Typical day 23 days after injury

2:00am- pain meds, sometimes ice pack for his ankle, water refill

6:00am-  2 pain meds

Breakfast in bed, water refill

PT exercises

Sometimes a trip to the bathroom carrying his wound vac and using the walker

10:00am- pain meds, aspirin

Lunch in bed, water refill

PT exercises

2:00pm- pain meds, stool softener

6:00pm- 2 pain meds

Dinner in bed (occasionally he eats in his wheelchair), water refill

PT exercises with a walk to the kitchen + back

10:00pm- pain meds

I usually rotate is ankle to help loosen + stretch it before bed.

Jeremy and I give Brig his meds every 4 hours.  Sometimes he chooses to go 6 hours when he is having a good day. 

On Monday, Wednesday or Friday there is a 1 1/2 hours where Nick visits to change his wound vac. It is never the same time so I don't schedule anything that day and will only leave for a quick errand after wound care is done.

So far every week he has had at least 1 doctor appointment where we are gone for a few hours. 


2-3 times a week I wash his hair in an inflatable hair sink and he washes himself with a washcloth + no-rinse soap.  We are hoping to try a shower next week. He worries about keeping the fasciotomy sites, vac hose, wound vac machine dry. 

The rest of his time he is sleeping, watching Netflix/Hulu or talking with visitors.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day One- The Event (may be graphic details for some) + Surgery

Image
Here we are the day after a life changing day in our lives. The trauma + the miracles.  I'm hoping this will be helpful for everyone to access Brigham's updates. Plus, I'm thinking it will be therapeutic for me.  DAY ONE  8/7/2020 THE EVENT Friday morning (guessing 9:40ish)  Brigham was building deck stairs in the Francis' backyard by himself.  Somehow he accidentally cut himself with a skill saw on his right upper leg.  (I will stress this point, he did nothing wrong, we are pretty sure we have figured how it happened and it was a freak accident.) Neighbors came running as they heard his bloodcurdling scream.  Mom Francis (I don't have permission to use first names so I will refer to people as Mom + Dad) looked at her window and saw the blood.  She quickly grabbed towels, leaping off her deck to get to Brigham and immediately applying pressure.  Her husband was home and he ran out to help apply pressure and giving him a priesthood blessing. Thank you Francis famil
Read more

Tuesday 11th Update

Image
First thing, we found out that Brigham is reading the blog and the comments.  So he may see what you write.   Craig from the Trauma team is working on getting Brigham moved from the surgical floor to inpatient rehab (most likely will happen tomorrow).  They are also working with the insurance to get the following items for when he comes home and continues in home rehab: front wheel walker, wheelchair with an elevated leg and a wound vac. He shouldn't need anymore transfusions.  His hemoglobin levels are increasing at a good rate now. So I believe in simple terms- he is making his own blood.  The doctor from the Vascular team (wish I had a name, this is where not being there with him is tricky) says the plan for now is to let the fasciotomy heal + close on its own- which may take a month or two. Or since he is young it may happen quicker.  Leg pulse continues to be good. He will need to be on a low dose of aspirin for at least a year to prevent clots. As far as PT he will be doing i
Read more

Guess who went outside?

Image
 Today during afternoon PT Brigham was able to walk from the right side of his bed to the left side of his bed. Wahoo! We are impressed.  He said the therapist walked behind him but he was able to use the walker and do it himself.  The right leg is still so heavy so it is more of a drag than a step. And he was able to go to the bathroom standing up.  This is a big deal!  It was tricky but he did it. And he got to go outside!  Doesn't he look so good?  He's alive!  My heart could just burst with happiness and gratitude.  I keep hearing more tidbits about his time in the helicopter + in surgery and I am in awe of the miracle that he is alive. I am so thankful for everything that everyone did. You see that machine on his lap?  That is a wound vac and he will becoming home with one of those.  I'm not sure if it is that size or smaller but they said he could put it in a backpack to carry it around with him. This helps the fasciotomy heal. 
Read more