Rachael's first go at occupational therapy starts today. Keep in mind that our goal is to get her to respond to repeatable commands by volunatry movements. That is what we are after. She is not there yet. Her level of cognition has not changed. This is the start.
She does experience a thing called 'storms'. Evidence of these events are a very high heart rate (140-150) profuse sweating and jerky movements. These are close to the same symptoms she shows when she is under discomfort. We have found, thanks to the nurses at Heartland that she prefers to not lay on her right side. It causes her discomfort.
Last night she had to be taken by ambulance to Sarasota Memorial Hospital as she had a 'plug' in her breathing. This is mucus that has gotten to be large enough to cause her 'blood oxygen saturation levels AKA- her SAT' to be less than optimal. Normal for her right now is about 93%-97% blood oxygen saturation. She dipped to 85% last night. We have seen this before and handled it via suction of the trache. Last night was the first night this happened at the new facility without Nancy or I there. They have there protocols to follow so they had her trasported to SMH. The protocols for her will be modified today. The gang at Heartland are kind and caring people. We are all getting use to each other and Rachael as a patient there. It is good to know that when in doubt, they will call 911 without hesitation. We did not get back to Heartland until 11:30 or so.
Hanna will be seeing Rachael for the first time since the accident this week so please keep her in your prayers. It is scary for her.
Rachael's Rehab schedule is currently Occupational at 11:00 and Physical at 3:00. If you are visiting, she will be occupied during those times. I just spoke to Nancy (11:53 am March 1) and Rachael is comfortable with a regular heartbeat and good SAT.
Thank you for your continued prayers,
Burt and Nancy
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