Today was the one-week anniversary of Shirley's admission to the Rehab Unit and our first meeting with "the team" to review her progress. To say the least, Shirley has hit it out of the ballpark and exceeded the expectations of the entire Therapy team. Originally, they had projected a 2-week stay with release on May 8. Today they asked her how she would feel about being discharged on Friday.
From a rehab perspective, I'm confident that she will be ready. She has been released to get up and move around without assistance; she is able to climb a flight of stairs (with some resting); and is able to stand for a full hour during her OT session. Today, we worked on getting in and out of the car and her little SUV is nearly perfect in terms of height and ease of access.
The challenge is going to be from a medical standpoint and whether the surgical team feels her wounds are sufficiently healed. She still has the wound vac and the change of dressing on Tuesday revealed limited progress in terms of additional closure from the Friday dressing change. She is still on IV antibiotics (3 times daily) and they will likely continue that until her wound is completely closed.
It is a time of both excitement and a little trepidation, as she certainly doesn't want to leave for a few days only to have to come back again due to some sort of set-back.
So for now we wait. The Rehab doctors will talk with the Transplant doctors and make a decision on when it is safe to release her.
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