When we got up to Phoenix Dylan was still awake and very excited to see us. Sherry and Garry were there and he was so excited ;)
We made it there just before the nurse gave him his clonazapam (it really makes him tired) and we were able to visit with him for about an hour on Friday night. He was very jazzed to spend time with everyone, you could tell that he was happy ;)
On Saturday we kind of lazed a bit, he didn’t have any physical therapy sessions this weekend (the physical therapist is on vacation) so we went for a walk in the park, he ate his lunch, then we went to Wal-Mart and for us to eat lunch, he really enjoyed being out and about on Saturday.
We ended up coming back to Tucson on Saturday night because Dan had a store meeting on Sunday morning at 5am. After his store meeting we drove back up to Phoenix and got Dylan ready for the Cardinal’s game...that was AWESOME!!! Miss Alice, the coach’s wife, got extra tickets for Dan and I to be able to go with Dylan. We even had sideline passes so we could watch the warm up of the teams when they first went out on the field, then we got to sit in the box seats that the coach’s family uses.
What an amazing day!! We had a great view of the field from there and it was a lot of fun just to be able to relax like that! Dylan really enjoyed himself too, he got to meet the coach, who told him that he’s heard all about Dylan from his wife!!! :o) He also got to yell and scream with the rest of the crowd when the Cardinals weren’t doing so good. I think that Sunday was the most vocal Dylan has been since December!!!! He was so happy, he was smiling the whole day and the noise didn’t bother him...Dan and I were a bit worried about the noise and it was very loud in there, they had the dome shut, but Dyl was having a blast!!! Miss Alice gave us souvenir photo albums, got the cheerleaders up into the loft to take pictures with Dylan and then got the cardinals mascot to come up and take pictures too :) Dan was able to talk to her quite a bit while we were at the game, she really cares for Dylan and is so excited that he’s doing so well, she told Dan that she has noticed such an improvement in Dylan since she’s known him too :) She really wants to stay in touch with us when Dylan leaves Hacienda too, she’s going to give us her cell phone number so we can keep her updated on his progress :)
When we got back to Hacienda after the game, traffic was horrible!!!, the NASCAR Races and the football game all ended about the same time and EVERYONE in the city of Phoenix was on I-10 when we were there :) Millie, the discharge coordinator met us in the parking lot and told us that Dylan will probably be transferred to Barrow’s today or tomorrow, they are just waiting for a bed to be available, so Dan had to sign some paperwork and we had to pack up all of Dylan’s belongings to take home.
Let me tell you, I didn’t realize how much stuff he had in that room!!!
We took five bags full of stuff, the safe, the stuffed animals and all the pictures on the walls home...it took us three trips to get everything to the car :) Now we are just waiting for the information on the bed and he will be at Barrow’s...we don’t know how long he’ll be there or what kind of visiting hours they have yet. We have to contact a case manager there once he’s admitted. Please continue to keep Dylan in your thoughts and prayers, he’s really improving so much every day!!!!
Thank you!!! ~Keri
Dylan's Story
Dylan is diabetic and on Dec 14, 2009 had complications from a cold and experienced many strokes on his brain stem. Dylan was in a coma for many weeks and is now in rehab. Read the entries below to keep up to date with his progress
Monday, November 15, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Santa Rita Rocks!
Friday during the day Dylan was able to attend the State Fair in Phoenix, apparently he had a wonderful time there! They allowed the kids that went to go to the petting zoo, he said he saw chickens, goats, cows and various other animals, and they allowed them to ride some rides. Dylan thoroughly enjoyed riding on the roller coaster!! They said he threw his arms up in the air and was smiling from ear to ear while he rode it! Then on the way out the aide that was with him acquired a stuffed animal for Dylan even though the game booths weren’t open yet …
Hopefully there will be pictures to come, they said they got some good ones of him.
Saturday morning when we got to Hacienda, Dylan was already up and doing physical therapy. His therapist was so thrilled when she, with Dan’s help, was able to put Dylan on the stairs and he did AWESOME!!! It’s a set of two stairs on one side with a platform in the middle and two more stairs on the other side, he did it like nobody’s business. The therapist said that usually when they start working with the stairs the patient has to put both feet on each step and repeat that all the way up the stairs, but Dylan just walked them normally, one foot on each step and away he went!!! She was so excited! We repeated this exercise multiple times on Saturday and Sunday since she had Dan there to help her if she needed him. Dylan’s normal therapy is walking on the treadmill for many, many minutes daily and working floor mat exercises or putting a ball through a basketball hoop while standing with his walker.
Saturday night we took Dylan to support his friends at their band performance! Santa Rita High School band was in Phoenix at a local high school to perform, (Santa Rita is the school Dylan is going to enroll in) and so we took him over there to see his friends. Let me tell you the smile on Dylan’s face when he saw his friends out there was bright enough to light up the entire city of Phoenix!!! He was practically dancing in his chair when he saw them. There were five friends that he knew last year in school there. They were equally excited to see him!! They told him their performance was “for him” and they even had a few minutes to visit and take pictures when they finished performing! It was so amazing to see the love/friendship/caring pouring out of these kids for Dylan! It really touched our hearts to see how much they miss him and how excited they were to spend a few minutes with him!! They were all asking when he’d be back at school and if he was going to attend Santa Rita, it was nice to be able to tell them that he would be attending there and he should be home soon.
Sunday was a relax and unwind kind of day…Dylan was feeling a little under the weather, I think, but we went over to the park, which he loves to do, and spent about forty-five minutes over there just watching the people play soccer. After he had his lunch we took him with us for our lunch at Five Guys burgers, he LOVED having some of the meat patty from my burger. He was so excited to be out and in that atmosphere! There was a lot of loud music and tons of people in there! He was also happy to go for a ride in the car, he likes to turn the radio on as loud as we’ll let him and rock out to “his” music!!
We also took him over to the Angel House, which is located on the property at Hacienda, and let him relax a bit and watch some TV with us over there, he really enjoys being outside the “hospital” environment. He seems to open up and become animated when he’s away from it!! We have decided that it’s best to have him away as much as possible when we are there on the weekends!!! We are planning all kinds of small activities for the next few weeks so he’s busy.
I am still working on getting him enrolled at Santa Rita when he comes home. The school psychologist needs to look at his evaluations from the hospital to see what we need to set up for an easy transition back into a “normal” routine. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well with that. I don’t have any new information on when he’s going to transfer to Barrows/Phoenix Children’s Hospital yet, but we should be hearing from the insurance within the next week. I’ll keep everyone posted as I find out. Thank you for all your continued support, thoughts, prayers and love!!!! It is all appreciated more than I could ever express!!! ~Keri
Hopefully there will be pictures to come, they said they got some good ones of him.
Saturday morning when we got to Hacienda, Dylan was already up and doing physical therapy. His therapist was so thrilled when she, with Dan’s help, was able to put Dylan on the stairs and he did AWESOME!!! It’s a set of two stairs on one side with a platform in the middle and two more stairs on the other side, he did it like nobody’s business. The therapist said that usually when they start working with the stairs the patient has to put both feet on each step and repeat that all the way up the stairs, but Dylan just walked them normally, one foot on each step and away he went!!! She was so excited! We repeated this exercise multiple times on Saturday and Sunday since she had Dan there to help her if she needed him. Dylan’s normal therapy is walking on the treadmill for many, many minutes daily and working floor mat exercises or putting a ball through a basketball hoop while standing with his walker.
Saturday night we took Dylan to support his friends at their band performance! Santa Rita High School band was in Phoenix at a local high school to perform, (Santa Rita is the school Dylan is going to enroll in) and so we took him over there to see his friends. Let me tell you the smile on Dylan’s face when he saw his friends out there was bright enough to light up the entire city of Phoenix!!! He was practically dancing in his chair when he saw them. There were five friends that he knew last year in school there. They were equally excited to see him!! They told him their performance was “for him” and they even had a few minutes to visit and take pictures when they finished performing! It was so amazing to see the love/friendship/caring pouring out of these kids for Dylan! It really touched our hearts to see how much they miss him and how excited they were to spend a few minutes with him!! They were all asking when he’d be back at school and if he was going to attend Santa Rita, it was nice to be able to tell them that he would be attending there and he should be home soon.
Sunday was a relax and unwind kind of day…Dylan was feeling a little under the weather, I think, but we went over to the park, which he loves to do, and spent about forty-five minutes over there just watching the people play soccer. After he had his lunch we took him with us for our lunch at Five Guys burgers, he LOVED having some of the meat patty from my burger. He was so excited to be out and in that atmosphere! There was a lot of loud music and tons of people in there! He was also happy to go for a ride in the car, he likes to turn the radio on as loud as we’ll let him and rock out to “his” music!!
We also took him over to the Angel House, which is located on the property at Hacienda, and let him relax a bit and watch some TV with us over there, he really enjoys being outside the “hospital” environment. He seems to open up and become animated when he’s away from it!! We have decided that it’s best to have him away as much as possible when we are there on the weekends!!! We are planning all kinds of small activities for the next few weeks so he’s busy.
I am still working on getting him enrolled at Santa Rita when he comes home. The school psychologist needs to look at his evaluations from the hospital to see what we need to set up for an easy transition back into a “normal” routine. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well with that. I don’t have any new information on when he’s going to transfer to Barrows/Phoenix Children’s Hospital yet, but we should be hearing from the insurance within the next week. I’ll keep everyone posted as I find out. Thank you for all your continued support, thoughts, prayers and love!!!! It is all appreciated more than I could ever express!!! ~Keri
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Dylan’s doing amazing right now! We spoke to his therapists and the doctor and they have all indicated that he should be placed into intensive (4 to 8 hours) of therapy now. He’s reached all the goals that were set for him at Hacienda. He’s able to shower himself, wash his hair, brush his teeth and get ready for his day all by himself. He’s learned to transfer from his bed into his wheelchair on his own, he is able to talk, although not as much as we’d like right now, but he can speak if spoken to, he’s able to walk with the platform walker and they said he’s getting depressed being around the children who will not ever recover so it’s best for him to transfer sooner versus later. We are waiting to find out the exact dates that this will happen, but I have called the local high school to set up an IEP (individual education plan) for Dylan and get him enrolled in high school and possibly an after-school type program so that he has daily routine set up when he gets home. We are very excited to have him coming home soon…now we just have to finish prepping everything for his arrival. I have contacted TMC to see what kinds of programs and aid Dylan qualifies for when he’s back in Tucson, they have indicated that I need to contact DDD or ALTCS to find out specifically what he qualifies for, so I’m going to do that this week.
We are hopeful that his transition to intensive therapy is smooth and that he’s able to excel there like he has so far and he’ll be home quickly
There is an out-patient therapy that should provide Dylan with in-home sessions for a little while too, hopefully we’ll get all the information on his return home at least a month prior to it happening so we can get everything ready for him. I have totally cleaned out his room, got rid of all the old clothing, he was waaaay to big for it, and some of the old toys were donated to the salvation army since he’s not really going to need them now I just have to clean out his closet and he should be ready to go.
I hope you are all doing well! Thank you for your continued thoughts & prayers for Dylan!!! It means the world to all of us!! He’s doing so amazing and the power of positive thought has really helped!! - Keri
We are hopeful that his transition to intensive therapy is smooth and that he’s able to excel there like he has so far and he’ll be home quickly
There is an out-patient therapy that should provide Dylan with in-home sessions for a little while too, hopefully we’ll get all the information on his return home at least a month prior to it happening so we can get everything ready for him. I have totally cleaned out his room, got rid of all the old clothing, he was waaaay to big for it, and some of the old toys were donated to the salvation army since he’s not really going to need them now I just have to clean out his closet and he should be ready to go.
I hope you are all doing well! Thank you for your continued thoughts & prayers for Dylan!!! It means the world to all of us!! He’s doing so amazing and the power of positive thought has really helped!! - Keri
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