September 27, 2006 at 01:00 AM EDT

Justin has had a busy week and it is going to contiue.

Physical theraphy has been working with Justin the last couple of days with walking up stairs.

 

On Friday September 29th Justin will be getting a nueropsychological evaultion with Dr Gripshover at Health South. It will take about 4 hours. The test will determine how his brain is working (strengths and weaknesses), Assist with treatment, clarify a diagnosis and develop recommendations for him.

 

On Tuesday October 3 Justin is going shopping at Wal-mart with a couple of the therapist.

 

On Saturday September 30 Justin is getting a pass for 3 to 4 hours. I'm not sure what we will do but I know he will enjoy getting out of the hospital for a little while. He says he wants to go to a Cov Cath game. But I'm not sure when they play this weekend.

 

Today a guy came to visit Justin. He had an bike accident in July of 2005. He is 21 and also has an TBI. (Traumatic Brain Injury). He talked to Justin and told him everything that he has been through. He told Justin to be determined and to work hard. It was a nice visit.

 

This is the address for Health South. For anyone who would like to send Justin a card, note etc for encourgement.

Health South

201 Medical Village Drive

Edgewood, Ky 41017

65 October 01, 2006 at 01:00 AM EDT

On Friday Justin had his neuropsychological evaulation from 9-11 and from 2-4. Not sure when we will get the results back. I did speak with Dr Gripshover the nueropychologist. He rated Justin between a IV and a V on the Ranchos Los Amigos Scale. This is a scale that they use to measure the levels of recovery:

I - No response

II - Generalized response : Total Assistance

III - Localized response : Total Assistance

IV - Confused/Agitated : Total Assistance

V - Confused/Inappropiate Non-Agitated : Maximal Assistance

VI - Confused/Appropriate

VII - Automatic-inappropiate

VIII - Purposefule and appropriate

 

On Saturday he got a pass from 1:00 to 5:00 pm. He wanted to go to the Cov Cath football game but Dr Gripshover did not think it was a good idea and was afraid that Justin would get over stimulated. So I took him to Grandma Bonnye's where he played Black Jack for about and hour. I then took him to a small birthday party on his dad's (Doug) side of the family so they could visit with him for awhile. He had a good time and want's another road trip this weekend. So hopefully he will get another pass this weekend.

Here's hoping for an VIII real soon:ylsuper:

October 03, 2006 at 01:00 AM EDT

Well its been 22 weeks since Justin's accident. It seems like a long time ago sometimes and at other times it seems just like yesterday that I got the call.

He didn't get to go shopping today. They moved it to next week. I think he was a little dissapointed he looks forward to getting out.

 

I wanted to say thank you for those that have sent him cards. He enjoy's opening his mail.

 

 

October 05, 2006 at 01:00 AM EDT

I had a meeting yesterday with the case worker and the therapist.

 

Speech - She is working with Justin 3 times a week on swallowing. She is using the vital stem and deep thermal stimulation techniques. 2 times a week she is working with Justin where he uses a PC to work on his processing, attention span etc. He will still be on the tube feeding when he comes home and it might be that way for 3 to 6 months.

 

Occupational - She is working with Justin on his visual and his reading. He can only read things in big or bold print, he can't read small print. She brings him worksheets to work on. Justin told her she needs to bring him something more challenging for him to work on.

 

Physical - She is working with him on his walking quality and his trunk stability. He is no longer using a shopping cart and is using something they constructed out of a PVC pipe. She said he is doing good with slowing down on his walking and walking from heal to toe like he should. Her goal for him by the time he comes home is to have him walking with a walker or a cane for short distances like around the house. He will still need a chair for long periods of time if we are out .

 

On Monday 2 therapist are coming to the house to acess it and to give me recomendations for when Justin comes home. On Tuesday they will be taking Justin on a shopping trip to Wal-Mart to see how he does.

October 09, 2006 at 01:00 AM EDT

Saturday night Justin was complaining of his stomach hurting on a scale of 1 to 10 he said the pain was an 8. So they called for an ambulance to take him to St Elizabeth's. We were there for about 3 hours. The Doctor said his feeding tube was slightly infected. They put him on 2 antibiotics and pain medicine.

 

Today 2 therapist came to evaulate the house. We have to build a ramp from the driveway to the porch and put in a couple of hold bars in the bathroom. Other than that we don't have to do much. Our house is pretty big and open so he won't have a hard time moving around.

 

He is doing really good at using his walker each day in theraphy. So we are hoping he gets to come home using a walker or cane. He has three weeks and the rate he is going I have no doubt that he will.

 

He is going shopping tomorrow at 9:00. He made his list today of the things he wants to buy. He is looking forward to another road trip even if its to Walmart.

 

Keep up those prayers!!

The news just keeps getting better for Justin. Before you know it he will be at the Cov. Cath. games. Keep up the hard fight Justin and remember we pray for you everyday.

October 10, 2006 at 05:08 PM EDT

This morning Justin was getting sick to his stomach. At 9:00 a.m. he was admitted to St Elizabeth's emergency room. They ran some blood test and took an X-ray and a CT Scan of his abdomen. Results were that he has pneumatosis (air in the bowel wall) and possibly some type of infection. They put him on Cipro, Flagyl and Bactrim. At 4:00 they admitted him. He is in room 2210 and his phone number is 301-5260. Not sure how long he will be there, probably not more than a day or two. Another long day in the emergency room.

 

 

October 12, 2006 at 02:09 PM EDT

Justin will be staying at St. Elizabeth Hospital until Friday or Saturday. It depends on how he does when they start his tube feeding. He has 2 bacteria's around his tube feeding. He also has either weak bladder muscles or a UTI (Urinary Trach Infection). He is on 4 different types of antibiotics and morphine for pain so this should take care of all the infections, bacterias, pain - etc.

 

Since he has been at St Elizabeth he has not been given any type of theraphy so this will be a week he will be missing out on theraphy.

He misses Health South and wants to go back. His old room is all packed up at Health South. Not sure what room he will be in when he gets back there but I will let everyone know. Keep up those prayers.

Definately in my prayers!

How's Justin doing? Hope the infection is cleared up and he's back on track with his therapy.

You guys are still in our prayers.

October 16, 2006 at 02:26 PM EDT

Justin is back at Health South - in room 119 & his number is 344-3219. I got to take him back on Sunday. At first they told me they couldn't discharge him on Sunday because there were no available ambulances. I told them I could drive him myself so they let me.

Justin calls Health South his home away from home and was happy to go back.

As far as I know he will still be coming home on October 30th. Health South people meet each week to discuss him and his progress and then the case manager calls me and lets me know whats going on. Maybe since he was in the hospital for 6 days they may keep him another week. I will let everyone know when I find out.

Sorry for the delay...I have been out of town for a little while.

Here's a picture of Justin...

Here's a picture of Justin...

 

 

 

He looks great.:banana: :banana: :dancingpa :dancingpa