For the first blog post of the year, we have nothing but good news to report. After the rough turn of events this past month, Burt has been steadily improving over the last week.
He has beaten his staph infection and his PICC line should be removed any day now. His kidneys seem to be slowly rebounding so he has been taken off of dialysis and those tubes have been removed. The doctors still have a close watch on his kidneys as they have quite a bit of catching up to do, but so far so good.
Burt was moved from the RCU a few days ago to the rehab unit. We believe that his progress was in no small part inspired by Burt's desire to leave his string of terrible roommates. His first, Chris was a stage four Parkinson's patient with two broken hips and pneumonia. If the steady stream of Fox news he watched were not enough to win Burt's affection, it was nicely punctuated by clusters of floor shaking coughs and wheezes which were quickly followed with cheers from the staff saying, "great Chris, cough as much as you can."
After Chris moved on came a lovely gentleman who drank his way through the doors of the ICU. This could be easily noticed with one look at his catheter, which more closely resembled a bag of Wild Turkey than urine. In his perma-drunk state he would often kick and punch the nurses and at one point even tried to remove has catheter himself. One nurse freaked out and the other casually replied, "he'll only do that once."
Burt's newfound coterie was all the inspiration he needed to rest up and heal. Back in the acute rehab facility Burt is regaining his strength and continuing his training. His mood is improving and his voice is getting stronger every day. He is still not eating very much, but his swallow status was upgraded to soft yesterday. This means Burt can finally begin to eat real food, because if there is one thing worst than hospital food, it is pureed hospital food.
Yesterday was Burt's 68th birthday and while the conditions have been rough, everyone is pretty thankful that he made it here. So let 2011 be a little more kind to Burt as he plants both feet on the ground and learns to walk again.
Hi Uncle! Here's to a better 2011! We love you and are thinking about you from Colorado!
ReplyDeleteFred Blotcher and I talked on the phone yesterday and agreed that a reunion of the unholy trio is in the cards for the summer and hopefully sooner. Before Burt's health crisis began, he suggested that we needed to have another "wee dram" together (we both enjoy fine Scotch) and I'm looking forward to sitting on the patio at the house in East Chatham with Burt, Fred, and that bottle of Scotch (a Shirley Temple with extra sugar for Fred, who unfortunately is a tee-totaler), enjoying the company and the beautiful view.
ReplyDeleteDear Burt:
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Burt! Thanks to the "posters" for the great news. We are between semesters here at the School of Architecture, so all is quiet for the moment in the Foundation Building. Our Thesis students are off doing site research for their projects in Caracas, Guatemala City, Spain, China, California and other places; they are truly becoming global citizens. We'll be posting photos of student reviews on our website soon; I'll let you know when they are up. All my best wishes for the New Year, and hope to see you soon. Elizabeth
Hooray Burt!
ReplyDeletePlease keep up the good work and we hope you're back on the yellow brick road to Maple Drive soon!
Best,
Alan & Richard
Hello Burt, so glad to hear you are doing better. I keep you in mind and in my prayers.
ReplyDeleteI haven't forgotten about visiting, so am looking forward to finding my way out there this spring. Well wishes, Morris