Stryker Brigade News

We got called about five minutes later and went to one of the exam rooms. We were greeted by a very experienced gentleman and three students. They took four shots of Scott's leg in all. I got to be on the "other side" for once and watched the process. Pretty simple looking as they've got things computerized so you push a button for the type of exam and then arrange the patient. "Don't move!" Bzzzt and you're done. We didn't know the results of the pictures until later in the day. Yes, he has some metallic thing in his leg that's being rejected, expelled, invited to leave on the molecular level, whatever.

After the X-ray exam, Scott went up to Occupational Therapy. More assessment and some stronger clay-like stuff to manipulate. Apparently, the strengths are color coded for manipulation resistance. This stuff is Hot Pink and the next level is Kelly Green (maybe we'll get there in mid-March). We went over six goals for the week, which is great because the week ends today. He's done or doing most of them. I won't bore you with the entire list, but they're things like "Stops and looks left and right when at an intersection." The one we hadn't been working on is having Scott find his own way around to his appointments. Now that we know they're looking, I'm just telling Scott where the appointment is and what time it is. He's doing all the rest and was 100% today on this.

Lunch was in the room, after the tray was retrieved from the dining room, of course. Some John Wayne movie was on, I think. One of the channels is running war pics non-stop since Veteran's Day. Maybe it was Patton?

After lunch, I walked with Scott to Speech Therapy. After the session, the therapist said he was doing very well and working hard. I'm taking her word for it. He goes back to his regular therapist on Monday when he comes back from vacation.

We got word after lunch that Scott's new helmet was ready for him at Prosthetics. We walked down there (and when I say walked, I mean walk to and from locations and elevators) and got the helmet. It fits fine and Scott had no complaints about it. Other than the rainbow-colored strap with a snap on it, that is. Tom the Fitter suggested going to OT and getting a different colored strap because all he had was white. Scott said that would be fine and I suggested a Velcro-brand (R) closure for the strap. He came back a few minutes later and Scott was a happy guy. Again, as soon as I get something other than AOL dial-up, I'll submit some photos.

After we finished with the helmet, we went on a snack hunt to the cafeteria. Scott looked around at everything, but settled for an ice cream sandwich. We went back to the ward and once we arrived, we learned the news about the metal in Scott's thigh from Dr. Champagne. We discussed the situation briefly in the hallway and then went to the room.

At 3 p.m., we went to PT for some stretches, ten minutes on the treadmill (.25 miles) and balance work. We concluded by having Scott throw a stuffed football-like object at me while standing on the balancing device. I threw the ball back at him with an underhanded motion. He threw the ball at me with his right arm in his best approximation of a quarterback drill we've run a zillion times together. Fun at PT helps it go faster.

After PT, we talked with Dr. Champagne some more about the removal. She said a surgery resident would likely come by and do the work at bedside.

After dinner, which was delivered to his room (VICTORY!), Julie came back from the neat quilting event she went to with a friend of Jim Moffet's with some chili and corn muffins. Scott had some muffins, but declined the chili as the hospital dinner filled him up tonight. Sometime later, the surgical resident came in to consult on the splinter removal. He asked some background questions about Scott's medical history and knew most of the information about the injury to his head already. He said the procedure would most likely be done right there in the room after some local anesthetic. I told him we wanted the object once it was removed. I suspected these guys don't get much practice pulling bullet fragments out of legs and confirmed this with a question. This probably means they'll do it tomorrow with twenty students watching.

About an hour later, Scott looked pretty tired so we asked his nurse if the removal event was going to occur tonight. She looked on the computer and didn't see anything about it from the resident. (We'd stick around for it if it was going to be in an hour or two, but...) We put in a request for an overnight pass for Scott for Saturday night as we're getting German food with Mr. and Mrs. Jim, followed by picking up Tiffany and Aly at the airport. After this, we packed up and walked back to the Fisher House. (I figure it's about 650 yards away from the hospital, so no big deal unless the wind is blowing.)

ST