http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=334&mname=ArticleGroup Recovery Road en-us 60 Dad's miraculous recovery is amazingly not slowing down much at all. I haven't been home since sunday but when I was there I was amazed at how well he was getting around, how good he looked, and how well the left arm was progressing under the circumstances. Still not seeing anything major out of it, but seeing some slight in to out motions that seem to be getting a little easier, so we can just keep hoping that it continues to improve. His Physical therapy has been going amazing. He has been walking around the block on his own, for good or bad, we're not sure yet. Jeremy would really rather him do some other excercises versus walking but i guess its better than nothing. Yesterday, they actually took him off the cane for the most part. He should probably have it in the car or something when he goes places but he should only use it if he is really tired or uncomfortable in a new place. He also has a appointment with Bick's to go for a test drive and see if he can get ok'd to start driving again. Someone should explain to Bick's that he never knew how to drive in the first place. If he gets his license back it would really make a lot of things a lot easier on everyone. So things are looking good and we have another set of appointments with the cardiologists in the following weeks and hopefully they will start lifting some retrictions. Thu, 11 Oct 2007 09:59:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5279&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5279&mname=Article Its been such a crazy busy week, it's been hard to keep everyone up to date on the great progress that dad has been making this past week. On Wednesday, Jeremy came back from vacation and that has been really good for dad's morale. The therapist that picked up dad's session did some good things and really helped him along, but its always good to work with someone you have worked with before, and someone that really knows your abilities. We have had some great PT sessions, dad actually hasnt used a cane during PT for 3 sessions now. He is really looking a lot stronger and more confident when walking w/o the cane. Today, his PT really worked on a series of balance drills and making sure dad was using controlled motions to perform certain tasks. On Thursday, we had the followup with heart surgeon and he was impressed with dad's progress. The chest xrays, the incision looked good, and the lungs apparently sounded pretty well too. We have to see the heart surgeon in a few weeks, and if things are still looking well, the surgeon will cut him loose. During the afternoon IV session, we got some blood work back, and all the blood work looked pretty good. He was just a tad high on sodium and quite a bit high on sugar too, but otherwise there wasn't much to be concerned about. I am headed back to mke here on sunday morning, and will be back shortly, but hopefully, I can still bring everyone good news in the coming weeks. Fri, 21 Sep 2007 12:51:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5256&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5256&mname=Article Turns out we only had an OT session this morning and I thought it was a fairly succesful session. I could see how a lot of people could watch and would still be discouraged but i have really been trying to pay attention to the little things and have been very impressed with the improvement from week to week. He was able to complete the taks today with a lot more arm/muscle control. Its still a little herky/jerky with the shoulder but they are slowly trying to remove those motions. Its amazing how many muscles are required in the subtlelest motions. The biggest thing you could notice, was the better and more controlled motions of bringing the arm from inside to outside. The arm still needs lots and lots of work, but I think we are moving in the right direction. Mon, 17 Sep 2007 21:07:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5254&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5254&mname=Article I thought we had some encouraging signs with the left arm/hand this morning. Lauren has really been working hard with him and looks like we are seeing some results. She has been working on not only getting certain motions, but also making sure they are controlled motions. His left arm motions definitely looked a little more controlled by the end of the session. His PT session went really really well too. He did the entire therapy session w/o a cane today. His stamina, endurance and breathing were really good. He did some side steps to the left and right, some coordination drills on 4" step, some walking backwards and forwards, 2 flights of stairs, and a very long walk that required walking up and down a ramp. He was definitely tired after all the work, but it really seems to help his attitude and willingness to want to do more and more on his own. Doing our best to continue working on things at home in hopes of getting him back up and out as soon as possible. Fri, 14 Sep 2007 11:38:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5253&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5253&mname=Article Dad really didn't get much sleep last night for no apparent reason. He wasn't having any troubles breathing, coughing, or anything else, just couldn't sleep. He looked like a zombie at 6:30 this morning getting ready for therapy. Despite being tired, he really looked pretty good. I saw some encouraging signs with the left arm. It still has a long long way to go, but I feel like it is moving in the right direction. As for PT, he continues to surprise me with how fast he is bouncing back. Every excercise they asked him to do today, he passed with flying colors. He even walked about 190 ft w/o a cane today @ 99% oxygen and a 94 heart rate, which is a lot better than the initial signs after the surgery. So hopefully he starts sleeping a little better and can really start wowing everyone, as if he already isn't! Wed, 12 Sep 2007 09:54:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5251&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5251&mname=Article Today was the first day back at Outpatient Therapy and he did pretty exceptional under the circumstances. Most people up on the rehab floor were very aware of what had happened and all of them were pretty shocked to see how well he was doing. We did steps, ramps, co-ordination drills, strength tests, and some balancing excercises. We have faltered a little bit but after seeing him on Saturday, I was really impressed with his progress in just a few days. This has really helped with his attitude a lot too. He has been a lot more positive and he is starting to realize things aren't as dark and grim as they once seemed. Hopefully after a few weeks of IV's, we can get everyone out to see him. Mon, 10 Sep 2007 10:05:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5247&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5247&mname=Article Most of you reading this were most likely in attendance and don't need me to tell you it was a major success. Last night was a very very overwhelming night for a lot of people, especially the family. There were definitely over 600 people there at different times in the night, and there were lots of people who had headed out already by the height of attendance. It's amazing to see the sheer number of people whose lives have been touched and affected by my dad. Everyone always asked, "Is there anyone you dad doesn't know?", after last night I am more and more convinced the answer is "NO". I thanked the band for playing, they were great, and they said it was their pleasure. They have played at a lot of benefits but nothing of that magnitude. That definitely says a little something about all of you. I just wanted to thank everyone, b/c it's impossible to thank the 100's of people individually. I wish dad could have been there, he would have truly been touch by all of the support. He will bounce back from this latest set back, and hopefully he will get to see each and everyone of you in the near future. Sun, 09 Sep 2007 16:01:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5245&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5245&mname=Article It's been another long day at the hospital, but full of positive signs. After looking at the x-rays, his lungs are 90% free of liquid and his breathing seems to be a lot easier. He walked the hallway a few times today, and looked a little stronger. All the doc's continue to be impressed with his progress and it looks like they are going to discharge him on Friday. He will be taking IV anti-biotics for 3 weeks to keep infections and bacteria under control. We will get more info as friday gets closer but I think we still want to keep visitors to a minimum, especially children. We will let everyone know when this changes. Wed, 05 Sep 2007 21:47:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5235&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5235&mname=Article Hi all, yesterday was another positive recovery day. He sat up in a chair for a bulk of the day and he took a few small strolls, the longest stroll was a few hundred feet. A plethora of doc's came in to see him yesterday and all of them were very encouraged with all the signs they were seeing. I feel like we are out of the critical phase, but the next 3 months are still a very major concern. We really need to make sure his body stays strong enough to fight off any further bacteria and infections. Tue, 04 Sep 2007 09:35:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5234&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5234&mname=Article Dad is still in pretty critical condition, it seems like we might be out of the woods as soon as tomorrow or as late as mid week. The dr's definitely dont want to down play the severity of the condition and circumstances that landed him in open heart surgery. We did however get some more positive signs and proof that we are heading in the right direction. When I arrived this morning they had just sedated him, so I got to see him for a few minutes but then left to let him rest. I went back about an hour later just to check in and he was sleeping. A few minutes later, the nurse came out to get me and said the dr's were with him and had just woken him up. Overall they are really impressed with the progress but are still proceeding with extreme caution when making any decisions. By Late Afternoon, they had taken out a lot of the pins, pricks, iv's and even the blood drain from his chest. He was really looking a lot better than I could have possibly imagined, under the circumstances. A short while later, they moved him to a private room and he slept for awhile. The next time, I went back, he was up and sitting in a chair. I ran out to get danny so we could spend some time with him while he was up. He walked to and from the bathroom and got back into bed with minimal help. He was definitely weak and walking slower but it was still good to see. Hopefully we get some even better news tomorrow, but they are preceeding with such caution, it might be a few more days before we can all really stop and take a sigh of relief. Mon, 03 Sep 2007 00:22:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5233&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5233&mname=Article These past few days, the man upstairs really decided to put our friends and family to the fullest test. This may come as shocker to some of you and please bear with me, this isnt easy to write about and is quite lengthy. On thursday night, one of my dad's visitors made an observation that has changed a lot of lives. After noticing dad was really having trouobles breathing, she made the comment that he should really call the doctor because it sounded a lot like Congested Heart Failure. Micki and Jim talked to the doctor and decided that was probably the best idea. When they talked to me on the phone, they really believed that he was going to get an x-ray, an antibiotic via IV and home he would go. During this process, the doctors unexpectedly admitted him into the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) because they didn't like what they were seeing, but didn't know what they were seeing either. They were considering Congested Heart Failure or Adult Respitory Syndrome, but wanted to run some more tests to decide what exactly was happening. THe next morning I got to the hospital about 8:30 and he was on brething machine because his lungs were too full of fluids to work on their own. He was already struggling to breath when the family was there but about 4 am he really started to struggle so they put him on the machine to help his lungs do the work. Eventually they gave him a catscan and then i watched as they gave an ultrasound of his heart. It really wasnt how I imagined seeing my first ultrasound, but knowing nothing about the heart muscle it was obvious there was something not quite working right in there, and the cardiologist and the girl running the ultrasound were pointing at what i was seeing. They followed the ultrasound with an angiogram. Luckily the angio-gram showed that there was no blockage in the heart. It would be the little bit of good news we would hear on this day. UNfortunately, the ultrasound and some other tests showed that some bacteria or infection had attacked the Aortic Vlave, causing it to leak and this quickly became what they called a medical emergency. Earlier in the day, when the surgery seemed immenint, it was originally scheduled for 10 pm. After some more analysis, the medical team decided that he may not survive until 10 oclock and even if he did his chances of surving would be minimal. They assembled a 2nd emergency cariologist team to work on his case because another emergency went in a few hours before him. As of the last talk before the surgery, the doctors gave us a 30-60% chance of him not survivng or causing another major medical issue as a result from the heart surgery.The number one scare if he survived was/is the chance of re-aggravating the portion of the brain that casued the initial stroke. The nurses came and gave us a few updates at 20 and 40 minutes into the surgery and things were going as well as we could hope at that point but then we still had a lot of sitting and waiting. They told us it would take 4-8 hours and possibly longer depending on what they find once they get in there. After about 3.5 hours the nurse came in and told us that they had replaced the aortic valve and had him off the bypass machine already and that they would monitor the heart for an hour or so before they put him back together. Eventually the doctor came out and told us that everything went as well as we could hope for under the extreme circumstances. He also said that the surgery was only 1/3 of the way through the critical phase of this surgery. The next 2-4 days and possibly a week are still a very scary time for the family. We really won't have any sort of prognosis on the recovery until we get out of this critical phase. Due to the severity of his condition going into surgery and the recent stroke they are worried about too many complications to even start listing. We finally got to see him late last night and he really looked a lot better than I or anyone could have expected. It really did help me get some sleep getting to see dad again (I wasn't too sure that was ever going to happen again). Today was another long day of sitting, waiting and praying but we did get some positive signs. We got to see him briefly in the morning. One time he was quite awake and cognitive but he had the breathing tube in and was very uncomfortable. Long story a little shorter, they managed to get him off the respirator today and he was breathing on his own power and was in a very positive mood considering what he just went through. He was back to the same old personality, jokinging around and making himself another nurses memorable patient. Almost everyday I talked to dad he told me the first thing he did everymorning was thank God for letting him wake up to see another day. I'm not so sure he thought God was on his side this time, and I am pretty sure his tears when he woke up and saw me for the first time, were tears letting me know he still feels very thankful that he has gotten to see another day. We are BY NO MEANS out of the critical stages of this surgery. The next few days will be very hard on the family and we ask that you show some patience and let us get you info at our own pace. Trying to cope with his makes the the stroke look like a common cold. WE are asking visitors to please hang back and let us cope with everything and get out of this critical phase. Sat, 01 Sep 2007 23:15:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5232&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5232&mname=Article I started the long journey home yesterday evening and disaster doesn't even begin to explain the experience. A typical drive to cincy takes 6 to 6.5 hours and normally takes an hour and a half to get to downtown Chicago. It took 4.5 hours to get to the north side of Chicago. Eventually, I u-turned and drove the wrong way up an on-ramp to get off the highway. After several routes were all headed off by cops, and an hour of twisting and turning through chicago suburbs, i finally decided to head back to Milwaukee. On my way back to MKE I got a call, the highway was flooded and they had to shut down the highway. So it essentially took me 6 hours to get to north side of chicago and back to mke. So i will unfortunately not make it home this weekend, chicago is expecting more awful storms today. It did sound like dad had a productive therapy session this morning, a little disappointed that i couldnt be there to pass along more info. Fri, 24 Aug 2007 11:12:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5211&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5211&mname=Article Updates are still kinda hard to keep up with not being there so much. Sounds like things are kind of leveling off the past week and a half or so. He really seems tired a lot more the past few days and he went to the hospital today for some chest x-rays, b/c the bronchitis is still lingering and affecting his sleep. It does sound like the physical therapist is working on him moving around without a cane a lot more and he is even adapting that approach around the house. I guess therapy on Friday will tell me a lot. I'll give more frequent updates throughout the weekend. Tue, 21 Aug 2007 19:54:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5205&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5205&mname=Article Hey all, its been a few days since I have updated his progress but w/o being there and seeing the progress first hand, it really is hard to give too much info. Sounds like therapy this week really worked on trying to clean up some trouble areas, versus moving on to new new tasks. He really really needs to continue working on lifting the left foot. Hopefully, they will straighten that out soon, so we can really start making some more progress. I'll be back in town next weekend, so i'll be able to give a little better updates then. Fri, 17 Aug 2007 16:55:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5187&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5187&mname=Article Dad had an exciting friday, last week, so much progress has been made, it's almost unbelievable. Today was the first day that the little sibs had to step up and take care of business and so far so good. He made it to therapy on time and the day seemed to go smoothly. I guess therapy was pretty much the same in terms of OT and Speach, no one really reported too much in those areas, but in PT he made some more visible progress. The parallel bars are about 20 feet in length and it sounds like he walked the length of the parallel bars, back and forth, several times, w/o a cane. Not being there I don't know how hard, wobbly, scary, or what kind of strides were being used, but we'll take baby steps at this point. He is strong enough, we just need to get the confidence back into him. I will check back with new info as it becomes available. Mon, 13 Aug 2007 22:21:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5186&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5186&mname=Article It's been a successful 2 weeks home with dad, he has really made some great strides. He is doing enough of the daily activities on his own and we have a pretty solid schedule and process for the things he needs help with still. I will be back late the night of the Aug 23rd, and taking him to therapy on that Friday. I am really hoping he continues to make the same type of progress on 10 intervals. It seems like every 10 days he continues to surprise me. The little sibs are going to do there best to help out and take care of dad to the best of their abilities. Their work and school schedules are not nearly as flexible as mine was, so they are going to need a bit more help. We have the next week pretty much taken care of, but the following week gets a little trickier. Thanks again to everyone that has helped keep his spirits up and make this recovery possible. Hopefully, I will continue to relay good news. Sun, 12 Aug 2007 12:37:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5185&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5185&mname=Article Despite another night of no sleep, dad had a fairly productive day at therapy. Today in PT, he walked with a normal cane again, and Jeremy really worked on making sure he picks up that left foot. He still has a tendancy to drag that left toe, and his leg is more than strong enough to lift that leg. After the inital walk, they worked on a few different balancing and coordination skills, without a cane. They started with touching spots on a floor and working on foot placement, then he did some sideways walking with crossover steps w/o a cane, then he he was pushed and pulled around a little bit trying to get back some of those instinctive balance motions, and he went for a longer walk with the cane, and Jeremy really made him pick up the pace, for most Conroy's that would have been an all out sprint. Then came the biggest smile I have seen in awhile. Jeremy came out with a golf club, and dad lit up like a xmas tree. The grip and left arm aren't there yet, but hopefully they can use it as motivation and its a good way to work on balance. Everything I have heard, the outpatient therapist is about as good as they come and part of his appeal is that he is very good at modifying the therapy program to the patient. Today was a good day, it brought a lot of excitement and hope into our lives. Fri, 10 Aug 2007 10:15:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5184&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5184&mname=Article Dad is still battling the bronchitis, and there have been a few sleepless nights. It really makes getting him out and his therapy sessions pretty rough. He tried to get plenty of rest today after rehab, but is having trouble sleeping again. Hopefully this passes soon. Wed, 08 Aug 2007 21:29:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5183&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5183&mname=Article Dad had some good therapy sessions this morning. Lauren, the OT was working on getting some new range of motions to that left arm and he was doing pretty well, he could definitely feel those muscles being used. It's amazing at how much more strength is evident in that left arm today versus last friday. Lauren, gave us some new excercises to continue working on building stength in that arm. Kim, his orignal PT, came down to fill in for dad's normal outpatient PT, Jeremy, because he was off today. She really worked on trying to get him to concentrate on lifting that left foot. He is more than capable of lifting it off the ground, he sometimes just needs to be cued. All in all he did pretty well there too, it was a far cry from where she started with him, and even when she got rotated off his case. I am still amazed everyday I see his progress. We stopped and saw all the nurses, his visit to Kim's Bday party, was the talk of the rehab floor. Now he is getting some well deserved rest. Mon, 06 Aug 2007 11:28:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5173&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5173&mname=Article All of Dad's sore muscles are telling him, maybe we over did it yesterday, but it was a fun day. It definitely helped him to finally get another good nights sleep, and the wheezing and coughing were minimal through the night and through today thus far. We are still trying to figure out what he feels up for today, really think getting him back in the pool, even if its just to saok the muscles might be a good thing. Sun, 05 Aug 2007 12:31:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5172&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5172&mname=Article It was another rough night of sleep dealing with the bronchitis, he was really not feeling well this morning. The dr. finally prescribed an antibiotic and dad some rest so hopefully, this will get better in a hurry. Once we finally got going today, we went up to my uncle jimmy's house to try using the swimming pool. Dad was able to get in without any problems, and was walking all around the shallow end, also was able to do a lot of other excercises while in there. He really had a new range of motion with the left arm, so hopefully, that will help gain some strength in that arm. He did actually manage to scratch his right arm today, which i had to do for him yesterday. After we got started, it was a good day. Sat, 04 Aug 2007 18:37:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5171&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5171&mname=Article Today was the first day of outpatient therapy back at the hosptial. For the first day, i think we had a pretty good system in place already. We got there right at 8 and were ready for some work. The beginig of all the therapy sessions started with developing short and long term goals based on the time spent at home thus far. OT worked on the range in that left arm and hand, and that is really going to be the focus going forward. Speach Threrapy, is going to continue working on strengthening the muscles on the left side of the face and work on problem solving. The new PT guy, seems like he is really going to put dad's physical skills to the test. He had him do a lot of walking, got on him for dragging his left foot, as everyone else should too, and had him doing some balancing excercises without the use of the cane. The left leg seems to be fairly strong, it just needs to gain back some of that controlled motion. All in all it was a very good day in the recovery process. He's fighting hard every day to recover to his fullest. Fri, 03 Aug 2007 11:13:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5168&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5168&mname=Article It's been a few long days, but seeing dad in the comfort of his own home, makes everything worth all the effort. The first day home went rather smoothly, some of the family came over and helped finalize some of the furniture arrangements and came to visit dad. Also found out that apparently the hospital bed at the house is more comfortable than at the hospital. The second day was really an interesting day, dad woke up after 8-10 hours of sleep, and was feeling pretty good. Surprisingly enough, his back wasn't even in too bad of shape. It was a day of firsts. First day waking up at home, showering at home, all meals at home, and the first fall. It was relatively harmless, but an eye opening experience. Without getting the 8 hours of trapy a day, he was really feeling weak, but we made him do some walking and excercises. Today, was a rough day for dad. He didn't get much sleep at all last night, he mnaged to pick up a slight case of broncitis (sp?) and he was hacking away all night. We both fell asleep about 11 and he wanted cough medicine at 12 but couldt wake me up :( , luckily my little borther heard him an got him some medicine. He was feeling weak again today but we had him work with some ankle weights, and he walked A LOT today. I'd say almost a 1/2 mile if not a little more and other than being tired, he felt pretty good and strong. Going to call it a night and hope he gets some sleep tonight, tomorrow at 8 am is the first outpatient therapy session. Thu, 02 Aug 2007 20:53:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5167&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5167&mname=Article Today is finally the day we have been so patiently been waiting. Went through the final therapy sessions, talks with the doctor, and discharge instructions from Nurse Jim. The day went pretty smooth and it really seems like we are ready for this next challenge. Everyone at the hospital was so supportive and helpful through everything and wanted to make sure they all got to say bye in their own special way. The discharge has gone smoothly so far, we got him home and fed him some lunch and now he just watching some tv while he takes in his surroundings he has missed for so long. Tue, 31 Jul 2007 11:44:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5165&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5165&mname=Article Today is his last full day of therapy at the hospital. I was there this morning for a bit and he seemed to be doing really well. He walked a great deal again today, probably had a stretch of 300 feet or so w/o a rest. They also did some balancing on a tee-totter platform. The nurse had him close his eyes and release his hold on the parralel bars and he did it looked like the therapist was helping minimally. The hospial bed arrived and is assembled, hopefully he won't have to use it for too long. Mon, 30 Jul 2007 14:41:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5164&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5164&mname=Article Dad handled all the excitement from yesterday pretty well, sounds like he got some good rest last night. The kids spent most of the day, cleaning and straightening up the house for his return. We finally made it up there and took him to Dewey's Pizza in Clifton for dinner. We figured a nice short trip from the hospital would be good enough today, since he will be home soon. Sun, 29 Jul 2007 22:11:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5163&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5163&mname=Article I arrived in cincy early friday morning, and attended each of the different therapy sessions to gauge his progress, and it really was a jaw droping experience. In his speach session, he wrote down a grocery list, broke down nutritional facts, and planned a day. He ran into issues here and there but otherwise he did well. In occupational therpy, he moved to and from a recliner, showed a little bit of range with his left arm, and continued to work on his left hand. The left arm is still not really functional, but the movement he does have is a lot more controlled. Hopefully, as he continues to build strentgh and spends time focusing on that arm, we will get it back. Physical Therapy is like a good dream, and then you pinch yourself and smile broadly when you realize this is all really happening. His ability to transfer from one position to another almost looks effortless. He has moved from a side hemi cane to a quad cane, and as he contines to get comfortable with the new cane, each step looks a little easier. His endurance was really one of the most surprising aspects, they had him walking all over and showing me glimpses of everything they had worked on since I had last been in therapy. It really makes the thought of taking him home a lot easier. Yesterday was another exciting day for him, he recieved a day pass to attend the wedding of MaryBeth and Bill Poland. He left the hospital early in the day, spent some time at his own house, changed clothes and attended the ceremony at St. Teresa. He was able to see so many people that wanted to say hi, and I would imagine those are things that continue to motivate him to work so hard. I missed most of the day b/c my good friend Dan Johns got married and I was lucky enough to stand in that wedding. I made the last 20 mins of the ceremony with dad, and went with Jim & Mick, and my siblings, and dad to the oasis for its final night for some dinner. Everyone who knows dad, knows his return time went from 8pm, to 9-9:30 pm, to 9:30 to 10, had we stayed out any longer, it would have probably been a 2 am time. All in all it was a great day. Sun, 29 Jul 2007 07:10:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5162&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5162&mname=Article Dad called and wanted everyone to know about the latest conquest. Today the therpaist laid him down on the floor and made him get up all by himself (not sure if he used a cane or not.) Then they made him walk 12 ft to his wheelchair without any help or use of cane. He said he took Baby Steps all the way to the wheelchair and got in. Thu, 26 Jul 2007 16:01:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5161&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5161&mname=Article The fast few days have been a real mix of emotions, with dad's arrival home getting so close. Yesterday, he did an entire flight of stairs, 13-14 stairs, in both directions, which is excellent news. Dad actually thinks the steps are pretty easy. It sounds like they are trying to fine tune all the things he may encounter outside the hospital. He has walked in the grass, on inclines and declines, and they have him using a normal 4 prong cane which should help for manuerving around objects. We are currently trying to get the house prepared for his arrival, which appears to be coming along pretty well. I plan on heading back to cincy tomorrow night after work, and staying through sun aug 12th. I am hoping this is long enough to get a daily routine in place, get him comfortable around the house, and be able to devise a plan and schedule for everyone that wants to help. It will be nice to get him at home, b/c it will be easier for people to visit, and we can get a lot more done around the house, than we could around the hospital. Initially, the move home is prolly going to be pretty difficult but as hard as he has been working, hopefully all of this will come together sooner than later. Wed, 25 Jul 2007 23:04:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5160&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5160&mname=Article It's hard to believe that dad has been in the hospital for 44 days now, but we can finally start talking about getting him home. Sounds like they were leaning on releasing him this friday but decided to keep him until at least next Tuesday. I'm still hoping for a Thursday or Friday discharge date, but we'll deal with a Tuesday if thats what they give us. I'll talk it over with dad, but I would say that we will probably need a good day maybe 2 at home before too many visitors stop in to say hey. That gives us some time to get him comfortable and structure his daily actions a little bit. The amount of support through all of this has been amazing, and I know there is no way we could have come this far this quick without it. Despite all the help there are still a lot of people asking to contribute in the recovery process and we are getting very close to asking for some help. Once we get him home, he is going to require some 24/7 care for some time. The first few weeks we can cover fairly easy, but we certainly be looking for people to volunteer to sit with him, take him to therapy, maybe even make him a meal once in awhile, and I'm sure people will start asking for some help with the fundraiser here in the near future. There will be plenty to do and plenty of time to help out if you'd like. Tue, 24 Jul 2007 08:56:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5159&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5159&mname=Article With minimal therapy on the weekends and my trip back to mke, I don't have a whole lot to pass on today. Saturday night, he worked with his stress sponge, and on Sunday he was moving his left hand a little better than he was the previous day. He said he did real well during rehab today and his fingers are still moving pretty well but he can't make a fist yet. He promised he was going to keep working hard on it. I will definitely be back in town this weekend but will try to give the best updates I can from up north. Mon, 23 Jul 2007 19:07:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5158&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5158&mname=Article Yesterday afternoon, the recreational and physical therapist, managed to get dad a day pass to have lunch and of course he chose Price Hill Chilli. We left the hospital about 11:30 and arrived at PCH about noon. When we arrived, the new addition area was set up and already filled with so many friends and family. I'd say the count was somewhere between 35-50. Dad really enjoyed breaking out of the hospital for a few hours and truely appreciated all the support he recieved yesterday. I think he was a little overwhelmed that so many people took time out of their day to come have lunch with him. I think that even the therapist were a little amazed at what they were seeing. The recreational therapists seems like she gets to do that kind of thing more often and she said she had never seen anything like it. The transfers to and from the car seemed to go pretty well and I think he handled himself in a slightly less structured environment well too. The trip did however wear him out a little more than he expected, but therapist anticipated this reaction and cancelled his afternoon therapy sessions. Hopefully dad will get to see you all in this type of environment again sometime soon. Sat, 21 Jul 2007 08:15:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5156&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5156&mname=Article The therapist are taking him out to lunch today as part of his therapy, it will be a good training session for getting him "in and out" of a car and to see how he handles a less structured environment outside the hospital. So yes the rumors are true, he is leaving the hospital at 11:30 and should be to Price Hill Chilli by 12:00. He has to be back to the hopital by 1:00, so we have to be heading out by 12:45 at the latest. Sounds like there will be a large contingent there so far. Fri, 20 Jul 2007 06:59:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5155&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5155&mname=Article Dad has been working his tail off the past 2 days, and doing some amazing stuff. Once again, i could only be around, spotty at best. As usual, he continues to impress me. I caught the tail end of his OT session, but Lisa seemed impressed with his cont' improvement. Then we went to speach therapy and his deductive reasoning seemed pretty good, you can definitely tell when he gets tired though. I went back to working for some time and made it back for the afternoon PT. During afternoon PT, his walking seemed really good. They had him walking around small cones, over some carpet and stepping over objects on the floor, like canes. Then they moved him into the parrallel bars and had him walk through the wrungs on ladder basically, and once again he did well. The biggest thing for him is to rememrber to slow down. When he tries to get anywhere too fast is when he gets in trouble. Thu, 19 Jul 2007 15:51:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5154&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5154&mname=Article I didn't get to spend much time at the hospital today, left for a few hours to work, since the wireless at the hospital didn't really work too well. I sat through 1/2 of the Speach therapy and through 2 PT sessions and talked to the OT therapist for a bit about his progress. Basically the only word to explain my feelings is amazed. To start off he was doing a lot of his normal lower body excercises on a flat board/bed and not only did everything look a lot stronger and easier but he looked a lot more flexible and controlled too. He walked on the side hemi cane walker and it really looked a lot easier and more natural than the last time I saw him. They also had him walk some stairs for me, since I hadn't seen this task yet. He did 4 steps, up and down, twice and it looked rather effortless. I was really impressed, If this wasn't enough for one day, he did a lot of shuffling sideways, walking forward and backwards, knee bends, and hip abducters all in the standing position in the parrallel bars. It really was a great day to see all the progress, i imagine he will really be hurting tommorrow, they really haven't worked him that hard in one day before. Wed, 18 Jul 2007 21:40:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5153&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5153&mname=Article I got this in an email from my aunt micki last night. Your dad looked really good last night, he is moving his left leg allot and his back doesn't seem to be as bad. Danny got him back in bed and he moved better then when I was there on Saturday and Erica got him out of bed. Everyday your dad seems to help more. He is working on getting the strength back in his left hand. As I get more info throughout the day, i will let you know. Tue, 17 Jul 2007 10:22:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5152&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5152&mname=Article Dad Walked the Steps today! The not so Old Man did a set of 6 inch stairs going up and going back down (4 stairs). He did great. The therapist was surprised of how easily the stairs were for him. He had a lot of hard therapy today and but he is doing nothing but improving day to day. We have high hopes that his recovery will continue at this pace. The not so Old man is sitting here with me and he says Hi, and he appreciates everyones concern. from Erica *red marks added by me Mon, 16 Jul 2007 15:37:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5151&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5151&mname=Article Sounds like he is still doing really well. His back was really hurting him on friday, but he managed to struggle through the pain and go to rehab. He still seems to have high spirits, and i try to talk to him a little bit each day. Continued to thanks to the many visitors who help to make his days go by so much quicker. Very thankful to all those people who have taken so much of their time to be there for dad, it really means a lot to everyone. Sat, 14 Jul 2007 15:09:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5150&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5150&mname=Article I was unable to get any new news today. Just people said he was going ok and they were working on his left arm, and that was the extent of the detail. Hopefully, i can pry out a little more in the coming days. Thu, 12 Jul 2007 16:50:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5149&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5149&mname=Article I have talked to dad several times today and now that he is off the morphine, he really sounds well and alert. After his surgery on Monday, we really weren't sure how he was going to react and if there would be any setbacks in the rehab area. I wish I was there to see everything but it doesn't sound like there was much of a setback at all. He walked about 300 feet today on the walker and my sister said he really looked a lot better on the walker. I talked to dad and even he said he did really well and he felt strong. I guess they had him using a Side Hemi Walker Cane, , and he did really well with that too. The recovery still looks to be going strong and we can only pray that we stay on such a positive path. Wed, 11 Jul 2007 15:09:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5148&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5148&mname=Article I went up to the hospital early this morning and dad was awake and looking pretty good. He had already been down to have his catscan and all signs were good, th surgery seems to be a success. Shortly after the the surgeons assistant looked at the catscan, she took the dressing off the wound and proceeded to take the blood drain out of his skull. The head and the incision both look good and they were able to clean him up a little bit. He's back down at rehab today and with any luck will start some lite rehab this afternoon, and start going full force, wednesday into thursday. I will be heading back to mke this afternoon, so the updates may not be as detailed or as frequent but I will try to do the best I can. I will be heading up to the hospital a little more this afternoon, before I head back. Tue, 10 Jul 2007 11:56:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5147&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5147&mname=Article It has been a very long day but the family has finally gotten to see dad. Of course he cracks a joke almost as soon as I see him, he says, "I am trying to be frankenstein." The surgery went pretty well and there were no surprises. There are still some concerns about infections and bleeding, but if we can avoid them, that should be it for the surgery. He looks well under the circumstances and did fairly well in the brief series of tests in post op. He is however extremely tired and in some pretty serious pain, as would be expected. For the day at least, we are keeping visitors to pretty much family, as he really needs to get some rest. The doctors asked what visitors he does have to be pretty quiet, as it will still be traumatic for him. Evening Update Not a whole lot of change from the earlier update. The surgery is very bloody as you can imagine,as a result they need to keep a drain in there until its all cleaned out. By the time I left, thetube was looking a lot clearer. They will perform a catscan in the morning, if all looks well, the drain and dressing will come off the head. I would say if visitors could hold off until after 4 oclock tommorrow that would be great, just to give him some time t get his bearings. As a warning, he will swell up for the next few days, and that is normal. The process will be a lot like the first time, Wednesday should be the worst and should look a lot better by the weekend. I'll let you know if anything changes in the morning. Mon, 09 Jul 2007 13:42:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5145&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5145&mname=Article Dad really looks good today so far, the swelling is down and he just looks healthy. The surgery is scheduled and is definitely happening at 7:30 am in the morning. He will get his first antibiotic at 6 am and at 6:30 they will start prepping him for the surgery. He has got to be a little nervous or scared but he is holding up really well. I am not really sure how long the surgery is going to take, but I would guess somewhere in the hour and a half range. We managed to get him outside for almost 2 hours today which is the longest we have had him out there yet. I think he really liked getting out of the room and the hospital for a little bit, but his eyes still aren't used to that bright sunlight. There is no therapy planned on sundays, so this should be about it for news today. Check Back Tommorrow about the surgery, and continue to keep him in your thoughts, tommorrow is a big day. Sun, 08 Jul 2007 13:02:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5144&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5144&mname=Article Spent a decent portion of the day with dad today and he was looking pretty good. The past 2 days of therapy still have him drained but they managed to still get him to do some promising activities. They had him walk about 50 feet in a walker and navigate around some objects, he struggled a little bit but seemed more comfortable by the end. Overall, he looked much much more comfortable behind the walker. His form and technique looked a lot more sound. The surgery to replace his right bone flap is scheduled for 7:30 am monday morning, but we still aren't positive that it's going to happen. The swelling is up a little, due to all the hard work on the walker, the past few days. If we can get the bone replaced safely, he can stop wearing the helmet he despises so much. Sat, 07 Jul 2007 23:35:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5143&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5143&mname=Article It's just been an all around strange day, in terms of dad's progress. I was unable to spend most of the day at the hospital, while helping to take care of other areas of need. From early in the morning though, I knew it was going to be a rough day. He seemed really groggy and tired, yesterday really kicked his butt. Meanwhile, the surgeons assistant came in to look at his head, they are still up in the air about the surgery on monday morning. The surgeon may drop by tonight to get a first hand look and make the final decision. He walked another 250 feet or so in the walker, but he was bushed, and he is really paying for it now. His back hasn't hurt this bad in some time. It was a sad day, one of his favorite PT's is losing him as a patient. It's always nice to work with someone you feel comfortable with, I am sure the next PT will be excellent as well. As I find out more about the surgery, i'll let everyone know. Fri, 06 Jul 2007 15:02:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5140&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5140&mname=Article Today has been a very exciting day for me and should be very exciting to everyone else as well. I woke up to a phone call that they want to schedule the surgery to put the bone flap back in monday morning which is a few weeks ahead of schedule. I got here just in time for Speach Therapy and he continues to impress with his ability to process information, but it is still a lot better when it has structure to it. I thought the morning PT session was amazing, he walked the parrallel bars a few times and did some new excercises. As always, I was very proud of dad, so when you hear about the afternoon session, you will really be amazed. He really showed off in the afternoon session. He walked about 25-30 feet on a walker in the PT gym area but it was kinda congested. They then moved him out to the hallway, and you could see him gaining confidence with every step. He walked 2 different 90 foot stretches on a traditional walker, and walked 3 other 40-60 ft stretches on more untraditional walkers. The therapist are very very happy with his progress and doing everything they can to make sure he continues to improve on a daily basis. Literally, just walked out of the PT session and wanted to make sure this was up on the page ASAP for everyone who is following his progress so closely. Thank you so much for all your support. Thu, 05 Jul 2007 13:00:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5137&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5137&mname=Article I finally got to see dad for the first time in a week and a half yesterday, and he really does look amazing. He was up and wide awake when I got there in the morning and we sat outside for a bit. I didn't get there in time for therapy, so I didn't get to see the strides he has been making there yet. We took over the day-room and had a pizza party with about 20 or so people, it wasn't the same as his party, but you could tell he was very gratious for the turnout. He managed to stay up in his wheel chair and alert for 3 hours, before we had to put to him down for the night. Off to catch today's therapy sessions. Thu, 05 Jul 2007 07:44:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5135&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5135&mname=Article After work today I will be making the long haul back home to spend some more time with dad and hope to help in the recovery process in any way possible. It will good to be back but I thought I had some added motivation which would have made the long drive home soooo much easier, there was talk of maybe getting dad out of the hospital for a few hours on the 4th. It has been kept on the down low a little bit because he has so many frineds, it may have been a bit overwhelming for the first temporary trip out of the hospital. Unfortunately, as good as the hospital has been doing in terms of getting dad on his feet, they are not necessary doing a great job of passing along important information. For instance, the "only reason" (they gave us) he can't get away for a bit is because no one took the transferring course. The fact that this course had to be taken was news to me but makes sense, but no one thought to mention it. Even worse, a good freind of the family talked to the nurses and offered to take the course and no one got back to him. All in all, a very dissapointing sequence of events. We are still working on trying to take the course, but apparently the hospital doesnt answer phone calls from outside lines. Hopefully, I hear back soon. Tue, 03 Jul 2007 11:14:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5131&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5131&mname=Article Dad is getting a new roommate again today. I'd say 6 hours is a good over/under number on how long this one lasts. Mon, 02 Jul 2007 10:50:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5130&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5130&mname=Article I have been getting lots of great secondhand updates and many very encouraging phone calls during my week back home in milwaukee, but doesn't make it any easier to be away. I will be heading home on Tuesday, to spend some more time with Dad and get to see the amazing progress in person. Talking to him on the phone, just isn't the same. The weekends seem to come with limited news because the rehab is fairly limited. It does sound like from hearing comments from the nurses they are amazed that this is the same man they saw last weekend. Hopefully, I will be able to pass on lots of great firsthand news in the coming week. Sun, 01 Jul 2007 10:58:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5125&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5125&mname=Article Yesterday morning, I woke up to several phone calls early in the morning, one of which was dad. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought he was calling on the way to a job or something, he sounded exactly the same as he did before the stroke. Sounds like he walked the parrallel bars again yesterday, and they had him standing behind a walker, having him work on maintaing his balance. He also performed some of those tasks we take for granted on a daily basis. He was able to help clean himself up a lot more than he has been capable of lately. Doing a few more of those tasks, we all take for granted, like shaving, brushing his teeth, and sponge bathing himself. Sounds like he decided that the 2 different lengths of hair wasnt his style, so now he has a total buzz cut. Fri, 29 Jun 2007 10:02:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5121&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5121&mname=Article It wouldn't seem like another day if he didnt continue to impress everyone around him. One of his speach therapists was nice enough to take some time and update the web page with the progress she has noted, during dads recovery. It is very insightful and it sounds like we are definitely on the right road. On top of this information, I also received notice that he managed to walk the entire length of the parralel bars today. There is still a lot guidance and support required to accomplish this task, but is still amazing he is already to this point. Less than a week ago, it took him everything he had, just to stand. He still needs some help getting into the standing position, but once he gets there, he is able to stand on his own power. They did do an MRI on his back yesterday afternoon, and arthritis seems to be the the major cause of the back pain which is hindering the progress a little bit. Wed, 27 Jun 2007 14:06:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5117&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5117&mname=Article !@#$%^&*()!!! Dad took his first steps today. I was unable to be there, but it sounds like he managed to take 4 steps on 3 different occassions in the morning therapy session. That is a gigantic step in the right direction. He also has started bending his left elbow slightly and can with great effort lift his arm off the bed. After spending so much time concentrated on watching that arm and not seeing anything, the emotions really can't even be put into words. Tue, 26 Jun 2007 12:29:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5110&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5110&mname=Article I don't think I can say thank you to everyone enough for the help I have recieved the past few weeks. I am heading back to milwaukee for a bit, I will be back on the 4th of july. Didn't sound like there was a whole lot of change in today's therapy sessions. Realistically we have to expect some plateau points during his recovery. The pain pills are just making him to drowsy to make too much pogress. I will be keeping the site up to date, through all the help I have in cincy. Mon, 25 Jun 2007 15:28:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5109&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5109&mname=Article There hasn't really been a whole lot to report over the weekend. He continues to get a good flow of friends and family to come up and see him, at times the nurses think we are having a party in there. The rehab is at a minimum on weekends b/c of the reduced weekend staff. Sunday morning, they took the staples out and the incision is looking good. Other than the staples, it was a pretty slow day. He got a lot of rest and his pain seemed to be down to a level 4, hopefully this will result in even more posititve therapy sessions this week. Sun, 24 Jun 2007 08:18:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5108&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5108&mname=Article The OT/PT sessions continue to kick his butt and he gets frustrated but he his doing a lot more than he realizes. The therapist are more and more optimistic each day about his progress. They did say there wasn't anything they could do about his personality though, so it seems that we are stuck with that for the time being. Can't fix 48 years in 2 weeks, so the bad jokes will probably continue. This is one of my last days to first-hand report his progress through therapy, I will be relying on reports from other as to how he is progressing. The therapist are trying to give him a goal of walking on the parrallel bars, when i come back from July 3rd-8th. In the afternoon therapy sessions, he continued to show more strength throughout his body. They had him up and standing with some help (obviously) again, but he looked good. He also moved the left arm for the first time. It was by no means a lot of movement, but it was movement. On top of being a pychologically a good thing, if we can get some strength and feeling in that arm, it would help with a lot of ther theraputic aspects like keeping his balance. Fri, 22 Jun 2007 10:39:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5104&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5104&mname=Article I came in this morning and he was convinced he was going to walk. He didn't walk, that would have been a lofty goal this soon. He did however manage to work very hard during rehab and manage to stand with a little bit of help. Each try looked easier and easier and the last session, he stood for maybe up to 7 minutes with a little bit of guidance and help from the therapists. He also kicked his left leg out a little and also lifted his left leg off the ground. The progress in just 2 days is very promising. Hopefully we have some more exciting news soon. Thu, 21 Jun 2007 09:52:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5103&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5103&mname=Article The overwhelming support we have recieved from so many has taken on a completly new meaning. Apparently, they tried to give dad a roommate today and it lasted all of two hours. I had the bad idea, if they gave him a roommate, we should up the visitor load to get rid of the roomie, and the normal flow of friends was more than enough. Great work everyone!! Wed, 20 Jun 2007 22:26:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5102&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5102&mname=Article He has been running a fever over the past 24 hours, and the preliminary blood test shows a strept bacteria growing in his blood. They made this seem like it was fairly normal and they are at this moment, giving him an IV for the antibiotics. Despite the fever, he had an encouraging PT session this morning. He did really well at managing his balance (in a sitting position) and listening to the therapists directions. I also saw another encouraging sign this morning. When I arrived, he pulled the tv tray toward the bed, turned down the tv volume, and signaled that he needed the nurse. This was definitly a sequence that wouldnt have happened a few days ago. I missed most of the afternoon therapy, but the therapist seemed very pleased with his progress and seem to have high expectations for his therapy sessions in the coming days. Wed, 20 Jun 2007 11:19:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5101&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5101&mname=Article FYI - He's in room 815 now. Finally, online at the hospital, and can hopefully give more frequent and detailed reports. He did very well in the speach therapy session today, despite being pretty doped up. The Physical therapy showed a little bit of promise, but we are still a ways from any signifigant changes on this front. He is showing a little more strentgh and muscle in his lower legs. The hospital staff will be very grateful, once he can start using his strentgh to help them out a little more. I am working from the hospital, but hopefully my little sis, or brother will be able to sit through the afternoon rehab, and I will relay the results. Keep telling him the harder he works, the sooner he gets out of here and his chef of a son (not me) can make him some real food. Tue, 19 Jun 2007 09:44:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5100&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5100&mname=Article It was a crazy and hectic day and as great as everyone in the nueral ICU treated dad, it is great to have him moving on to the next stage. He passed his "modified" where they x-ray the food as he swallows, but they are going to continue to keep him on a "shitty" food diet, as he refers to it. The rehab floor has some amazing facilities and it seems like typically the speach therapy (using brain and logic) is the hardest, but since he never used logic, i guess we arepretty close :) Really though, mentally, he seems to be in good shape. Hopefully, they the occupational and physical therapist can whoop him into shape, and we will all be seeing too much of that "ugly mug" sooner than later. The doc said with the change of environment and schedule it would be good to keep most visitors off until Wednesday, so he can have a chance to adjust to the new surroundings. I will be working on an interactive schedule, so you can sign up for 1/2 hour timeslots from the site. I will get that figured out soon. Thanks again to everyone, the path continues to look a little brighter, the further we get. Mon, 18 Jun 2007 16:15:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5097&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5097&mname=Article Obviously a day of struggling emotions, you never want to see your father in this position. Each day, we try to find some positive change to help us continue to fight through the situation. Today will be the last day in ICU, tommorrow he moves to the rehab floor, and they are going to start working him a lot harder. He seems really motivated to get up on his feet, and get out of there, so hopefully this attitude will them do their job in the following weeks. Sun, 17 Jun 2007 15:37:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5096&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5096&mname=Article Today, when i arrived he was already eating breakfast, it was the most exciting meal of the week. The nurse actually helped him to feed himself today, just one of the many things we take for granted, but it was amazing to see him make that stride so early. The swelling through his face has pretty much subsided and he's getting closer to looking like that same beautiful person we all know and love. His attitude has stayed positive and most of the nurses continue to take excellent care of him. It looks like he will be moving to a rehab floor on monday at some point. Soon, we will be trying to organize and schedule when more and more visitors can get in to see him. As is, the main lobby knows where his room is without looking it up in the computer. Getting a few people there an hour versus groups at a time will be good for him and really help the family focus on some other needs too. Once again, so many thanks to everyone who has helped in their own way, every little thing is appreciated, and will never be forgotten. Here shortly there will be information about a golf outing and other ways to donate to the Bob COnroy Benefit that has been set up at 5/3 bank. Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:26:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5095&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5095&mname=Article I unfortunately have been unable to spend as much time up in ICU as I would like today, but it sounds like there isn't too much of a change today. He is totally off of oxygen and doesn't look to have any extra IV's or medicines running today. He did have a lot of family up to see him today, attempting to make his days go by a little quicker. As I hear or see anything new, i will be sure to let everyone know. I really hope, none of my grammar teachers are reading any of these. Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:17:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5094&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5094&mname=Article Another day in paradise.... Dad continues to show lots of strength and encouraging signs, especially in the morning hours. It's great to continue and watch him exceed everyone's expectations. Getting to experience these things on a daily basis, help me and much of the family find the strength to make it through each day, regardles of how overwheling the situation seems. Today was more exciting than most days, they finaly felt comfortable enough with his progress to remove the ICP cable, which monitored his brain pressure. The doc's wouldn't have done this if they didn't feel he had reached a stable state. Also the occupational therapist worked him pretty hard and managed to get him into a recliner for a bit, it had to feel great to get out of that bed. By the end of the day, a lot of the swelling had ceased and he really started to get his color back. If he continues to make this sort of progress, he will find himself on the rehab floor sooner than later. Thu, 14 Jun 2007 23:37:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5093&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5093&mname=Article A quick review of the week to date: On Monday, they performed the angiogram and performed the actual brain surgury. Obviously, the scariest day of the week, but the surgeon seem pleased with end result, and gave us reason to be optimistic. He also cautioned that the next few days were crutial. On Tuesday, dad was pretty much awake most of the day and had lots of visitors, and started some basic therapy. He was still pretty tired from all of the excitement. Today, Wednesday, He had an amazing morning, I wish someone else could have been there to see all the fight and determination, that I got to witness. The speach therapist was very happy with his progress from day 1 to day 2. The physical therapist also came in to work with him and seemed pretty optimistic. Day by day they are going to start working him a little harder as he gains his strength back. Also the surgeon was impressed with the progress thus far, so thats encouraging. Wed, 13 Jun 2007 18:06:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5088&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5088&mname=Article Hello All, This site has been transformed a lot in the last day with a lot of help from one of the many great freinds my family has been blessed. Thanks Brian, one word, Oban. This site has been modified and created to help keep a reliable flow of information and updates out to as many people as possible. As many of you may know by now, my father suffered a stroke at some point on Sunday. This has lead to an amazing number of phone calls, which can be overwhelming and yet comforting at the same time, to know we have so many people in our corner. A lot of the details leading to the stroke are unknown, so I am going to try and focus on the road to recovery. Luckily, we found him eary enough, did a lot of quick thinking, making this recovery possible and optimistic. Its been a long day, so as I get more time to focus on adding content to this site, It will be done. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers, check back often and hopefully this site will be full of good news. *Note, you will see the comment field at the bottom of the page. It requires a login, but it is fairly quick and painless. I may create a guest account but haven't decided yet. Wed, 13 Jun 2007 18:06:00 CST http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5089&mname=Article http://www.bobconroy.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=5089&mname=Article