In my dad's words

This post is cut and pasted from my dad's most recent email to my siblings and I. It was written on Friday (the transfer was a day later than I was originally told). His email was actually very informative... Thanks Dad!

I just got back from visiting Spencer in his new accommodations at Spalding Rehabilitation Hospital in Aurora. The address is 900 Potomac which is just north of 6th Avenue and west of 225. Spencer is in what they classify as "Quiet Isolation". This means that for the next few days and perhaps as much as a week, there is very limited visiting, normally restricted to spouse and parents, and those who can visit are limited to 20 minutes and a maximum of 2 visitors at a time. After leaving for a period of time, the visitor can go back in for another 20 minutes. The allowed visitors will increase as the hospital evaluates how he handles various levels of stimuli. After he is out of isolation, the visiting hours are from 8AM to 8PM. Same restrictions as to length of visit and number of visitors, until he is upgraded two levels in rehab.

According to the nurse, it is not uncommon for these type of patients to become violent and angry when there is too much stimulation. I think we all know that if that happens with our Spencer, it will be very unusual, and a total change from his reactions in Grand Junction. The room has no television, phone, or any medical equipment that could sound an alarm. There is a nurse sitting quietly outside his door, and for at least the next few days, he will be under constant observation.

I know that all of us want to visit him, and let him know that he is loved and that we are praying for his full recovery. As hard as it is on us to not be able to freely spend time with him, we need to remember that the staff at the hospital has seen literally hundreds of these cases and know what is best for the patient. This is our first and hopefully last experience with it. We need to trust their judgment, in fact, we have no other viable choice.

Spencer tolerated the move here as well as could be expected. The staff in Grand Junction did give him some percocet to help him with the move. He was very sleepy when we were there. They did do some x-rays of him to make sure the feeding tube was still in place. It wasn't. They then pulled the feeding tube out and put another one in. To make sure it was properly placed, they took another x-ray.

The goals for the next few days are to get him on a regular waking and sleeping pattern, with the sleep coming at night. I think they will try and keep him awake during the day. They will also manage his pain. I believe for the last 24 hours in Grand Junction, he only had Tylenol, except for the paid killer to help him with the move. He will start therapy tomorrow so they can get the feeding tube out as early as possible. After that they will work on his being able to control his bladder so they can get the catheter out. I'm sure he will not mind having it removed!

One of Megan's co-workers told her that we may think they are being a little rough on Spence as far as what they expect him to do. We need to remember, they are the experts.

So there you have it. Hopefully this quiet isolation will do the trick to help him calm down. If quiet was what he needed, then it would make sense why he was so agitated in Grand Junction. Having a room by the nurses station with alarms ringing CONSTANTLY, and 3 sisters in the room with him + a baby nephew (not that he was noisy) was definitely more stimulation than he needed.

(Note: there is a post below this one about me... so if you come here looking for this kind of information, keep reading!)