Turning the corner

Last week Karl made the move to the third floor inpatient rehabilitation unit and ever since then it’s been non-stop activity for him. He surprised his nurse a couple times on the first day on the new floor. She said she needed to take his vitals and before she could get to it, he had already slapped the blood pressure cuff on and was ready to roll. She told him she’d never seen a patient do that before. But Karl wasn’t done. He told her, after a long day of being in his wheelchair, that he was ready to get back into bed. She said she’d help him after she tended to another patient. When she came back in to his room, Karl had already put himself in the harness that swings him to and from the bed. She was surprised to see that and said it was another first. Leave it to Karl!

He’s been standing with both the aid of the incline bed, or “rack” as he calls it, as well as the parallel bars. The first time on the parallel bars, Karl was assisted a bit by his physical therapist, but the next time he did it by himself while the therapist was talking to someone else. She was very surprised to see him standing by himself.

Karl is also feeling pretty independent when he’s in his wheelchair. One minute he’s there talking and the next he’s gone off to fetch himself a beverage or do a load of laundry. It must feel so good to be able to come and go as he pleases after being stuck in bed for eight weeks relying on everyone else.

This morning the therapist mentioned something about putting Karl in a regular bed…his back has healed enough to make that transition. A regular bed will help him tremendously when it comes to sliding to and from a wheelchair. He may be able to do it himself with a regular mattress instead of the puffy air mattress he’s now using.

While it changes every day, a typical schedule for Karl is:
7:00 a.m. Occupational Therapy (OT)
8:30 Physical Therapy (PT)
9:00 Social worker
9:30 Recreational Therapy (RT)
10:00 OT
10:30 OT
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Nursing education
1:30 PT
2:00 PT
3:00 RT

This week Karl’s goal in physical therapy is to sit up in bed, transfer to a wheelchair, complete his daily chores, transfer back into bed from his wheelchair and comfortably position himself in the bed. All of this will be done under the watchful eye of Megan, but the goal is for him to be able to do it all unassisted. In recreational therapy Karl will be making a sliding board so he can transfer from wheelchair to other surfaces and vice versa. Occupational therapy will have Karl focus on dressing himself without assistance and moving in and out of cars, rooms, chairs, etc. All these activities and his progress mean Karl is getting closer and closer to coming home. He’s at a pace that could have him on his way back to Tecumseh sometime in October! Now THAT’S exciting! How blessed we are that Karl is at Mayo Clinic. And how thankful we are that you are all praying for his speedy recovery. We know that combination along with God’s grace is why Karl is doing so well.

When you see what Karl has been through and how he has responded to the surgeries and therapy, I hope you’ll do what the people did after they saw Peter heal the crippled beggar at the temple gate and that you’ll believe in God’s healing power: When all the people saw him walking and praising God…they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. Acts 3: 9-10. I hope you're as amazed as me!

With gratitude to you and God,

Kerry