muscle is fully functional. He had her laughing. She said to him today that she missed being able to really talk to him and she asked him if he missed talking to her. His response, "Sort of." This morning he had Speech Therapy and Physical Therapy and they decided to give him some time to rest before Occupational Therapy this afternoon. They're cutting him some slack 'cause he's fighting a urinary tract infection right now and is on some antibiotics.
His wife and the nurse were talking in his room and out comes a big "SHHHH!"
"Oh, I'm sorry are we keeping you awake?"
Nods his head, "yes"
"Want us to keep quiet so you can get to sleep?"
"SHHH!"
By the way, he got his tracheotomy tube removed the other day and that situation is working out well. He's able to speak a bit better, but it's still pretty quiet. He had a good speech therapy session and a good PT session. They put an empty pint glass in front of him and asked him to pick up the "mug." He shook his head, "no." "Jeff pick up the mug." Again shook his head. Maureen interjected, "Jeff pick up the pint glass." He did.
They also had him picking up one of his son's toy cars and one of his toy NASCAR guys. They had him pick up a Dale Earnhardt Jr. guy a few times. His wife asked him who it was. Jeff thought for a while. She asked "is it Jimmy Johnson?" Jeff replied, "no...Junior."
He continues to make daily progress and has had a few more visitors lately. If you can fit it in, try and make it up to see him.
Keep up the positive thoughts and prayers. Our Jeff, the "real" Jeff is definitely emerging and can use all the help he can get.
That's great news!!!!!
DrawTap88
Well-Known Member
Sounds like he's still teaching them about beer. Way to go Jeff.
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2007
- Messages
- 62,016
- Reaction score
- 6,922
These last few updates have been awesome to read. I currently have a daughter in the NICU that has been there since she was born on the 15th and it is just nice to read about someone overcoming something so serious. I'm happy to see his personality coming through again. It's got to be an amazing thing for all his friends and family to witness. Here's hoping for a steady incline and recovery 
Similar threads
