Day 114

Early on in this process we were told that Burt’s progress would move two steps forward and one step back.  This has unfortunately been proven true in the last week.

Early last week Burt was sick for a few days.  The nurses at the residence thought it was a gastrointestinal bug, but last Wednesday he was sent to the emergency room.  It turns out that it was actually a kidney stone lodged in his urinary tract.  Burt had a 104 temperature and was very sick, so they had an emergency operation in the middle of the night to install a stent to drain the kidney.  

The back up of the kidney function caused Burt to have a Staph infection in his urine and his blood.  He was treated with high doses of antibiotics, which he will be on for the next month.  The antibiotics irritated his vein so they installed a PICC line, which is like a hard-wired IV. 

It looked like Burt was recovering well, but then on Monday Burt became very lethargic.  He quickly lost the ability to speak and seemed one step above a coma.  All he could do was nod his head now and then and sporadically open his eyes halfway.  The doctors classified it as delirium.  His kidneys began to fail and he kept dry heaving from the build up of urea in his system.

As he was essentially helpless, the Stern family became residents of the hospital.  Connie won the prize, spending 90 hours straight on the hospital, sleeping on a fold out bed next to him.  We had him moved up to a more intensive unit so we could actually go home at night. 

In the last two days Burt has begun dialysis and has regained awareness.  He is still very week and does not have the strength to speak audibly, but if you lean in close and work at it, you can decipher what he’s saying.

We are hoping that he will only be on dialysis temporarily while his kidneys rebound.  We are not sure what caused this, we just want them to heal and for the staph infection to die out so Burt can regain his strength and get back to rehab.  Our old friends Paddy and Randy from Burt’s first rehab already have dibs to kick his ass once he gets back on his feet.

Day 103

Hello everyone,

So this was a big weekend for Burt.  It was the first time he has had his whole family back together in nearly three months.  Gregory flew back from LA and was amazed at how much Burt has changed since he last saw him.  While Connie and David have been there for every step of incremental progress, Gregory was able to see a drastic shift.

When Gregory last saw him Burt was completely bed ridden.  He was just learning to be able to sit up and would have sold either of his sons for a glass of water.  Now Burt can drink by the mouthful.  The applesauce he dreamed of not too long ago is now given to him daily with his pills to help them go down.

Burt can now stand up by himself as long as someone is there to brace him once he does.  He spends most of the day in a wheelchair and has just recently started wheeling himself down the hall with one hand and his right foot for assistance.  He did not tell anyone he could do this, he just started sneaking up behind them and scaring the hell out of them.

He has a lovely private room, which is a far cry from his hospital duds a few months ago.  David set up a bird feeder outside Burt’s window and put the antenna for his XM radio on it so he can listen to opera all day. Rounding out his tech devices, Burt also has an iPad and a Kindle.  While this makes him the envy of most people in their twenties, he has yet to take full advantage of them.  Hopefully he will be inspired to soon, especially since his sons are considering adding a Wii to the collection for Christmas.

Burt is in the rehab section of the residence, separated from Gen Pop, which is full of the catatonic and the crazy.  When Gregory suggested that they watch a Zombie movie, it was pointed out to him that they are already surrounded by zombies.

With all of his tremendous strides, new challenges have become apparent.  While Burt is mostly there, he has certain deficiencies.  His awareness, his attention and his determination are slightly diminished. These are not massively obvious, but they can be seen over time. We are not sure how much he is aware of these, but are confident that with work and focus these should increase over time.

The next step is to start phasing in mental exercises like puzzles, board games and chess.  If anyone feels like dropping by for a game of chess, please do.  Beyond that we want Burt to start setting a schedule for himself.  He has to start owning his day and deciding what he wants in it.  While it is nice at times to have a more complacent version of Burt, he needs to own his recovery a bit more.  He works very hard when it is time for his rehab and enjoys company, but the issue arises when he is alone.  He needs to spend more time doing certain physical, mental and breath exercises when no one is watching to speed up his recovery.

As for this week’s news, Burt was taken for a special triple bone scan the other day to figure out what is going on with his shoulder.  Burt’s shoulder is still a source of pain and aggravation.  He wears a special brace, which is somewhere between football padding and gladiator armor to keep it supported. For the scan, Burt had to drink radioactive liquid that would seep into his bones and make them glow.  He then had to drink copious amounts of water to try and wash it out, which was good practice for the swallow.

Coincidentally this could help prove the case to finally get rid of his feeding tube.  He can now eat enough to sustain himself and takes all of his medication orally.  The last question is whether or not he can stay hydrated.  Once he proves this, they can remove the tube, which would be a great step.

Anyway, that’s it for this week.  If any of you feel like dropping by, Burt would love to see you.  If you can’t but want to do something else, send DVDs.  Burt is currently catching up on a lifetime of lackluster TV viewing.  Classic comedy routines, shows and movies new and very old, operas, all are welcome.