Yes. Well, for certain values of the word “up.” He cannot stand on his own yet … but with assistance he can sit on the edge of his bed and then use a walker (and help) to become vertical. I haven’t actually been there for one of these sessions, but I’m going by what he’s told me. They’ve been having him stand for 5-10 minutes at a time, with brief sit-back-down breaks, and he’s said he finds that to be quite enough, and physically very tiring. And they’ve wheeled him over to the little gym room too.
Yay on the trach getting gone!!
I expect it’s a real shock to him to find out how weak he’s gotten :(. And of course this is exactly why he has to go to rehab for a bit instead of home. It’s got to be beyond frustrating, now that he’s making enough progress to be thinking of getting outta there, poor guy!
How’s his upper-body strength? Can he sit up reasonably straight? Can he try to propel the wheelchair himself? Feed himself?
On a more fun note: Are you (and/or his parents) planning a kick-ass Thanksgiving dinner to take to him next week? with all his favorites?
The first time I was in the ICU they told me that once they were convinced I was able to move about on my own, they would discharge me. So at the start, I had to walk with a walker. I was asking to be let out of my bed and onto the walker so often that they finally told me I could only be on it once every 4 hours.
Sounds like he’s still making progress - very good news.
The good news keeps on coming…I love it!
-D/a
Guess, just guess, what he had a nurse set aside with a “Souvenir - KEEP!” note on it. :eek:
After reading the booklet on my first American medical insurance, I said “someone kick me with hobnailed boots if I ever complain about Seguridad Social again…” Yep, amazing the things we take for granted.
So glad things are getting better.
His urinal? 
Very good news, very good to hear.
Now, as I’m sure he’s asking every 20 minutes, “When can he go home?!?!”
I hope it’s soonest; you both have been through so much.
Well of course!!
You’ll wash it, spray-paint it gold, add some glitter, and hang it from the Christmas tree, right?
They’ve got DIY bronzing kits at craft stores now. Just sayin’.
Those are both genius ideas! 
Keep 'em coming, I love it!
Pulled this up just to express: I don’t know what the hell I would have done without you all. Seriously. Really. I’ve never laid eyes on any of you, but there is no way in hell I could have gone through this without everyone’s help. So, thank you. Thank you, thank you.
I think you should have it bronzed, and then wrap it up and give it to him for Christmas, as a gag gift.
^^hehe^^
So very glad to hear TOS is on the road to mending.
A bit of unsolicited advice:
I know the powers that be are pushing to have him go to a rehab center, and that may well be the best place for him in the short term but…
A. Make double damn sure it’s a good one and
B. even if it is, try to get him home asap even if it means having his parents pitch in to help. The psychological benefit of being home really can’t be measured.
back story - my brother had a bout of some streplike infection in his knee this past summer. Along with his other ongoing issues (virtually blind, mostly deaf, dialysis for the past 30 years) he wasn’t a good candidate for going home once they got the infection under control, especially since he lives alone, so off he went to the first ‘rehab center’ that would take him. Not a good thing at all. It was a dump. The ‘rehab’ consisted of getting him on his feet and walking with a walker for an hour a day. The remainder of the time he was left to his own devices. If we’d known what a shithole it was we wouldn’t have allowed him to be sent there. So make sure!
We hauled him home after 2 1/2 days and he perked up remarkably. It meant we had to do the ‘rehab’ with him, but just being in his own environment made a massive difference to him. He’s managing pretty well now on his own again.
Good luck! It’s so great that you and TOS have come through the worst and are on the upswing now.
A. It has a stellar reputation.
B. You … have no idea. 
He’s about to Marine-crawl out of the acute care place he’s in now just so he can nap on his own couch. Trust me, getting him home asap is not going to be a problem.
Hurrah!
Go there and give it the sniff test. I’d reject any place that smells funny no matter how excellent it’s reputation.
Brother’s first roommate at the shithole was severely diabetic, ‘used’ a bottle thingy (actually didn’t use it) and the whole room smelled of diabetic piss. Was lovely. We got him a room change because the “shared” bathroom (shared with the room next door) was locked. They said brother could use a commode. We said not. Second room was a single with the weirdest ‘bed’ we’d ever seen - a three inch foam mattress on a metal mesh frame - no springs even. If you pushed on it you could feel the hinges in the frame through the mattress. Brother weighs about 125lbs and has spinal stenosis as well as joint replacements in his shoulders and hips. He said a torture rack would likely have been more comfortable.
I think this place scrounged old obsolete equipment for furnishings.
It does sound like TOS has been getting vastly better care all around then my brother and I’m sure it will continue.
I just wish someone had given us a heads up about how much the quality of care can differ in different facilities.
We’ll send you a bill. Please pay with small change, so we can easily divide it up amongst ourselves. 
Keep the good news coming! Have you figured out how you’ll do Thanksgiving with him?
-D/a
Maybe time to revisit this brilliant post by your favorite Doper? It’s been a while. You may have had a thing or two on your mind since then. 
Still sending supportive thoughts and prayers. For you as well as for TOS.
Boots flatlined out of the last post spot
Any chance they’ll let you take him home for a few hours on Thanksgiving? Well, it’s his body - you can always defy doctor’s orders and just do it. Think he’ll be up to it? Or not so much?
Gonna be a good holiday.
Yep. It’s one thing to be lying in bed thinking, “Oh, sure, I could TOTALLY do X, Y and Z” and quite another to work out in their rehab gym for an hour and realize that … well, no, not really, no you can’t. 
He’s finally acknowledging just how much strength and muscle mass he’s lost, which has not been a fun process for him. (Well, the acknowledging AND the losing … )
Yeahhhhhhh … not sure how all that’s gonna go down. We asked him what he might like and he got all sad and said, “It’s not the eating. It’s the cooking.” And that’s true: for him the holiday fun is in all the prep, in planning what to make and fixing all the ingredients. It’s not that he wants to ***eat ***green beans and gravy and dressing; it’s that he wants to help make them. I’m not sure bringing him an onion to chop or a carrot to peel will count for much.
I do, however, have a bag of clean socks to take back for him. He wants to feel like he’s contributing and helping take the load off me? Then he can sort and fold those puppies. (And, pick out which ones he wants for next week.)
When I was in the hospital for two months before my son was born, I caught up on all our filing, and did all of the phone calls to change over the utilities when we moved (without me). Bring him a big bag of laundry.