HM's new wheelchair.. he looks quite comfortable in it, much better than on our old wooden sofa seat. He will spend progressively more time in the chair, to build up his trunk resistance to get used to sitting again.

After 2 days of fumbling, think we are finally getting things running more smoothly. Without the prompts from the hospital nurses, Sati (our indo. helper) & I had some difficulties initially.. busy with the dressings/sponging/medication etc on the 1st morning, only to find that we forgot to feed HM his breakfast!

Getting the hang of med. equipment & consumables supplies, as you can see in the picture.. there are really so many items!

For HM, I'll think he is glad to be home, least he is able to sleep better through the night.

Hart is HOME!

HM is discharged from NUH this afternoon!
Now comfortable at home on his new bed that he took to immediately, & slept for 2hours straight.. with the snoring included.

Mum says that he cried in the short ambulance ride back home. Maybe tears of joy? Anyway, we are happy to have him home, despite the hectic preparation that we can never seems to get all the neccesary supplies.

A interesting observation.. HM found his 'voice' back these 2 days.
The nurses attempted to block his trachy (open hole on his neck to assist breathing), to see if he can breath well on his own normally.
With the trachy hole blocked, HM is able to make noises etc again (sound vibration etc) and he is quite enjoying it. When we talk to him, he sometimes responds with Umm & Ahhs.. not really a recognitive conversation, but definitely a step forward.
Thankfully, he is managing quite well with the breathing too :)

HM is recovering well from the urinary tract infection and been moved back to normal ward for the last few days.

In fact, some doctors (among the many teams of doctors), deem him well enough to be discharged from hospital.. Today! Apparently they have it on plan, & maybe they did inform the patient.. but overlooked to inform the family. And the decision can be made unilaterally without consideration for preparation and training for caregivers.

So another point to add to my impression of doctors, not only do they have zero EQ; they are unable to communicate (or couldnt be bothered to) even among themselves and their fellow care giving colleagues. Maybe that sounds nasty, but I pity the young 'housemen' who tried to dutifully execute the planned schedule, or tried to convey their plan to me. I'd got to give her a piece of my mind..

HM is much better now, turned out to be a case of urinary tract infection. Doc chg type of antibotics for him yesterday and he is reacting well to it. He should be released back to norm ward tmr.

In fact, HM is well enough that he bite the nurse finger when she tried clean his teeth. Quite an episode to have the nurse screaming for help in the quiet high dependency ward! Need to put a 'warning sign' up next time :p

HM has been transferred to high dependancy ward for closer monitoring yesterday.
He's got infection possibly in the urinary tract and lungs.

I take back my words on the previous entry on wee2 problem :)
To my surprise, the nurses re-tried & HM managed well with the condom catheter now. Be gone with the invasive foley catheter, and we are another step closer to home care for him.

The physiotherapist at NUH tried made HM 'stand' through the use of a tilting ramp bed. He surprised the folks at the hospital as it wasn't a common sight and they realised how tall he is.
The physio was busy monitoring his blood pressure and heart rate.. changing the height/angle of incline according. But overall HM seems manage quite well, though very black face, & according to mum, his fingers grasping the side of the ramp bed very tightly.