Just 1 week later I am writing another update.

Terry was accepted into inpatient rehab last Thursday, October 27. He made the transfer in the early evening. He needed assistance to stand up from the bed and pivot a few steps to the transport stretcher. The rehab facility is beautiful and was just opened last July. I am really impressed with the high level of care and rehab offered,  compared to a subacute rehab setting.

Although Terry hadn't been able to venture out of his room at Froedtert Hospial because he seemed too weak, the following day he astonished us by walking hundreds of steps, climbing stairs, rising from sitting unassisted. Wow! It seemed that a week of rest and higher steroid doses had really help him recover. The following day was Saturday, a day of rest and no therapy. I arrived in the morning to a dressed, alert husband, eating breakfast on his own. Things were moving in the right direction! He didn't nap all day, ate all three meals with minimal assistance and went to sleep in the early evening. He was on an easy to chew diet because the speech therapist had seen him coughing after eating crackers and thought there was danger of aspiration. The next morning he participated in taking a shower in the morning and had a successful PT session in the afternoon; however, he seemed weaker. His voice was barely above a whisper. At dinner I had to feed him. We had already had him dressed for bed before dinner. At 6 p.m. he needed to retire. He could stand, but couldn't take the couple of steps to the bed. The CNA and I weren't able to help him. We called for the R.N.'s help. The next morning he was even weaker. It again took three people to dress him and he couldn't even stand. The R.N. said that he was like dead weight. They tried waking him, giving him coffee, but he slept much of the day. I was able to feed him lunch and supper in bed. After supper he seemed a bit more alert, watching television. Today he was somewhat better, more alert and able to do some PT. We learned that he hadn't been swallowing the clinical trial medicine. Instead he was chewing it. His neuro-oncologist decided he should take a break from the clinical study and focus on recovery. We still hope for better recovery. These extremely low dips make me uncertain about the ability to care for him at home. Almost as soon as a patient is accepted into a facility, everyone is focused on discharge. It's difficult to do so when we don't know what his function status will be at that time. Tentative discharge date is 11/8.