6:30pm - Phil has been home for over a month now and continues to make progress. We are really happy with how hard he has been working and the results we are seeing. As I'm sure you've seen, we haven't had enough time to keep this website up to date anymore. Due to this, we are no longer going to be trying to keep this site up to date. It's purpose, to keep people updated while Phil was in the hospital, has been fulfilled. If anyone ever wants to know how things are going, feel free to contact anyone in our family. Thank you all for everything.
9:15pm - It has been a crazy but great week. Phil was released from the hospital this past Monday and has now been home for nearly a week. The transition has been going fairly smoothly although there will definitely be some adjustments. His therapists gave him many things to work on while he is at home and he is very willing to work on anything they suggest. He is waiting to hear when his outpatient therapies will begin and those will be about three times a week. He did have a concern Thursday night due to some numbness in his mouth which caused us to take a trip back to the hospital. However, after a few tests and a day of observation he was cleared to head home with no further concerns from any of his doctors. Please continue to think about us as we work on all continuing to stay patient in this situation. We are out of the hospital but there are some long days ahead for our family and we are doing our best to take them in stride.
10:45am - Another great week of progress. Phil has been continuing to improve and he has been doing a good job staying positive. The hospital has granted him an overnight pass from Saturday afternoon to Sunday evening so at the moment he is at home and will be going back to the hospital tonight. He has been doing pretty well at home but there will definitely be some adjustments and growing necessary. He has been getting better and better at walking with a cane and assistance. We are hoping he will be released within the next week and can start outpatient therapies.
12:25pm - This last week was a great improvement. The doctors were able to help Phil stay awake during the day and sleep at night and it appears that was crucial to him improving. Now that he actually has some energy during the day he is finally able to make solid progress in his therapies. The physical therapist has had him walking a little bit (with assistance of course) and has him working on walking up and down steps again. His muscles on his right side have also been improving and he is gaining a bit more function over time. We had a family meeting with all of his caretakers a couple days ago and at this point they are estimating he'll be in rehabilitation until mid month, another couple weeks. They were all quite positive about his recent progress. That is definitely just a guess at this point but we are hoping it is accurate. We can't thank everyone enough for your continued support and care. Updates will continue at least until he leaves rehabilitation.
2:00pm - Phil has now been in the rehabilitation facility for about six days now. His typical schedule each day is physical/speech/occupational therapies in the morning and afternoon with meals in between. The first few days he was here he was still on a messed up ICU sleep schedule which wasn't very helpful in his numerous therapies. However, he appears to finally be on a semi-normal sleep schedule which allows him to be more active at therapy. Beth has been spending days at the hospital and his kids have been visiting whenever they are able. He has been staying positive about his current condition and appears to be ready to continue working hard. We have been able to understand him better when he's been awake but he still has trouble with his words.
7:25pm - Good news! Phil was accepted into an inpatient rehabilitation program at another hospital and was transferred there today. The transition seemed to go smoothly and this is going to be a great next step towards recovery. It is estimated to be a 2-3 week program for him where he will go through about three hours of physical/occupational/speech therapy spread throughout the day. If all goes well, the hope is for him to be much closer to independent by the end of the program. He was very tired throughout the day today but we are hoping once he starts this rehabilitation and gets on a more regular schedule he'll mostly just be tired/sleeping at night. Him even being accepted into this type of program gives us a lot of hope for his recovery. Please keep him in your prayers as he starts this new part of his journey tomorrow. This website will not be updated daily now that he has started this program but we will continue posting updates throughout the next few weeks.
8:30pm - Not many changes today. Phil has had some issues with headaches and frustration but he is getting though. They are helping him get what he needs to be comfortable. He has been able to sleep better this afternoon. His care team has just let him continue to rest today instead of trying to push him too hard. Please send up prayers for patience and comfort.
12:20pm - Last night a bed opened up and Phil was able to move out of the ICU floor. It is nice to have a change of scenery and to be on a quieter floor. He is able to sleep a bit easier at night now that it is quieter and they don't have to check on him quite as often. His care team continues to be pleased with his ongoing progress.
4:00pm - Once again today has been fairly similar to the last few at least as far as his daily schedule has gone. He has seen all of his care team and they have let us all know he is continuing to make small improvements, even if he can't always tell. He has also been cleared to leave intensive care which is great news. We have decided as a family along with his care team that we aren't going to have visitors to see him. He has been working hard with PT/OT/ST and he needs to spend all of his energy these days on recovery. We are doing this to focus completely on what Phil needs and we have been passing along your words and encouragement. However, if anyone would like to visit our family please contact one of us and we can work out the timing. Thank you so much for all of your kind words throughout the week. Updates will continue to come as we get more notable news.
8:14pm - Food! After a steady diet of ice chips and a couple ounces of applesauce for the last few days Phil has finally been cleared to eat soft foods and drink liquids. We can only imagine how comforting that must be. He has continued to make progress moving his right side working with Physical Therapy and we have seen small improvements. The family says thank you so much for all your thoughts, prayers, and messages. They mean so much to us all.
10:26am - Updates will probably be only coming maybe once or twice a day from now on since things won't be changing very quickly around here. He's still in the ICU and we aren't quite sure when he'll be moved to a step-down unit, hopefully soon. We are hoping to be out of the hospital and on to the next step (whatever that is) sometime next week but everything is day to day. He seems to be doing a bit better today but again, progress is slow.
4:41pm - Today has been pretty similar to yesterday, he is still in ICU. He was visited by all the members of his care team (speech/occupational/physical therapists, neurosurgeon, neurologists, etc). He sat in a chair twice today and the physical therapist worked with him on standing. There still isn't much functionality of the right half of his body, but there is small progress being made.
9:23am - We got back to the hospital earlier and Krystal said it was a fairly quiet night. Phil didn't sleep very well but he was able to get some sleep. His primary doctor came by and was pleased with his progress and the fact he was able to get out of the bed (with a lot of assistance) and sit in a reclining chair. A neurologist came in and also was positive about his progress. He has some movement in his right side but doesn't have much sensation. Another neurologist will be stopping by as well as a handful of other doctors. We aren't expecting much change today.
10:00pm - We headed home to sleep and Krystal is staying at the hospital tonight to keep us updated if anything changes overnight. There will likely be a visit by all of the therapists/doctors again tomorrow, hopefully with some progress. There is a chance of some temporary regression tomorrow if there is any swelling in the brain but we are praying that won't happen. Updates will continue to come tomorrow as we meet with the team of caregivers that have been so great to him so far.
5:30pm -We finally were able to meet with the neurosurgeon. He was positive about the progress Phil is making. It sounds like there is still a chance of some temporary regression within the next 24 hours due to swelling, but so far we haven't seen any symptoms of that. It appears he is getting a bit frustrated about not being able to communicate effectively but we are being patient and making sure he knows we are there for him. We expect he'll be in ICU for the next couple days and will be in regular room after that for around 5 days. Again, these are all estimates. Visiting isn't recommended at least until he is out of the ICU and we will post updates about visiting when applicable. For right now we are hoping he just rests as much as they will let him.
3:39pm - Things have been rather quiet this afternoon since the various therapists visited him. A social worker came by to talk about potential next steps. It sounds like assuming things go well over the next few days he will eventually have to spend time at an Acute Inpatient Rehab Facility where they will work on getting him independent again. We don't know anything more about that process but I'm sure we will learn more as the days go on. Thank you so much to every who has reached out to us, the support means a lot even if we aren't able to respond right away.
12:24pm - Phil met with 3 people: occupational therapist, speech therapist, and a physical therapist. He has been able to eat some applesauce rather independently and has regained a small amount of mobility in his right side.
Information leading up to Tuesday morning: The stroke he had Friday night was caused by a blockage in his carotid artery. They decided to do surgery to remove the blockage. The surgery went well, and things initially looked good, but the part of the brain that had been damaged by the first stroke became more damaged with the sudden increase of blood flow, causing a second stroke- this time because of bleeding into his brain. They were able to slow/stop the bleeding and decided they needed to just watch to see how he did. Initially, he couldn't move the right side of his body and couldn't communicate well. Throughout Monday evening and into the night, he has regained some control over the right side of his body, and we are able to understand a little more of what he's saying. He does recognize us and even asked his nurse for a Coke. They did a CT scan Tuesday morning to see how much blood got into his brain and to assess his condition. They are hopeful that the blood will get reabsorbed and, overtime, he'll regain feeling and control. He's already seen a handful of specialist therapists who have all been great. They all think he is doing well so far, although it is still very early to know anything long term. If everything goes perfectly, after he is done at the hospital he would move to some sort of rehabilitation program.