Update on Chad's Dad

Well, here is an update on Kent. After the scary crash a few weeks ago, he had started to improve a little. However, our concerns about his care at St. Mark's, were growing. They were pretty much just letting him lay there and waste away. He was not getting any PT and was losing weight drastically. His basic care was also horrendous, as when we visited him, he hadn't been bathed, washed, shaved or any oral care for several days. His Meds mere hanging empty and was laying on bloody sheets. So between us and the doctors, we decided to move him to LDS hospital. After about a week of red tape and waiting for a bed to open up, we finally got him moved this morning, and tell you what, his improvement in just several hours has been astounding. They Drs and Nurses at LDS were floored that he had been sedated like he has for so long, (we think St. Marks used the sedation as a kind of restraint, he was easier to take care of when unconscience) they couldn't believe that he had not gotten any kind of PT and they even said he looked terrible when he came in and they had him cleaned up and looking like new in no time. And now as I writing this, he has been there for six hours and they have gotten him off the sedation, he is now pretty much awake and aware and able to let his wants known. They have gotten him up in a chair, done physical therapy (afterwards, kent was trying to do leg lifts in his bed, the nurses had to tell him to knock it off :-) ) and have set the respirator to the wean setting, and thier goal is to get him off the ventilator as soon as possible. Chad was there several hours as every department you could think of met with him to discuss his dad and get any background information that they could. The dietician was floored when he realized just how little calories Kent was getting in the day and plans on doubling his caloric intake to try and get him to gain some weight back. The hospital staff has been very open and communicative and are much more tolerant of family visiting. We are just feeling very optimistic about this and we are very grateful this move went through. It is scary to think of how long Kent would have laid in bed, wasting away at St Mark's, until he would have been able to go home. Anyway, thank you for your thoughts, I think we can finally be optimistic about Kent's recovery!