Today began a bit earlier than usual... in the middle of the night in fact. Yesterday, the Brothers Stern set up Burt's mobile phone with their numbers on speed dial in case of emergencies. Good thing they did as Burt called up at 3 AM to let them know that he could not get a hold of the nurses when he needed them. David immediately called and unleashed his ribcage-breaking fury upon the nursing staff. His comments went all the way to the top and Burt was checked on assiduously today.
Regardless of the middle of the night debacle, Connie brought brownies en route to her second visit to the emergency room this week. Turns out that her ribs may be broken, but the doctor's can't tell for sure. They gave her lidocaine patches to wear on her torso to help dull the pain. Hopefully she takes it easy and settles into her new book. The girl with the lidocaine patch reads 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.'
Besides that, there is not too much to report today... no major developments, but also no major steps backwards. Burt was decently alert, but also a bit tired. He had his first few visitors today, which was exciting, but also exhausting, so he took a lot of naps. Right now he's not quite the social butterfly, he's still in the chrysalis stage.
While he wields his suction tube with great precision, Burt has his eyes firmly focused on the swallowing prize. After failing his first three preliminary swallow tests last week, Burt has been scheduled for a video swallow test on Tuesday. This is apparently the mother of all swallow tests. They will be able to monitor the path of a variety of substances like water, pudding and even a soft cookie. Perhaps they can do it in 3D.
He is training hard for the test, practicing thousands of swallows in his head each day. Think of them as oral push ups in a Rocky-style training montage. Not being able to swallow for eleven days does bizarre things to your mind and it is funny what you start to miss. Burt has oddly enough becoming increasingly obsessed with the goal of apple sauce and apple juice. So as soon as he passes his swallow test, team Stern will search for the ultimate apple sauce.
Most of the staff thought Burt was being moved to rehab today, so they did not bother with physical therapy. David stepped in and helped stretch him out, to make sure none of the muscles tightened. Thankfully, he was much gentler than he was with his mother. Burt likes these periods as it gives him a brief respite from his various foot contraptions. His first is a fur lined boot which he wears for two hour periods which keeps his foot flexed so it does not lose tone. It is almost like a stiff, therapeutic Ugg.
In addition to this, Burt also has vascular refill detection booties that he has been wearing since his arrival at the hospital. These are basically inflatable socks that wrap around his shins and intermittently expand and contract to prevent the creation of blood clots in his legs. As Burt said today, "I feel like I am in the clutches of some bizarre sea creature."
The night ended with a smile... literally. As he said goodnight Burt let off a smile and for the first time his left side shifted slightly to match the right. With twitch of a nerve and the subtlest curl of his lip, he reminded us that everyday new pathways form.
Hi Burt - It's Andy - you know "Cousin Andy" -and Sheryl, who you can think of as "Cousin Sheryl." When Connie called us to tell us what happened, we were of course stunned. You, Connie, David and Gregory are constantly in our hearts, thoughts and prayers. We would have blogged sooner, but we have had a little medical mishap of our own.
ReplyDeleteAs misery loves company, I will briefly share with you my own past week. I was seeing a dentist who diagnosed me with TMJ. He then sent me to a physical therapist who told me that the second vertebrae in my neck, C2, was out of alignment and that that was affecting my jaw. So, he started manipulating it back into position. Last Thursday, after our 7th session together, he told me he had moved it back into position. Well, last Friday, I woke up with the worst headache of my life in a place that I never had a headache before - the occipital region of the brain. Anyway, for the past 8 days, I have had a terrible headache, nausea, light-headedness and vertigo. In other words, I have all the symptoms of a bad concussion, seemingly without having a concussion. Two chiropractors and a primary care nurse that Sheryl and I know have all told us that this is not uncommon when someone screws around with C2 and that it should go away with time. My primary care doctor doesn't agree and said he has no idea what is going on - but he did send me for x-rays and a cat scan to rule out stroke - they came back normal. Whatever you do, don't send David over to re-adjust me. We heard what he can do to ribs. I can only imagine how my neck would fare at his hands. I know, I know, you would swap places with me in a second - my condition probably sounds like heaven, right?
Anyway, back to you, Sheryl and I agree that if ever there was an individual who could successfully battle back from a stroke, it is you. Few people that we have known have your mental strength and fortitude (together with a rather bizarre sense of humor), and they will serve you well. Reading the narratives of your adventures has been inspirational - every time I have some fear over whether my own situation will resolve, I think about you and how you are handling your situation and I am so impressed. As soon as I am feeling better and Connie tells us that you are well enough to handle our personalities, Sheryl and I will be by for a visit. For now, you have been spared that.
By the way, if you think this is how you are going to get out of getting us free tickets to Tanglewood and ushering us around, forget it. It may have worked for the rest of this year, but by next summer, we will be expecting you to personally show us our front-row seats for some amazing concert.
We wish you the best and look forward to seeing you soon.
All our love, Andy & Sheryl
Mr. Stern -- you're in my thoughts and prayers -- having known Greg and David for the last several years, I'm comforted that you have two wonderful sons to help you pull through this!
ReplyDeleteWishing you the very best,
Will Rabbe