The step down unit...

A few days after Ben's trache and G-tube were placed, Ben was moved to the step down unit across the hall from the ICU. He was in a stable condition but still unresponsive, except for abnormal posturing to stimuli. The hospital staff wanted us to begin searching for a long term care facility for Ben. Wanting to make sure that Ben would get the therapy and specialists that he would need, we began looking for the right place for him. After checking out many facilities, the Missouri Rehabilitation Center seemed like one of the best. Evelyn, Michelle, and I visited MRC to view the facility. We were impressed with the staff and grounds. It was originally established in 1907 to treat the tuberculosis outbreak. Setting on about 60 acres in the small town of Mt. Vernon, MO, it has been updated and is now the largest TBI care facility in the state.

Arrangements were made to transfer Ben to MRC via ambulance, but he had a setback. Running a high temperature, a blood test revealed that Ben had MRSA in his blood. This required a vancomycin IV for several days to treat the infection. During this time Ben seemed to improve somewhat. While he still could not track a moving object, he began to look toward a person standing before him. After nearly two weeks of antibiotic treatment, Ben's MRSA infection was cleared up and he was transferred by ambulance to MRC, about 240 miles away.

more to come...