No Plopping!

Corbin and I went to the hospital and spent about four hours with Claudia. She is doing remarkably well. Her doctor has even told her that he will probably be sending her home Thursday or Friday, instead of Saturday like he had originally thought. She was also scheduled to phase off of her femoral blocks onto a morphine pump tomorrow, but they are going to forgo the pump and go straight to pain meds. That is GREAT news!! When we got there, she was eating and bending (gotta love the CPM- it's her new best friend). I have a sneaky feeling that will be what her life looks like for a while to come. She was ready and eager to go for her second walk of the day, but the PT kept putting her off because every time he came to her room, he would find someone else from the hospital staff had beat him to it. Quite frankly, I don't think there are too many employees left at Utah Valley Hospital that she hasn't met. She had the Occupational Therapist, the Physical Therapist, the Pain Specialists, the Discharge Nurse, the Hospital Bishopric members, her own doctor, her nurses (numbering 3), and the cute little girl who delivered her meals all visiting her at one time or another. Finally, things calmed down enough that her physical therapist, Mark, and his assistant of the day, felt they could come and take her for a walk. Before she could walk, she had to be prepared to walk, so they stretched and pulled and pushed her legs until she was ready. They tied her into a brace per leg to keep her legs from buckling underneath her and then spun her legs off of the bed. She put her feet down and the show began. She stood and began walking, or rather shuffling, but moving in a forward direction none the less. She cruised right out of her room and made it all the way down the hall before her leg buckled. Mark demanded she turn around immediately and return to her room, since she had already exceeded his expectations. When she got back to her bed, it became evident that the real issue was how she was going to bend her knees enough to sit back down. After thinking it over, she announced she was going to just plop backwards and let her legs pop up instead of trying to bend. Mark, his assistant, and I jumped in and screamed no right before she was able to put her ridiculous plan into action- thank heavens. We were able to brace her and steady her enough that she could sit, not quite like a normal person, but at least she didn't just plop. Since she is worried about losing her femoral blocks tomorrow, she is trying to push herself hard today while it isn't as painful. She had Mark put the CPM back on (he thought she should rest first) and upped the degree to 70. Needless to say, by the time we left, she was hating life. I switched the machine to her other leg (which the nurse did not really appreciate) and headed out the door. Hopefully, she took Mark's advice and rested after that last set. It should be interesting to see what tomorrow brings, with the feeling returning to her legs.