Day 8

Those who don't know, I have been at Cub Scout Country for the last two days. While the first day was fun, it wore me out. The second day of Cub Country, after being worn out from the first, just cleaned my clock. So I didn't make it to see Todd. But I do have updates from Amy and my dad.

Aparently, while Todd is still sleepy and slept quite a bit today, he is doing even better than yesterday. Since according to my experience, yesterday was pretty amazing, I can't wait to go visit him again.

They moved him to a new floor today. Now he is on the 6th floor. Aparently they received a bunch of urgent patients, so they transfered the healthiest patients.

As my mom added in her comments to yesterday's post, Todd is now disconnected from all of his tubes. So the change from yesterday is the removal of his catheter. Man, that even feels painful to write. So when you go to visit, only the heplock will be on his arm. The heplock is an IV needle and a little attachment wrapped on his arm so if an IV is necessary, they can just plug it right into the attachment, and not waste time putting in an IV needle and affixing it to his arm. For just about anyone in a hospital it is required until discharge.

Todd was also taken him off the soft diet today and can now have "regular food." The quotes mean that regular food is healthy food. No pizza, hamburgers, fries, etc. Food within healthy reason. That means no sneaking milkshakes people. If you really must bring a milkshake, make sure I'm there and order chocolate-banana please.

The LDS hospital representative came in today and after an evaluation said they will transfer Todd to the IMC hospital tomorrow at 10am in an IHC van. IMC on 5121 S. Cottonwood Street (maps and directions) and the building he will be in is 12 stories high (Todd's room will be on the 12th floor). He will have his own room and it should have a pretty good view of the valley. IMC is a new facility with new equipment and some of the best doctors in the area.

There is a new visitation policy to go with the new hospital, so everyone should note this if they plan to visit. Since he will be in the physical therepy area, they will be working with him in the morning and early afternoon. Therefore, visitors can only come after 4:00 PM. It is a pretty vigorous program and they will work him pretty hard. In fact, they have said that by evening he will have dinner and probably fall right asleep. Amy said this new rigorous therapy will start on Friday (7/25).

The LDS hospital representative also said that by looking at how fast Todd is progressing, they believe he will stay at the new hospital for between 5 and 14 days. After that, there will be some home care. Overall, they are totally amazed at how fast he is recovering.

Todd is now able to wear normal clothes, like underwear (thank goodness; no more flashing), loose-fitting t-shirts and pants.

He had a long walk today. He looked out the windows and really enjoyed that. He tried walking on his own, but he still has a balance problem. The doctors say it is common with this type of injury.

During his walk, Todd passed by a Coke machine. He leaned over to Amy and said in a soft voice, "Hey Amy, quick, distract them while I grab a coke." Amy said, "I'm not going to do that you crack smoker." Todd said, "Okay, I'll distract them and you grab the Coke." When the doctors heard about this later, they said it was okay for him to have a Coke. When he got it and had a drink he said, "Oh, that tastes so good." Now lest you think Todd is craving Cokes and want to bring him some, keep in mind that he didn't even finish half the can. I think for the most part it was good just to have a taste of normal life.

I'll make a plug for visitors here (those than are in the area). I'm not saying we should flood Todd with visits, but I am saying that when he is in physical thereapy at IMC, he would love to visit with you. There are a few that come pretty regularly, this isn't for them. They'll go regardless. This is for those who may be waiting for the right time. I think you'll have a good visit and it will help Todd feel connected to his world again. Stick to the new visiting hours and don't all come at once, but do drop by.