Husband Update #3

We have made BIG strides!  His trach came out on Friday. YAY!  He still needs supplemental oxygen for the moment.  We are working on that.

He was downgraded from ICU to Intermediate Care on Saturday. YAY!

And on Sunday, (thank you baby Jesus, and insurance finally agreed!) we moved him to inpatient rehab, after 41 days in ICU. YAY!

All good things; and I am SO very grateful for all of these wins.

But three days into rehab and it's beginning to dawn on me (yes, I'm THAT naive)...he isn't just going to come home and everything will be as it was.

I had this idyllic vision, that I would bring him home and everything would be normal.

I'm beginning to realize, that things will NOT be normal for quite a bit.

I have informed PT that in order for him to come he needs to be ambulatory and able to navigate a few stairs.  Because God knows, I cannot catch him if he falls.

I am also realizing that PT in these places happens at a much slower pace than I would like.  I KNOW how strong he is and taking it in baby steps is NOT helping, in my opinion.  But then, what do I know, I'm not a doctor or a PT. 

I am also noting how exhausting PT and OT is for him...which also explains why the pace is so slow.

In the meantime, I am celebrating every win.  Able to sit and stand without assistance?  YAY!  Able to figure out how to measure out your meds? YAY!  All these little wins add up to big wins. 

But I imagine, in the next week he will be begging me to break him out of there (much like he did for the last two weeks in ICU).  And I will know that I can't.  That he is in this place for his own (and my) good.

And friends...let me explain absolute exhaustion to you.  Until you have sat in a room with your loved once, unable to do much of anything for them; other than to clear off their table, you do not know exhaustion.

I am not a person that naps.  EVER.  But today, I found myself nodding off in the chair - and at one point actually considering squeezing in next to him in his bed. 

At this point, even if nothing is normal when he comes home - I'm still ready for him to come home.