These Hospital Booties Were Made For Walkin'...

An Ethan update to hold everyone over until Amy or Dick post later. I'm going a little off the reservation here, Amy is the natural blogger as everyone can see but I was excited so I couldn't wait any longer to post some news. I got to stop by Debbie's "non-ICU" room this morning, which I must say is very nice. I'm sure Baylor is charging more than appropriately for it. Dick was still there and continues to stay overnight. I hadn't been there long when it was bath time for Debbie. Dick and I went downstairs for coffee and were able to talk and reflect somewhat on the past 3 weeks. She has come so far and looks tremendously better from one day to the next. It's hard to believe what was done to her just 2 short weeks ago.

When we returned to the room, she was enjoying a visit with a friend. After a few minutes another knock at the door and it was Debbie's physical therapist coming to take her for a walk. I had secretly hoped to catch this occurance and was excited to see how she tolerated transferring out of the bed to standing and how her legs held up to a stroll. She had walked a few feet yesterday, to the door of the room and back to a chair next to her bed, so this would be her 2nd walk. Well, Debbie was extremely dizzy upon sitting up at the side of the bed and had to stay there for a few minutes to let this subside. While she was waiting for the room to stop spinning another knock at the door produced her brother, Kim. It was neat to see her face light up at the sight of her brother. So now we have a full audience for Debbie's performance where as yesterday none of us got to witness her walk.

Debbie was able to stand with what we would call "contact guard assistance", basically she did all the work and the PT just was there to make sure she was steady. I've been concerned about the strength on her left side, in particular at her left leg, but I'm happy to say she stood straight and steady and proceeded to walk, slowly and with a walker, out of her room and down the hall about 15 feet before turning and walking back. I'd say she walked about 50 or 60 ft. Her legs were steady though she complained of pain at her left calf and both feet but considering she's been off her legs for 3 weeks, that's understandable. Once her therapist discovered I was a PT as well, we got to talk shop for a bit and I got the green light to get Debbie moving. "The more the better" is what she said, which in our profession is like blood in the water for sharks. So I hope to show Amy and Dick some things we can all do for her and to get her to do for herself to strengthen her and build up her stamina. She should be able to move to the Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation soon once they have a spot for her, then it may be as soon as a week before she can come home the doc says. Anyway, God is good and today is a beautiful day in north Texas. Amy will probably post later tonight.