It was a busy day of learning today in Jonathan’s hospital room.

He had visits from various medical professionals, who are all focused on sharing key information that he will need once discharged from the hospital.

The first visit was from a physical therapist (who also happens to live nearby in Jonathan’s neighborhood). She transitioned Jonathan from a walker to a cane and showed him how to walk up and down stairs properly. Jonathan was very happy to get out of his hospital bed and walk around the hospital wing.

At the end of her visit, she officially graduated Jonathan from physical therapy and he’s now considered independent. He’s now walking circles around the floor on his own. Yay!

The second visit was from an ostomy nurse named Sunny. I stepped out of the room for that particular visit, but Jonathan tells me that Sunny was super informative and a great teacher. Jonathan learned a lot about caring for his ileostomy and is feeling more confident about managing it on his own.

The third visit was from a dietician named Lisa. Jonathan needs to follow a strict low fiber diet for six weeks following his discharge until the swelling from his ileostomy goes down. He also learned about how foods impact the output in his ostemy bag, and how and when to make dietary changes.

In summary: soft foods = good! Popcorn and seeds = bad!

He will also get a visit at some point today from the pharmacy team who will show him how to administer shots (he’ll need to do this for 4 weeks). Jonathan is already a pro at this, thanks to the Nivestym shots that he had to administer during chemo.

The doctor thinks Jonathan might be able to go home as early as tomorrow, but we’ll find out in the morning.

The one negative about today is that Jonathan received a new roommate in the middle of the night. The new roommate is very nice, but has a lot of medical professionals and family members coming to visit him, so it hasn’t been very relaxing and it’s impacted Jonathan’s ability to sleep.

The medical staff is trying to get Jonathan transferred to a private room, so fingers crossed!

All in all a good day. Jonathan is making great progress and we are eager to get him settled in at home.