Cordell native Scott Hines, who has been hospitalized since July 17 battling COVID-19, is out of Intensive Care and has been moved to a regular room, his wife Becky said last weekend.
“They (hospital per sonnel) took the trach out, the feeding tube out and he passed the swallow test,” she said. “He can eat and drink whatever he wants. Last Tuesday night (Sept. 22), they moved him to a regular room.
“Now, they are waiting to get him into a Jim Thorpe rehab facility whenever a bed is available,” Becky added.
She explained, “There are three Jim Thorpe facilities, one in north Oklahoma City, another in south Oklahoma City and one in Lawton. He will go to one of those whenever the first bed is available to rehab and then eventually will get to go home.”
Becky noted that his getting to go home depends on how fast he progresses in rehab. “We really don’t have a time frame,” she said.
Scott has done a little more in Physical Therapy each day. She said since he was moved to a regular room, they’ve been doing Physical Therapy once daily.
“He can’t walk by himself, but he can with assistance,” Becky said. “He’s come a very, very long way. Once they got him off the ECMO machine and the ventilator, he really started progressing,” she believes.
They took him off the ECMO machine on Sunday, Sept. 13 and the ventilator on Tuesday, Sept. 15. He made his first, very brief phone call to Becky on Friday, Sept. 18.
She said he can have anything he wants to eat. Becky mentioned, “his taste hasn’t been the greatest. It’s kind of nice for him to be able to have want he wants,” she thinks.
Becky estimated her husband has lost 50 to 60 pounds since he started battling the virus. “He can just eat a little cause his stomach has shrunk so much. His appetite and taste get a little better each day,” she feels like.
She feels it will take some time for him to build up his muscles. “I hope he can continue to really make progress and go home soon,” she said.
Scott has been hospitalized since July 17 when he first entered Grady Memorial Hospital in Chickasha. Around July 23-24 he was transferred to Deaconess Hospital in Oklahoma City which is Integris’ COVID hospital, Becky explained, and since July 31 he’s been in Integris Baptist Hospital.
“When he entered Deaconess Hospital he was placed in ICU and was on that unit Sept. 22, more than two months.”
Home for Scott and Becky is Ft. Cobb. Scott grew up in Cordell where he graduated from high school and later became the head boys’ basketball coach at Ft. Cobb in the 1997-998 season.
During that span, the successful Hines has coached his teams to seven state championships and two state runner-up trophies.