Update on Dennis, July 25, 2011!

In my last post, I wrote that on Wednesday Dennis was having trouble with his blood pressure bottoming out while trying to stand.  Continuing with his rapid recovery, Thursday he was able to stand upright for five minutes without his blood pressure crashing.  He has also starting working out on the leg press and was pressing 94 pounds.  Later on in the evening he was telling me his story and I quizzically asked him whether his left leg was helping push the weight or if the majority of the leg pressing was done with his right leg.  He looked at me as if I was crazy and said “of course my left leg was pushing”.   It is unbelievable how fast he is progressing.  

Saturday Dennis jumped another big hurdle.  He took his first step…actually it was six steps.  He said it wasn’t exactly Fred Astaire, but it was a step nonetheless.  Saturday was only Dennis’s eighth day of therapy and he has 22 more days left.   I can’t even imagine what he is going to be able to do by August 16^th.

We did get an earlier appointment at Mayo and it is scheduled for this Friday.  We are not sure if it will be outpatient or inpatient at this point.  Dennis wants to finish physical therapy before going back to the hospital, but I am afraid Mayo will want to admit him so they can run their test and monitor his progress.  We are hoping they do the plasma exchange therapy, but with the progress he made last week he may not need the procedure.

Today, Dennis is a walking/standing machine.  I was talking to him on the phone over his break and he was down because he didn’t like the type of steps he was taking.  :-) Dennis as we all know is a perfectionist and not happy that he can’t yet control how big the steps he makes.  He is now able to transfer from his wheelchair to his bed without the transfer board.  He is able to use his arm and leg muscles to hop onto and out of the bed.

I will keep everyone updated with his progress this week and definitely what the doctor tells us on Friday.