Determined to come home

Paul was definitely determined to show them what he could do today. He walked a lap and a half around the rehab unit today, 600 ft! And he did some leg exercises in the gym. After all that, he still needed help getting his legs back up into bed, but he proved he could do that later in the day. :)

The rehab doctor came by before the PT guy did his evaluation this afternoon. He said he thought Paul would be there about 3 weeks! HA! We both looked at him like he was smokin something. We told him what all he has been able to do, and he reduced his estimate to 1 week. I'm still holding out for Friday. We had a chat with Paul's assigned social worker today and let it be known that we want him home sooner rather than later and that we can handle him at home, even now. She was going to talk to the docs, see how today's eval went and see what she can do. I just don't see anything holding Paul in the hospital anymore; Dr. Thomas said he needed to walk to get out of there and he's doing that, so we asked for more clarification on our exit criteria... He needs support from a walker and could probably walk with just a cane, but he can use a walker/cane at home just as easily as he can at the hospital. We'll see how tomorrow's rehab goes, talk to the social worker and the doctor, and see about getting out of there Friday or Saturday. I'm tempted to pull him out "against medical advice" if need be, but I hope they realize that he doesn't need to be there and let him out. I feel like they want to hold him for a week because that's the average stay in rehab, but then again the average age of a rehab patient is 70 - not 29!

Ok, I'm done ranting. We learned that rehab patients can get hall passes and are allowed to go outside. So as soon as we could, we loaded Paul up in a wheelchair, got a drink from the cafeteria and headed outside for awhile. It was really great for Paul to get out and get some fresh air and sunshine!!! Hopefully we can have a little visit with Ben out there tomorrow in a not-so-intimidating atmosphere.

Please say a prayer for Paul's strength and for the doctors wisdom and common sense to let him come home!!!!