A Day of Real Food!

Hello to all of our favorite followers...

We have just returned to Dana's room and decided it would be nice to fill everybody in (since we skipped out last night). I, Courtney's sister, arrived in Atlanta late last night and, unfortunately, Dana was already zonked out so I had to wait til this morning to see him. But he is filling me in on yesterday's events...
Dana attended his therapy sessions throughout the morning and afternoon. Dana tells me that his therapy went well, "tough, but it feels good." He concluded his day with a ride around the facility; but it wasn't exactly a joy ride. The therapist, Mark, who accompanied Dana challenged him to open all of the doors and press all of the elevator buttons without any assistance. Dana, of course, mastered this task with ease while also maintaining his motorized chair (which Court and I both decided we would crash). After checking out Dana's neck, the head nurse commented that Dana's trach wound is healing very well...hence his voice is getting much stronger and clearer. Good thing because Ernie needs a little fatherly input in order to modify his behavior. After all his hard work throughout the day the rest of the evening was a party... no pun intended...
For anyone who did not already know yesterday was Courtney's birthday (hurry up and get the belated's in before she holds a grudge!) For the occassion Erin and Dan brought over party hats and a cake and they really did have a little party (they saved me some cake and I must say..mmm delicious... nice pick Erin!) Ryan and Matt Osborne made appearances to visit Dana as well during the evening, and Dana said that was nice catching up.
This morning Susie-Q and I came over just while Dana was finishing up his breakfast (nasty eggs and bacon but he did enjoy the oj, fruit and cherrios). During a normal week the plan is that Dana will be working hard Monday thru Friday and then resting on the weekend. Today, however, was an exception. At 10 oclock Dana attended one occupational therapy (OT) session, which he has termed the "saturday special." Ginger, who is not the OT on his treatment team, is a super nice girl who enjoyed working with Dana. They worked on some seated balance exercises and Dana even got to lift some weights. He says that he did bicep curls and tricep extensions 15x for 3 sets with his right arm... "5 lbs feels like a lot when you havent done anything in awhile." To refuel after the workout, Dana, Court, Q, and I enjoyed lunch from Panera outside in the Garden section of the facility... HOT out there!
The rest of the afternoon was some chatting and resting. We concluded the day by having take-out dinner from a southern chain called Maggianos... sooo delicious.... I really would not have guessed southerners could do Italian so well! The choice was between Mexican or Italian but Dana said he wanted to have Italian since he was hanging out with some Italian women (although no one believes we really are). Upon eating downstairs in the atrium sitting area high school pals James and Sadie surprisingly popped in after having driven 6 hours from Orlando. Dana was happy to see them and briefly catch up, but they will be back again in the morning!
Right now Dana is scrubbing up his pearly whites and getting ready to lay back in bed. We will update you all again soon.... but for now Dana leaves you all with the following words...
"I continue to get stronger each and every day and learn more about my rehabilitation and what led me here. I look forward to the continued weeks in rehab so I may return home strong and healthy!"

Goodnight everybody... thank you for all the love you send... and we love you all right back.
Adios for now-
Brittany

A Thursday Night Update from Room 217D!!!

Hi All....it is Courtney (typing) and Dana (dictating). We are sending an update tonight from the sunny skies of Atlanta! Courtney says,"Yes...this is my first day typing a blog, as I made a deal I wouldn't blog until Dana was able to provide input." Dana states, " We are very excited to be doing this together. It was another busy day, filled with speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy. Therapy has been progessing well, so the length of occupational and physical therapy sessions have increased again by another half hour. Although challenging and grueling for now, I know that ultimately the gains at the end will be worth it. To change things up a bit....the second half of OT was held in the beautiful garden here at the Shepherd Center. It felt so good to get outside and enjoy the warm weather. Laughter and Sunshine are two of the best medicines. Just ask...Courtney! While outside in the garden....Court and I had a very long discussion. She filled me in on where I was 6 weeks ago, and where I am now. It is hard to realize how far I've come, when I know how far I still have to go.
We were in the garden so long, the nurse came looking for us! He had medication he wanted to give me and couldn't find me! Ha ha!
Another highlight of today was a visit from Ryan Osborne...a friend of mine from high school. It was a great surprise! It was nice catching up with you Ryan.
Tonight for dinner I got a meal ticket(a better choice than hospital food). It included a great hamburger, tomato soup and gatorade. Oh and a special treat..Court brought me peanut butter cups, my favorite. This is by far the best dinner I have had.
On a different note....Courtney and I wanted to take this time to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts, for the cards, letters, prayers, thoughts, visits, etc! We are very fortunate to be surrounded by such wonderful people in our lives. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We are getting through this one day at a time and we surely couldn't do it without your continued love and support." Have a great night! Love, Courtney and Dana, in Rm 217D

The first Monday of Rehabilitation 9/17/07

Dana had a very busy day today. His trach tube was removed and replaced with a "button". The button is a device that will stay in place for a short time keeping the hole open, just in case it is needed.

Dana met with the members of his team who will help him on his road to recovery. The team consists of several doctors, physical therapists, occupational therapists, pychologists, speech therapists, nurses and technicians. (I hope I haven't forgotten anyone). Schedules with each of these individuals begin slowly this week, but by next week the plan is for a full day (9 to 4) Monday through Friday (and sometimes a half day on Saturday). Dana was very excited to begin this process. Today he started a few exercises for his left arm, shoulder, wrist, elbow and fingers. He didn't get a chance to get out of bed today as they fitted him for a new chair which will be ready for him tomorrow. He is very much looking forward to tomorrow for a ride around in his new chair.

Dana is in very good spirits and is even cracking some jokes. Courtney and I were both in stiches tonight laughing with him.

Dana asked me to send congratulations to Brad and Amber on the birth of their new baby boy Weston Charles born on Saturday. Thanks Nate for letting us know!

An impressive day! Over and out from ATL.

Atlanta Update

Sorry I didn't update the blog last night. There is good news from Atlanta.

Yesterday late afternoon, Dana was moved out of the ICU to the second floor Room 217, which he will share (4 people in the room). Think of it as a dorm room at college. He actually has more space in room 217 than he did in ICU. ICU was pretty tight quarters. The real significance of the move to 217 is tomorrow (Monday 9/17) will begin Dana's first week in rehab.

We understand that tomorrow will be all about setting up the plan for the first week. Dana will meet with the crew here to find out what his schedule will be and will start slowly (an hour each with the physical therapist and the occupational therapist). The second week will kick in to a full day schedule from about 9:00 to 4:00 each day.

Last night Court and I took Dana for a ride around the second floor (as far as we could go until we have more clearance) . He had a chance to see one of the physical therapy rooms (there are many). First thing that Dana asked was whether there were any bicycles to ride in rehab. Of course the answer is yes. Shepard's also has a fabulous pool which no doubt Dana will use during his stay here.

Dana is looking forward to this first rehab week and is in very good spirits. Other than a case of hiccups for the last few days (intermitent - which are really annoying to him), he is doing very well. He is eating well (and able to feed himself for the most part)! He his trying to load up on fluids (so he can get rid of the IV). Yesterday he sat up in the chair for 12 hours. Hurray! His trach tube was stepped down in size and capped, so we are able to talk with him. His voice gets stronger each day.

Now that we don't have to read lips anymore, we have had great conversations with Dana. He asked me to send his love to everyone and said he is so lucky and thankful to have all of you cheering him on every step of the way. So toward that end, now, more than ever, please keep the positive thoughts, cards, etc. flowing.

I'm headed back to 217 (he is up in the chair). Court is planning on shopping for a few things for Dana. He can wear cloths now (but we didn't bring any - hence the shopping trip) . Kind of like the first day of school and guess we were a little unprepared! Actually a big thanks to Mike P. from Dana for the Cowboy t-shirts. He is wearing one right now! Good thing we brought them.

That is it for now. Over and out from ATL!