Day 10 - April 20th

Today was Jan's last day at the Intermountain Medical Center. In the late afternoon she was transfered to the Health South Rehabilitation Hospital in Sandy. Although we don't know how long she'll be there, we're guessing two to three weeks.

Jan continues to improve. Everyday I see her she looks better than the day before. She was able to go to and from her bed to the bathroom three times, give herself a sponge bath, sit in her recliner, and go out further into the hall today. She did the vast majority of this stuff with very minimal assistance. Although it is still a major effort for her to do any of these things, it appears as though she doesn't have to put in quite the effort as before. Her strength is building. The Health South facility will be pushing things up several notches. Instead of getting a total of one hour each day in physical therapy, they will push her to do a total of three hours a day in both physical as well as occupational therapy. The exercises won't happen all at once; they will be spread out throughout the day. Also, she probably won't start out at three hours, but will work up to it.

Jan's determination and toughness in this is very inspiring. She feels discouragement at times, but she doesn't give in to it. Pain is a regular companion, but her pain meds have helped keep it controlled so it doesn't stop her. The amount of pain medication she requires is substantially weaker now than when she first came to the hospital. She has come to accept that it is a process of baby steps that will go on for a while. She has always told me throughout our marriage that a positive attitude can overcome tremendous odds. An inability to consistently maintain a positive attitude has always been a weakness of mine. I'm learning the power of it in a big way. Her ability to do it is paying bid dividends.