Friday, August 22

As Tommy's ability to stand, pivot and walk have improved over this past week, so has his ability to help with transfers. The nurse's aides have gradually phased out the use of the Hoyer lift (the big metal "stork on wheels" that lifted him from bed to wheelchair and vice versa), and Tommy is now officially a "Max-2"--i.e., maximum assistance on transfers, with two people assisting. Also, because he can now stand (with assistance, and using a grab bar), the aides are able to take him into the bathroom so that he can get back to using those facilities. This is really important, because Tommy is just beginning to regain the skills associated with body plumbing--skills that we take so for granted when we're mobile and when we can take action as soon as we get the urge. Those plumbing skills get rusty when mobility comes to a sudden halt, so now Tommy is on a two-hour bladder-retraining schedule.