Day 77 - Stuck Inside of Burn Unit with the Rehab Blues Again

A lot happened today. Daniel remains in the burn center until his liver problem clears up. Rehab is for well-people and Dan's liver disqualifies him for now. I imagine Daniel is singing the Memphis Blues of Bob Dylan...

Oh, the ragman draws circles

Up and down the block

I’d ask him what the matter was

But I know that he don’t talk

And the ladies treat me kindly

And they furnish me with tape

But deep inside my heart

I know I can’t escape

Oh, Mama, can this really be the end

To be stuck inside of Mobile with the

Memphis blues again

Meantime Mr. Dan (the ragman who don't talk) was measured for garments today. The ladies did treat him kindly and measured him with tape. And deep down he may be thinking he can't escape - the burn floor... Oh, Mama,... It will be three weeks or so until his gloves and "shirt" are ready. Maybe we could actually be home with Daniel by then, but we'll see. One day at a time.

[I have no clear idea what Dylan was writing about in this song; the lyrics get even stranger after this first verse, but these words oddly echo some of what's going on with Daniel these days as the song creeped in to my head at some point today.]

After his garment measuring - they measured every inch of each arm, fingers and torso, up and down - we got to pick colors for his first set of clothing. We chose Bronco blue and orange stitching. He will get a second set in different colors once we verify the fit of the first.

After the ladies finished measuring him came a one-lap walk around the floor while wearing ankle weights. His walk is steady, his stride is fine. If he knew the way I think he'd book it out of here.

We ate a late breakfast then heard morning rounds. We discussed his liver and the observation that his face is looking flushed for the past two days. Nobody is quite sure why the face is reddened. We all agreed to drop one of his medications to help rule out any problem with it and his liver. All the medications he takes has to be broken down by the liver at some point. Some medications can take a toll on the liver. A few of the meds have a 1% population of patients where they could affect the liver so nothing glares at the team as the culprit, but we'll change one thing then measure and take action slowly to try to isolate if it's a medication problem or something else.

The mama holding her baby boy

The team also ordered an ultrasound of his liver and gallbladder to see if there's a problem with blood flow input/output and other "stuff" you can learn through one. He had to fast for a few hours so we may have a problem meeting his calorie and protein goal today. The ultrasound data will be sent to a liver specialist for interpretation and then we will learn if there's damage or a problem or perhaps how to proceed from here. We may know something as early as tonight.

Sporty PJ bottoms yes?

After the ultrasound technician left Daniel's favorite OTs returned to measure his arms for custom splints to help with the elbow stretching HO problems Daniel has. He has become a bit leery of the OTs since they usually inflict pain with their visits. Even though they were only measuring he complained and seemed rather unhappy with their company.

We also chatted with his OTs about !breaking! the HO hold on his elbow. We had heard of patients who had eventually broken the bone deposit on their own after they left the hospital. Can you imagine how painful that might be?  We wanted to see if this was something his surgeon would consider - he said "NO", but we haven't given up on this thought so that's one idea being tossed about among Team Daniel to deal with HO.

In a short while we will give Daniel a shower in the tub room. I thought we'd be doing this up on the rehab floor by now, but we're here still on the burn floor. Some day I hope he can enjoy a shower again, but right now I don't think he will take much pleasure in it.