Saturday evening

Well, Allan is exhausted from his move to rehab. I got him settled in, and then ran home to pack his bags and to bring the kids up to see him. We had a great visit! The kids were super excited to see their daddy, and Allan was rejuvinated by them. The Garzas came by for a visit, and brought Allan a little room decor ( a Saints gnome). It looks awesome in his room! We are very grateful to Shanna and Humberto for their kindness and generosity. They have brought us dinner, an awesome goody bag, and the Saints gnome to decorate a rather blah room. You guys are wonderful friends.
Thank you to the Clary family for bringing over delicious pulled pork sandwiches, salad and a giant sweet roll. After an exhausting day, it was really nice to come home to a yummy meal.
It was really difficult for me to leave Allan by himself tonight. This ordeal has really brought us closer together. I wish the circumstances were different, but I've really enjoyed the past couple of days with him. I realize that sounds crazy, but we've gotten to spend quality time together; something we haven't gotten to do in a long time. I know he's in good hands tonight, but I wish I could be with him.
I spoke to his patient care assistant tonight, and she gave me allan's schedule for tomorrow. He'll have OT and PT in the morning, and then again in the afternoon. I'm going to go up in the morning to bring him coffee, and to meet his therapists. Very excited for him to get going with his rehab.
Happy new year to you all. Please take time to reflect on your relationships with your loved ones. Do not take anything for granted. Let them know you love them, and cherish the time you have with them.

Saturday afternoon

We are at BIR! I think Allan has the staff s little confused about why he's here. He's a little too high-functioning compared to what we've seen thus far. He has to share a room with an elderly gentleman. Allan's already requesting earplugs, and I probably won't be spending the night tonight. We are waiting for his doctor to come to assess him.
We've got two of allan's good friends coming to visit tomorrow; Dan Gray and Trey Kennedy. Those three ought to provide maximum entertainment for anyone in earshot.
We are so glad to be back in Dallas. Thanks for all of your kind words and prayers. We would not have made it this far without your support.

Saturday, december 31, 2011

Woo-hoo!! We finally made it. More to post later!!

Friday night

We will be leaving The Plaza at 11:00am for Dallas. I am going to have to be the bad guy and set some ground rules for visitation at BIR. Although we cannot even begin to express our appreciation to you all for your kind words and prayers, Allan is really going to need to focus on his rehab beginning tomorrow. He has requested to have only 2 visitors/day, with each visit lasting for about 10 minutes. He enjoys seeing everyone, and appreciates the time that people take for him, but he tires very quickly at this point. He might feel differently after another week, but for now he cannot tolerate much outside of his therapies. His therapies will probably last until 3:00 or 4:00 every day, so he would prefer that visitors come by after that time. We hope that everyone will understand about our visitation rules. This rehab time is critical for helping him get back to "normal". If you would like to visit Allan, please text me so I can coordinate days and times for you 214-215-5587. Like those social management skills??
I hope to get the kids up to the rehab to visit Allan tomorrow. I think they are the best medicine for him. I'll let you all know more tomorrow. We send our love to you all.

Friday afternoon

Great news!!! We leave for BIR in the morning! Allan asked if he would be staying in a place with a bunch of crazy-headed people. His commentary on what this will be like is hilarious. Sorry, I can't quite do it justice. Use your imagination. He's singing "she blinded with science". He said that was going to be him. Look out BIR.

Friday, December 30, 2011

It has been a very productive morning. Allan was able to sleep better last night, and woke up with improved speech. I got him coffee from Starbucks, and that allowed him to take care of that important morning business. He was able to shower and shave (stand by assist for you therapists). We walked around the hallways and exercised some in the room. He had a great lunch, and watched some of the Armed Forces Bowl. Now he's napping; good to know that he and our kids are on the same nap schedule:)
The rehab doctor came by earlier and said that we were supposed to go to Baylor, but he wasn't sure when. The Hematologist came by and said that the results from his bloodwork had not come back. So I guess we will continue to wait.
The kids had a big time with Coco and aunt Emmi. It was so good to see Olivia and Philip last night, even if it was for just a short time. They are so much fun. Philip was saying "dump truck" pretty clearly. Olivia was pulling out all of her tricks to show off for me. Happy birthday to aunt Emmi. Hope you have a wonderful birthday. Make Coco take you someplace nice!
Shanna made an awesome lasagna for us and delivered a great goody bag for us to have at the hospital. Thanks so much!
My good friend's mom underwent a successful double bypass this morning and is doing well. Thank you Lord!
I will update again later today. Happy Friday!

Thursday evening

Transferring to telemetry in 1-2 hours!! This is progress. We'll be having a party at The Plaza soon. The mother of one of my closest friends just happens to be on the same floor. While I am not happy that she is here, it sure has been nice to have my sweet friend here at the same time. A little bit of comfort!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Allan has had a good morning and afternoon. He's pretty tired from all of the activities from yesterday. His awesome speech therapist said she felt like he would make an excellent recovery, and might have only occasional anomia later (word finding problems). Not too bad, considering I have anomia on a pretty regular basis and have never had a stroke!
We still don't know about his blood clotting. His hematologist hadn't gotten his results back. Regardless, he wouldn't be able to start coumadin for 2 more weeks, so we don't have to have that answer before we leave.
We are currently waiting to transfer from the ICU to the telemetry floor. The representative from Baylor came by this morning and is placing her recommendations for BIR. Hopefully we can transfer to BIR tomorrow or the next day.
That's all for now. Thank you to my sweet friend, Carol, for lunch yesterday. And, thanks to KOL and QOL for keeping the kids today and tonight. Please continue to keep Allan in your prayers.

Wednesday evening

Whew! It has been a very busy, yet productive day. The hematologist returned to state that he found something curious with Allan's blood work, and that he wanted to repeat a lab tomorrow. Allan might have a problem with his blood clotting. If that is the case, then he will likely be put on coumadin. We'll know more tomorrow. His Doppler study was negative, so there are no clots in the legs. Yay!
Allan has been obsessing over LSU football (anyone surprised by this???). He finally was able to say "LSU" tonight. He was mixing up the letters earlier. Big improvement. He also was able to say that LSU was playing Alabama, and that their color was red. He still refers to Saban as "that little man".
Btw, if you ever need a partner for charades, Allan is the best with gestures. FYI.
The rehab doctor came by today as well. He put in a referral to Baylor for inpatient rehab (BIR). Looking forward to being closer to home and my babies. We should know more tomorrow when someone from Baylor comes out to assess him. He should also move from the ICU to the floor tomorrow.
I would like to thank my sweet friend Cindy. Once again, she let me shower at her place tonight. Full spa treatment again. Thanks a ton!
I will update you all again tomorrow.

Wednesday afternoon

Allan has had a really busy morning. He had speech therapy just before lunch. He did well, and will definitely continue with rather intensive speech work. The description he gave of a photo that the ST showed him was hilarious. It was a photo of a woman who was washing dishes and staring off into space. The water was flowing out of the sink and onto the floor. The 2 kids, who he named Pearl and Boy, were in the background of the photo. One kid was up on a stool reaching for a box of cookies and the other kid was watching him. Allan stated," that mom is terrible. She's probably taking those little blue pills that make her feel good, and those kids are going to get hurt". The therapist turned to look at me, and we both started laughing.
More evidence that Allan is back: his buddy Kenneth (KOL) and his wife (QOL) came by after ST. If you've ever been around these two clowns, then you would know that they act like 12 year old boys when they get together. It was a great visit, and just what Allan needed. Again, we have such a great group of friends.
Allan had his leg Doppler today; waiting on the results. He saw the hematologist; no problems noted with his blood. The cardiologist also came by and said he could fix allan's heart in 6 weeks. It will be an outpatient procedure. Now we wait to see when we can go home, or if we need to go to inpatient rehab. His wonderful interventional radiology team came by again today to visit with Allan. What a great group of people.
Will update more this evening. Thanks for your continued prayers and support.

Wednesday, december 28, 2011

Allan woke up this morning and hasn't stopped talking. I think it is safe to say that he's getting back to normal. He had PT this morning and was able pass of of the tests. I don't think he'll be getting anymore. Good thing he has his own personal PT. Hopefully he will get his speech eval and OT today. He's been sitting up in a chair for 90 minutes. He's practicing his handwriting now. His life-long friend, John Caverlee, came by this morning. John brought a basketball and a Mavs jacket. Allan has been bouncing the basketball with his right hand; no doubt annoying his neighbor. Oh well.
Again, thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers. We couldn't get through this without out you. More updates to come!

Tuesday evening

Allan has had a good day today. He and his brother had a very entertaining conversation about football today. Not surprising that he can remember a game he attended with James 15 years ago, or that he recognized the LSU shirt that I held up for him to see. It is a shirt with the #7 on it (if you are an LSU fan, then you will understand this story). I asked Allan who wore #7; he smiled and said,"it's that baby who is really fast and he runs everywhere". I thought that was a fairly decent description of The Honey Badger. Anyway, his speech has continued to improve over the past few days which gives us hope that he will continue to improve more everyday. He is scheduled for a Doppler of his legs tomorrow to check for clots (trying to see where the clot might have originated), and probably another CT or MRI to check his brain again. He is supposed to have a PM&R doctor evaluate him for rehab tomorrow. His nurse said she wanted him moved to a rehab as soon as he gets out of the ICU. Not sure how many more days he will be in ICU, but I will be glad to get him back to Dallas to be closer to home and the kids. I cannot say enough good things about Plaza Medical Center. Allan has had outstanding care. In fact, we have all had outstanding care. The staff has taken care of me and allan's family like we were patients as well. The nurses and physicians have shown such compassion to us. Excellent customer service!! I will update more tomorrow. Thanks for all of your kind words and prayers. They go a long way when your world crashes right before your eyes. So grateful that Allan is still with me! And a special shout out to Cindy; thanks for the spa-like treatment at your place. The best shower I've had in a long time! You are a great friend.

Tuesday afternoon update

3:30. Allan had a CT scan that revealed swelling from the reprofusion of the area of brain that was ischemic from the clot. The nurse said it was expected, and that the swelling should peak at 72 hours. I think that we will likely see more improvement as the swelling decreases. Time will tell.... For now, he is sleeping. We are expecting PT today; his gait belt was delivered. More to follow

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Quick update: Allan had the TEE. It showed that he has a patent foramen ovale (fancy term for a hole in his heart). The clot was able to pass through the hole and lodge in the brain. At least we have a source now. This is something that can be corrected through a minimally invasive procedure. Not sure when, but hopefully soon. He still has a little more testing to go through. He did have OT this morning. He was able to sit at the edge of the bed independently and he was able to stand. There is a little sensation return to his right hand, and he was able to write his name. That's all for now. Will update as I know more.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Allan is doing much better today. He is still having some word finding problems, but that is getting better. He is really good at talking around the word. He is currently having his TEE to determine the source of his blood clot. Will post the finding once we know more. We appreciate all of your kind words. Please continue to keep Allan in your thoughts and prayers.