Thursday, January 17, 2008

Brent was transfered from UAMS over to Baptist Hospital Rehabilitation today around noon, it's only a few miles but the trip took a lot out of him. He was transfered by ambulance, and the transfer was rough on him. Once here we were impressed with the quality of care he received from the very moment he was rolled thru the doors. He will have the same team working with him thru his stay here.

We still don't have everything in place or understand completely how this process will work. One of the major obstacles to the rehab. is the condition of his left shoulder. It looks like he will be here at Baptist for anywhere from 7 to 14 days. During that time we as a family will learn how to care for Brent, and all the special needs he will have. After that initial time Brent will be discharged, we will need to care for him about 4 to 6 weeks while his shoulder heals. Brent won't stay here since the bulk of the rehab. will need to be done when he can bear weight on his shoulder. Brent's health insurance has a cap on rehabilitation expenses, Baptist doesn't want to use all his insurance coverage limits while he is unable to proceed with rehab. At this time we will either try to find a place here in Little Rock wheelchair accessible for our stay or bring him home to Leesburg (Fl) for this 4 to 6 weeks.

Today Dr. Kiser ran several tests on Brent to determine the extent of the injury to his spine. Dr Kiser met with Brent, Kathy and myself, we wish the test result had come back more positive. The end result is that Brent will only have about a 5% chance of regaining use of his legs again. This is preliminary, as the rehab. progresses they will continue to look of additional signs of possible improvement.

Our family would like to thank each and every one who have left posts, sent cards - emails, flowers, food, notes of encouragement and in general have supported our family in ways I can't begin to express! There is no way, we could conceive of going thru this without you, forgive me if we haven't sent personal thank you notes to everyone as we should, but trust us when we say -- Our family is so very thankful!

Pete & Kathy

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your family is a great example of Christian servants. I continually pray for comfort both physically and emotionally. May God bless Brent as he comes to grips with all the challenges.

In HIM,
Cynthia M

Anonymous said...

I can only imagine your feelings listening to that report. almost certain medical breakthrus are on the horizon..5% ok..100% chance Brent will continue to lead a wonderful life. time to heal..time to rest..time to pray.
PG

sensdelune said...

Know we are lifting Brent up in prayer, he is so loved by our class. May God wrap his loving arms around you all as a family. I have been where you have been, learning to care for a loved one who has become ill. You will be closer as a family than you ever have before.

With Christian love and much prayer,

Kim

Anonymous said...

Brent, look how far you're come already. May God's blessings continue to flow over you and your family as you rehab. We lifted you up in prayer at our Wednesday night devotional for the college kids here in our home, and will continue to do so.

Don Sanders
Harding Faculty
"Uncle Don" to Allison Kuepker