Sunday, December 30th, 2007

The nurses had David fed, dressed and waiting in the hall for us this morning. We walked to the chapel for church, but after that David was very tired the whole day. He didn't do too much in PT, he said that his stomach hurt, and he ate very little at lunch and dinner.

He fell asleep very early tonight. Maybe this means that he will have a more energetic day tomorrow. Please pray that he is not coming down with something.

Steve

P.S. Because the Oakland Raiders (local up here) played the San Diego Chargers I actually got to watch some football on the hospital TV. What a treat!

Happy New Year to those of you in Turkey and Germany.

Saturday, December 29th, 2007

Weekends are always slower paced here, and today was no exception. When Patty and I got over to see David he was sleeping. The nurse told us that Khyla and her mom, Elena, had stopped by earlier to see David, but he was sleeping then also. They had planned to visit with David and then sightsee in San Francisco. At least they got to see S.F., and had a good time.

We moved David to a bigger and better room with a handicapped sink, (there are a few in the hospital!), right across the hall from his old room. It has windows that face our “Fisher House”, so David can almost see us from his room.

When it was time for David’s lunch, I asked him if he was hungry and he said, “no”. I asked him why, and he said that the food sucked. So Patty heated him up a can of ravioli, and we defrosted the In-N-Out shake that Khyla got him yesterday, (he had only drank half of it so we froze the rest) and suddenly David was in heaven. He really is a man of simple tastes.

David worked hard during PT, stretching, strengthening his ‘trunk’ muscles, and walking back to his room from the gym, with the ‘really cool’ walker, and two therapists helping.

In the evening we started watching a DVD in David’s room (he picked The Bourne Ultimatum), and pretty soon Khyla and Elena stopped by on their way back from San Fran. We visited for a while and had fun shooting each other with Nerf guns of all shapes and varieties, and playing ‘volleyball’ with a large balloon. We told David that when he shot us he at least he needed to smile as he pulled the trigger. So he smiled his crooked but fun smile as he shot us. I commented that Jason Bourne always smiled as he shot people. About a minute passed and David said, “let’s see”. It took a moment to realize that he was asking to watch the movie again. So all of us watched the rest of the movie together. It was a fun night. As we said goodbye to Khyla and Elena (David had already fallen asleep) we mentioned that he may or may not remember that they had visited. His short-term memory is bad still. We will ask him tomorrow if he remembers their visit, and if he doesn’t, we will continue to remind him, as we do with all of his visitors. We have pictures that we can show him, and hopefully when he is better, he will have some memory of those friends and family that have visited him.

Thanks again for all of your prayers.

Steve

Friday, December 28th, 2007

Today started off great as we met David’s friend (and our neighbor) Khyla, and her mom, at the hospital. We all got to hang out a little with David, although he was pretty quiet, which is typical for morning. Khyla went with him to OT, while Patty and I took care of some other Air Force things.

When we finally found them in the “quiet room” of the gym, David was pulling playing cards off of the Velcro board. The board is probably 2 feet high by 3 feet long. Georgette, the therapist, would ask David to pull off all of the 3’s, then the Jacks, etc. When they were done you could see the pattern of the cards that David missed, and it represented his field of vision, or at least his minds perception of it. We think that David’s eyes see O.K., (he’s probably still color blind!), it’s that his brain isn’t interpreting correctly the information that the eyes are sending it. The brain doesn’t recognize the left side, and those were the cards that David could not ‘see’. Pretty interesting!

Khyla’s mom brought back an In-N-Out vanilla shake for David’s lunch and he drank half of it, which is a record, as well as eating some of the Mac-N-Cheese that Patty made him.

The entire staff has decided that David should use a hand signal when he wants to let them know that he is in pain, or wants them to stop doing something. He is supposed to raise his right hand up, in kind of a ‘back off’ motion. This way, even if he is too tired to communicate verbally, he can express himself without hitting them. Today David’s speech therapist asked if David remembered what that sign was, and to show him. David promptly ‘flipped him off’, and Bruce said, “That will work too”.

We all got to see David just a little bit about dinnertime, but he was ready for bed again early.

There is a vacant room across the hall that has a modified sink in it. It has been raised a little higher, and has added ‘spacers’ to bring it out from the wall more. David tried it out, and it worked better for him. We don’t know if they will let him change rooms, but it might be nice.

Yesterday they cut David’s sedation meds by one third, and have cut it back another
third today.

Thanks for all of your prayers, as we know that they are helping.

Steve

December 27th, 200

After PT, David was ready for his lunch. He loved the natural yogurt smoothie, 1/3 of a banana, and some raviolis. He ate maybe 1/4 of what he should! Pray that his stomache continues to grow. About 4 pm he was hungry again and ate a small dinner. I talked to Dr. Scott today about David's shoulder hurting. He convinced me that it is because of the spasticity. If it were the HO, then David's shoulder would stop at a certain spot, and his range of motion wouldn't be improving. With all the imaging, he said a fracture would have shown up before. He is waiting for David to be able to take the Botox shots to help the spasticity.
David told the nurse today a couple times that she was hurting his shoulder (not on purpose: she was raising it so I could put deoderant on him). We were so happy to have him tell us instead of hitting! The team came up with a hand signal for David to use when he needs something or someone to stop, for a break or because he is hurting. When he is too tired to talk, he can use the hand signal. Also, the sedation is being cut by a third which we will see a difference maybe by tomorrow.
I also asked about why the rooms don't have handicapped sinks in them. David can't reach the sink in his wheelchair. I guess that hasn't been noticed before. Dr. Scott said he will talk to the director soon about that.
Patty

December 26, 2007

Today was kinda boring for you to read about, but helpful to us.
First, Sgt. Armstrong came out from Travis to help us with AF things, making sure David is getting the right pay, and things that we don't have any idea what to ask about. He spent several hours visiting with us and filling us in.
In the afternoon, we had a lawyer come out to help us get a power of attorney for David. The neuropsychologist came in to evaluate David to see if he understood. He answered fairly well. He knew his basic information, but still gets confused with where he is at. His grandma was in St. Joseph's Hospital in Orange County when David came home in August. He thinks that he is there too. We also got his medical directives taken care of. I think he thought maybe he was dying and we were asking him what he wanted done at the end. Steve caught on quickly to what David might be thinking, and explained to him that he was not dying, but getting better. This seemed to clear it up for today, we'll see if he understands tomorrow. The lawyer was very impressed with David's ability to answer her questions too. His answers are very delayed, but they are there! Thanks again to Stacie Nelson, Attorney, at Reed Smith for coming all the way out to help with this legal paperwork. Also, all the people from Travis AFB and JAG, who helped pull this legal process off quickly and freely!
During lunch, Bruce came in to watch him eat. I noticed that David was chewing much better. Bruce commented on it also. In the four days Bruce had been off, he could see a big improvement. In the afternoon, I went food shopping for David to try to find more appealing food choices for him. I hope that works too. Patty

December 25th, 2007

Merry Christmas again. Hope you all had a blessed Christmas.
David awoke this am for a quick second and then went back to sleep until about 2 pm. He pretty much missed the Christmas greeting, presents, and visit that General Ostenberg paid him and the other veterans today at the hospital, and the Fisher House. What a great man, so humble and friendly. Next, Santa came in and delivered more presents! At 2 pm when David did wake up, we took him outside for a short time to play catch with him. Soon he wanted to go back inside. The CNA found David a high back chair that reclines some. David was pretty happy and we stayed in the recreation room for a short time before he wanted to go back in his room. Next we opened his presents and he thought everything was "nice". It was very quiet and he didn't talk much. When he opened a Connect Four present from his Aunt Annette, I started to unwrap the pieces. He said, "Mom, I can't play that yet. I can't see in a straight line." So, we put it away, and tried to figure out what he could see and could not see. I'm confused! It isn't the typical reading problem. He has areas where he can't see objects. We will have to talk to the dr. about it tomorrow, and see about consulting the Vision Therapist. But he was very talkative about it all. He also shared that he doesn't talk much when he is tired. We told him it was ok to point us to the door if he ever wants us to leave because of too much stimulation or he needs to sleep. He seemed to understand. I also tried to explain that one of the reasons he is restricted where he can go, is because of him hitting the nurses. He said he is trying to not hit them! We assured him that we are seeing an improvement, and are sure he is trying! (But quit it, O.K.?).... It was so good to get to just talk with him again. We don't know if he is sleeping sooooo much because of the meds, brain injury, depression, or just not having anything to do. He is dependent on everyone for just about everything. Continue praying for wisdom in this situation. I know he would love to get out, if not just for a drive in the car for an In-N-Out Shake! Also, I need some wisdom on foods that he can eat, diced, so I can fatten him up! He hates the hospital food, all he wants to eat are the mashed potatoes and pudding! And you should see his expression eating those! :-(
Patty

December 24th, 2007

Merry Christmas everyone!

A fun night tonight with David. We watched most of "Ray" in the Recreation Room. It was a long movie and we took a few breaks to move David from chair to chair trying to help him get comfortable. At 11 pm he was ready to call it a night and we took him back to his room. He thanked Steve for helping him in and out of the chair and into bed. He can be so kind and sweet! He was very quiet today and did not want to talk. We went for a walk outside and just enjoyed being there silently. When asked about if he wanted friends to come visit yet, he said, "Not in the hospital". I don't know what to do about that still. We try to explain that you all love him and miss him, and just want to encourage him. Please pray for his emotional state of mind. I guess that is all we can do. He has to go through this stage of the game where he realizes that his life will be different from here on out. We're thankful that he is out of the coma, but now another journey begins. Here we go! Take it God! We're ready for the next road.
On the way back to our room, Steve and I thanked God for His son, and our son! We are so thankful first that God gave us His son that we could cry out to Him, and He would not only give us eternal life but help us through these hard times. Without that faith that God has David in His Perfect Plan, this would be an impossible journey. Only because we have seen God's hand in our lives, are we able to trust Him in this situation. This is truly a hard Christmas for us away from our parents, kids, and grandkids. But the simplicity of it reminds me of every year after Christmas when we have missed the point of our Savior's Birth. I always think that the next year, I won't get caught up in the materialism of it but just be grateful for what we have. Well, here it is, time to get to do that. Not by my choice, but it has been a great wake up call. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and leave Christ in it! Give your families a hug and make sure you tell them how much you love them all. God Bless you all. Thank you for your prayers, cards, letters, gifts, and support. You have been an amazing family of friends to us all.

Sunday, December 23rd, 2007

On Sunday morning we all (including Stacie, Gail and Mike, the nurse) went to church at the chapel in the VA hospital.

Then Patty and her friends took off to ‘carouse’ around town, while David and I ate a ‘diced’ hospital lunch. OK, I didn’t really eat the stuff. OK, maybe the ladies didn’t ‘carouse’. But David did eat well, and then he had an hour and a half of PT. He rode a stationary bike, kicked the soccer ball (while sitting, standing between the parallel bars, and from his ‘cool walker’), and then walked back to his room. He had a really good workout, only marred by the fact that he hit both Chris and Mitch. Chris got hit, according to David, because Chris kept straightening David’s head as he tried to improve David’s lopsided posture. Mitch got hit for repeating what Chris said! We hope that this behavior passes soon.

When David reached his room he was ready for a well-earned nap.

Tonight he woke up after 8 PM (that’s a long nap), and visited with Gail, Stacie, Patty and Me. He shot Gail with a Nerf dart gun and a huge smile on his face. We showed him photos (that were from his camera) of his trip in Turkey over Columbus Day weekend. He told us who all of his friends were, but couldn’t remember a lot of the stuff that they did. When Stacie asked if they met some girls on their trip he said, “No”. After a short pause he said, “Not because we didn’t try”.

Patty quizzed him again on the facts that he is supposed to remember, where he is, how he got there, the date, time, etc. He got 100%, and might be considered ‘out of his comma’ now. That's a great Christmas gift for us!

Our friend's brought mail up from Riverside, and I wanted to say thanks to our friends at Sherman Indian High School, for their, caring, praying and support. It means a lot guys, thanks!

Please pray for David's "hitting others", that he would use his words instead or just lashing out. Also, he told Mike and Patty that his shoulder hurts a "10", on a scale 1-10, and his hip hurts a "9". We need to find out why, and how to help it. Thanks for your prayers! Have a great Christmas Eve and Day.

Steve

Friday and Saturday, December 21st and 22nd, 2007

On Friday, David got a new brace for his left leg, ankle and foot. It has a little spring action going on to help lift his toes out of the way as he walks. We all talked to David’s new Air Force liaisons, Tech Sergeant Anderson and Staff Sergeant Groetegeer, and set up another meeting for next week. Tech Sergeant Anderson is David’s new boss in the Travis Air Base ‘Patient Squadron’. So there will be no slacking for David during his therapy sessions or I’m sure that Sergeant Anderson will be screaming “Huddleston, drop and give me fifty. On your finger tips!” Actually they both seemed very nice, and told David that his job was just to get better.

He had trouble swallowing his food at lunch as I fed him. They have graduated him from ‘minced’ to ‘diced’ food, and maybe he wasn’t quite ready.

We went to a Friday Night Pizza Party for our “D” wing (the TBI ward) and David got a special order of spaghetti, along with some desserts. These are fun things to break the routine of hospital life.

Saturday morning was a lazy time for David. We had trouble getting him up, and PT rescheduled him for the afternoon. The weekends are much slower around here, and if any of you are thinking of visiting David, the weekends are the best.

For Physical Therapy, Se had David kicking a soccer ball. She knew that David loves soccer, and I like the way she tries to motivate him. For David, this is not as easy as it sounds. He was standing between the parallel bars, while Se was supporting, and balancing him. He had to shift his weight to his weak side, as she kept that knee from buckling, and swing his right leg back and then kick at just the right moment. This might sound easy, but there are a lot of things going through his mind, and then he is trying to put them into action. He did really well. The kicks were real weak, but it was a great start! Se then had David practice rolling the ball under his right foot, forward and then backwards. This was kind of a real basic ‘dribbling’ move in soccer. For David it was all about shifting his weight, and coordinating his leg and foot. For a TBI patient this is physically and mentally tiring. Se asked what David wanted to do next and he said, “Go to my room”. He was thinking about getting pushed in a wheel chair, but she was thinking about walking all the way back in his ‘cool’ walker. So the tough coach got her way, and they walked towards David’s room. This was the first time that David tried his new brace on his left leg, the one that is spring loaded, and helps lift his toes out of the way. Once they got going, and built up a rhythm, they were really moving. Of course there are still two therapists helping David walk plus the 'cool' walker, and by the time they got half way they were tired. They asked David if he wanted to take his wheelchair the rest of the way, and he said “No”. So they sped on and reached his room in record time. Then he slept for hours.

Tonight our friends Stacy Syrocki, and Gail Grimsley arrived after a long drive up, after hitting lots of traffic on a Saturday afternoon from Riverside through the Grapevine. But the troopers that they are they only made one stop, for dinner at the Denny’s in Grapevine, and got here in time to see David for a short while before he was sleepy again. We got to hang out a bit longer, and we will see them tomorrow morning for church.

We again thank you all for the prayers that we believe make all the difference in the world.

Steve

Thursday, December 20th, 2007

Sorry! We had thought about cutting back on the blogs, to every other day, but we really didn’t mean to skip two days. We got a lot of phone calls, asking if everything was all right, and it is. Things are progressing, David is getting stronger daily, and the roller coaster that we were on for so long has smoothed out. We have fallen into somewhat of a routine, and there aren’t always newsworthy events to relay to those friends and family members who faithfully check in here regularly. The reality of the ongoing and seemingly endless rehab therapy is very sobering. It will be like a daily grind (still with some emotional ups and downs) instead of the roller coaster of the last 9 weeks. And for all of this we say “Halleluiah”. Thank you for all of your prayers and comments, which we think have been essential in David’s healing and in getting us through this tough time.

Tuesday was a really sleepy day for David, and of course we were concerned. We talked to nurses, to see how he slept. We talked to doctors to see if his meds had been changed. We discussed it with his therapists, who couldn’t wake him up enough to work with him. It seems like after he has a really good day (alert, working hard in therapy, talking a lot) it is followed up by a sleepy day. His meds also play a part in all of this. The doctors are doing a very good job of walking the fine line of not over sedating him, but still calming him enough that he isn’t sending nurses to the ER. Doctor Scott is very good at daily checking in with us, answering any questions that we have and asking for our input. And last, but not least, he never talks over our heads.

We showed David a video that his friends in Turkey made for him. It was great, and helped him remember all of the people that he worked with at the Incirlik Air Force Base. They were all encouraging him and telling him that he needed to get well soon because they were falling behind and needed his help. There is nothing like being needed! It is great to have their love and support.

Our good friends, the Mannings (Wes and Rose) and David’s girl friend Kelli, (their daughter) came up midday on Tuesday. They brought their 5th wheel trailer, and parked it in the special RV parking lot at the VA hospital. It is probably a ¼ mile walk from the lot to David’s room. There are no hook ups, just a parking lot. Poor, poor Kelli was cold every night!

On Wednesday Kelli spent the day with David while Patty and I went, with Wes and Rose, to San Francisco. David had another good day. He was very alert, and he enjoyed having Kelli with him. She was with him at all of his therapies. She learned it is not always fun, because the therapists want his undivided attention, and little things that might not distract us, can be ‘overload’ for David, so they often ask us to be quiet and only observe. And yet sometimes they rely on us to help them, so we never really know what role we are being asked to play. After the therapy sessions she held his hand as he fell asleep. It was a good day for them. But also a good day for us ‘adults’, as we explored the Warf area of S.F., took the tour of Alcatraz Island, and ate some good food. At one point we were walking along the wharf, that overlooked some fishing boats, and a guy who was hiding behind a large branch of “Christmas Tree” shook it and said, “boo”. You should have seen us all jump, as he scared the “clam chowder” out of us. Anywhere else he would be arrested and hauled away, but in San Francisco it’s all good fun.

Today the Mannings left, I’m sure it was later than they were planning, but Kelli showed David a video that she made for him, and it was very good. It was very emotional and well done, and showed a lot of loving care and many hours spent in the making. It included messages from lots of David’s friends, which were very cool, and highlighted David’s journey from joining the Air Force and traveling to Turkey up to his accident. Kelli promises to make ‘Season Two’, which will be more ‘upbeat’ and include his recovery!

Tonight we played BINGO with David, this time in the big hospital building. David’s TBI wing seems like a whole different world that the main hospital building, and we really rarely go over there. This was more ‘high stakes’ BINGO, although the prizes were the same. We were told that we could help David, but not play for him. We didn’t ask for an explanation of the difference, but I really wanted a clarification. He won 7 booklets of coupons (each worth one dollar), which he can redeem at the cafeteria, or little ‘general store’ in the VA hospital. He now has a total of 13 books! Last night we told him that we missed BINGO (actually it had been cancelled) and he told us that he “Never wanted to miss BINGO again!”

David is still working on strengthening his left leg, so he can walk on his own, and of course his memory, but we are really concerned about his left arm and hand, which as he said the other day “Is pretty much useless”. We ask that you would pray for these things.

Steve

P.S. Patty said that a couple of days ago she uploaded a bunch of photos of David, but planned to still do more editing, labeling and putting them in order. The problem was that they were immediately visible on the Blog, and it was a day or two later that our daughter Laura in Texas straightened them out. Sorry if there was some confusion. But the good news is, there are a lot more photos of David's recovery on the web site.

Monday, December 17th, 2007

Today David worked on the stationary bike in the gym with Mitch. David was really sleepy (the drugs) so Mitch had to continually encourage him and ‘wake him up.’ Mitch would apply a little pressure on David’s left leg whenever it was time to push. After a while I saw David make a fist and begin to pull his arm back, and Mitch calmly put his hand over David’s fist and asked him what was wrong. David told him to quit touching his leg. I don’t know if David would have hit Mitch or not, but Mitch defused the situation nicely, and they moved on.

Mitch worked with David on standing up from a seated position (pushing up with his right arm, keeping his ‘nose over his toes’ and straightening his legs) over and over. Then they worked on transferring from a seated position into a wheel chair. Not by standing and pivoting, but more of a squat and pivot. It was good practical training that will help a lot until he is able to do all of these things on his own.

Then Mitch had David walk between the balance bars, turn around, and do it again a few times. It ended up being a great workout, and David was tuckered out.

As David was heading back to his room, we got a call from the Mannings, saying that they were almost to Palo Alto. David wanted to get ready before Kelli arrived. We hurried and shaved but didn’t have time to change clothes before Wes, Rose and Kelli got there. Bruce, the speech guy, showed up at the same time to teach me how to feed David, so the Mannings got to sit in on David’s lunch. He did well and maybe has graduated to the next step towards real food.

David was tired so we all left and the Mannings treated us to a birthday lunch at P.F.Changs, (yes I’m another year older) and it was good to get away from the hospital for a bit, and hang out with friends.

Tonight David was awake and talkative (from about 9 until 10:30), and we had a good time with him. He definitely enjoyed having Kelli there. Kelli called Ashlea Thayer, and David talked to her, and we could hear her getting emotional, and then we got emotional. She sang ‘happy birthday’ to him, and it was pretty special.

It was another really good day in Palo Alto. Areas of recovery to pray for might be more strength in David’s left leg, ankle and foot, movement in his left arm and hand (there seems to be none), and his memory. We thank you all for your faithful prayers and comments. They really help.

Steve

Sunday, December 16th, 2007

Today was another sleepily good day. We woke David up for church (funny how some things don’t change) and got him ready just in time to meet Jim, Donna and Jenna Santo as they pulled up in the parking lot. We wheeled David over to the chapel in the VA hospital, and the service was good, in a real traditional way. It was mostly older veterans and their families, and besides David there was one other young military guy there. David was impressed enough that he wanted to shake the chaplain’s hand and thank her. We walked back to David’s room and talked for a bit and then the Santo’s brought out the birthday and Christmas gifts. As Jenna gave the first gift to David, he said “no wrapping paper”, so she had to unwrap David’s presents for him. It’s hard to unwrap a present when you only have the use of one hand. He got a “Trouble” game (with the Pop-O-Matic) and said “this could be trouble”. He got a nerf gun that shoots soft balls that is pretty cool. He took a certain pleasure in shooting me for some reason! Now that I think about it, so did Patty. They brought him a miniature (could it be a bonzi) Christmas Tree and decorated it for him. It was very nice of them, and even if David didn’t express it, I know it made his day. They left, and he fell asleep soon after.

For David’s friends who would like to come visit, we just want you to know that it is a 6.5 to 7 hour drive (with no LA traffic) from Riverside, and he may only be able to ‘hang out’ and visit for an hour or so a day. His schedule is not consistent, and it is hard to tell when he will be awake or asleep. Sometimes even when he is awake he will not respond to your comments or questions. We just want you to know what to expect if you come up. He has improved tremendously, even miraculously, but he is still a very sick young man. His memory is still sketchy, he may not even remember that you visited him. He has therapy 4-5 hours a day during the week, and the rest of the day he often is sleeping. The weekends are better because he only has Physical Therapy for an hour. Some of the therapy sessions we can sit in on, if we are quiet and don’t distract him from his work. Please call us if you are thinking of coming up (we don’t want to discourage you as much as let you know the reality of his situation). (Steve’s cell) is 951-233-3616 and Patty's is 951-233-0744. We know that if David was normal again he would love to see you all, but he is not quite to that place yet, so we want you to pray about when is the right time for you to come up and visit.

At 3:30, Mitch (PT on Sun. and Mon.) came to wake David up for PT. David probably spent 10 minutes riding a stationary bike (powered) while asleep. The bike can be set to a specific speed, and the object is for the patient to pedal faster than that speed. Then it displays how much the patient is ‘helping’. David would go in spurts, as he fell asleep and woke up. Finally I think that we pestered him enough that he was up for walking on the parallel bars, and then walking with the really cool walker, from the gym all the way to his room. He had the PT guys, Mitch and Chris, sweating by the time they got to David’s room. He moved his left leg more that ever (he still needed help), but it gave us hope that he will improve until he can walk on his own! When David got into bed, I kind of recapped the day, I mentioned church, the visit from the Santos, how excellent he did at PT, how proud I was of him and his progress, and he seemed to fall asleep. I don’t know how much he heard, but I really am proud of my son.

Steve

Saturday, December 15th, 2007

11:30 PM
Another great day for David.

While getting dressed this morning, Mike asked David to lift his legs into his pants while lying down on the bed. David not only picked up his right leg, but lifted his left leg at 90 degrees AND held his foot off the bed to help! Mike said this is FANTASTIC, it means that the nerves in his left leg are working again. Awesome!!!!!

PT was exciting also. David used the walker/table on wheels, and walked down the hall to the nurse’s station which was the PT’s goal. After resting for a few minutes there, he said, “Let’s go.” Down the next hallway to his room the therapists went, sweating the whole way, but eager to help! He also worked on shifting his weight (like slow dancing) while holding onto the parallel bars. Finally, David walked down the parallel bars, reaching out with his hands, stepping with his left foot, then picking up his right foot to take a step. Mitch and Se (PT) both were impressed at how smooth his walking is getting.

He ate his first whole meal and loved it. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, carrots, 2 - apple juices, and a carton of what David called “duck water” (it was really thick milk). After having a sip of the “milk”, he made Steve get a straw and taste it. Reluctantly, Steve did as he was told! He said the first taste was like a warm milk shake, however the second was “kind of sick”. David drank all the juice and said it was “the ticket”. He ate most of the potatoes, ¼ of the meatloaf, 1 1/2 bites of the carrots, before saying he was full. The food tasted pretty good to him though.

Chris Chappel returned David’s phone call today. David left a message that he was sorry to hear about Chris’ dad passing away. While talking to Chris, it sounded like David told him he would be home tomorrow, and that he was in a hospital in Orange County. ??? I guess he is still confused.

David talked to Kelli on the phone for a long time today, I was talking on my phone so didn’t hear if that conversation made sense.

David shaved his face today almost by himself, with an electric razor and then a regular razor. That was nerve wracking! But he did it! He even crossed over the center of his body with his right hand to shave the left side of his face. I’m not positive, but I think that was AMAZING too.

Some insults were thrown too. One at me, and another one at a nurse, George, who seems (seemed) to be taking a special interest in David. As I was standing in front of him at the parallel bars, he told me to turn around when I talk to him. ???????What? Then he told me I had bad breathe! Luckily the Salvation Army had given him several extra toothbrushes, so I went into his room, grabbed a “purple” toothbrush, and scrubbed like mad, followed by the mouthwash. Later, I found out that he told George to go brush his teeth. Then, the next time he saw George, he told him, “I thought I told you to go home and not come back until you brushed your teeth!” (One more instance where, as a mom, you want to hide under the table and not claim your kid!) TBI patients are brutally honest and sometimes not appropriate! I’m not sure how much has changed since before his accident. He sure doesn’t have any inhibitions about telling anyone what he thinks. So please pray for appropriateness and tact in letting people know how he feels and thinks! Continue to pray for his agitation. Pray for his medications to be adjusted so he is not always drugged up. There is a fine line between the need for sedation for his agitation and need to have a clear, and focused mind. Thanks. Patty

P.S.

Tonight we met our old friends Jim and Donna Santo and their daughter Jenna at Donna's aunt's house in Los Gatos. We ate with them and visited till late, and had a wonderful time with our gracious hosts. The Santos will come up tomorrow morning and hopfully, if David is awake and up for it, we will all go to the church service at the hospital. Earlier tonight David was talking to Jenna on the phone, and telling her that he wanted them to come by tonight and see him. Then all of a sudden he said "I've got to go now, I'm going to bed". And he did.

Steve

Friday, December 14th, 2007

David got ‘stretched’ by Se for PT, and then Georgette grabbed him and Patty for OT. She had David sit on a mat with a large 4'by 3' easle in front of him. On the first card, David was to match body part names (listed in a column on the right) with a pictures of a person (in a column on the left) by drawing a line to connect the two. He couldn’t draw the line from the right column to the left, and would always stop in the middle. Since he has left sided neglect he just couldn’t work past that part. Next, came a large maze that was 3'x4'. He started in the top left hand corner, went across and down on the right side. After the top row, he could not go cross his midline from the right to the left. He realized that he wasn't doing it right, and said, "I failed didn't I?" Patty explained to him that he didn't "fail," but that was part of the left-sided weakness that we would want to work on. He explained that he could see the left side of the chart, he just couldn’t physically move past the center. Georgette said she would refer David to a vision specialist. Later that afternoon, she came in to say that she had talked to the dr. and the specialist would be evaluating him. We so appreciate their efforts to help David so quickly.

I, meanwhile, drove to ‘In N Out’ to buy a vanilla shake for David’s huge birthday bash. Patty made a cake last night, white with chocolate frosting, per David’s instructions. Last night Patty also decorated David’s room with lame looking party stuff, so that it felt like a five year old was about to celebrate his birthday. But what are you going to do in the hospital? It is just good that David has a mom, because if it was left up to me, I guarantee you, things would look even dumber.

Bruce (speech) came at noon and we lit one of the 21 candles (even that one had to be kept ‘under the radar’) sang ‘Happy Birthday’ and David ate cake and sipped his shake through the straw. He would alternately say to Bruce, “cake”, “shake”,
“chocolate frosting” and Bruce would hold out whatever David asked for, until David said “beer” and Bruce checked the pockets of his lab coat and slowly shook his head! I just love that his sense of humor is back too!

David opened some presents, and then started to fall asleep. At five, he was still sleeping. Six o'clock came with a phone call from his grandpa and grandma Moriarity. We held the phone up, but he fell in and out of sleep. Laura called shortly afterwards, and he tried talking some, but seemed tired. Finally, he said he wanted it quiet, and for us to leave. So we did! Before we left him for the night I asked him how his 21st Birthday was and he said, “it was a good day.”
And it was. :-)

Steve (and Patty some!)

Thursday, December 13th, 2007

When we got to David’s room this morning Se and a nurse were already getting him dressed and ready for physical therapy. Outside his room the new walker was waiting, so I knew what they had in mind for him. They (Se and the OT guy, Mark) took David down the hall, Mark in front guiding and pulling the walker, and Se behind, lifting David’s left leg and helping him move it forward. At the end of the hall they all rested (meaning Se and Mark), but after a minute David said, “lets go”, so what could the therapists do but, another lap. David had them earning their money this morning, and they were very proud of his determination.
Georgette (occupational therapy) worked with David on showering. This stuff seems so simple, but with limited mobility, it can be very difficult. David did great, by doing everything that was asked of him.
There was a party scheduled for tonight, at the hospital, put on by the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, and David wanted to go. We arrived a little late (sooo Huddleston) but David won a door prize for having the closest birthday, and a gift for just showing up, and another basket of weird stuff for no reason at all. A productive night! Plus there was good music (a live band) and a good Christian message. Also, lots of ice cream sundaes and cookies, all of which David couldn’t eat. I could see no reason for a 20-year-old man to want to stay, but David did. The band kept playing, and David seamed content to listen. Before we left(and we were the last ones out because David said he was having fun) he wanted to thank the people in charge. He shook hands with many people and expressed his thanks for the entertainment. He still amazes me. Of course then, he asked the lady (let me remind you everyone is gone except the hosts and they are cleaning up, the band is still playing a little, but all those in wheelchairs and beds had left except us!) if there would be any more gifts. OK now I want to crawl under the table and disappear!
When we got back to his room (did we tell you that it was made for three patients, but David is the only one) he was real talkative, and said some really funny stuff, all with a totally straight face. Which, of course, made it twice as funny. He said that he wanted to go to Patty’s car (why not my mini van?) and drive away fast. He called his sister (Christa) who asked what he wanted for his 21st birthday. He didn’t respond quickly, so she asked him if she could mail him a beer, and he said, “Sure, a Coors”. He went on and on with a straight face and had us in stitches. He said a lot of things, some based in reality, some not so much. It was a great and weird day. I think that he is becoming more and more aware, and at least more creative in his stories. It is normal to be a little delusional at this point in his recovery, but he was talking so good and so eloquently, that it was heartwarming nonetheless.
Thanks for all of your prayers; we know that they are working in a mighty way.
Steve

Wednesday, December 12th, 2007

David had another sleepy day, even though they cut back on his sleeping medication. He barely woke up for physical therapy. Se (PT) let me practice transferring David from bed to the wheelchair, and back again. I’ve done it before, but it never hurts to practice. Poor David is the guinea pig though. He then rode a stationary bike with Se helping his left leg.

Georgette (OT) stretched his arm.

Speech (Bruce and Karen) watched him eat again, and he did well. Karen said that maybe he can have cake as well as his ‘In N Out’ shake for his birthday. Patty had better get busy baking!

The NeuroPsych lady could not wake David for his session with her, so she left with threats of coming back tomorrow.

A veteran in a wheelchair came by with his trained ‘care’ dog. I’m sure there is a real name for this type of service dog. It was half Labrador and half golden retriever. It responded to a lot more commands than I do. Really, just ask Patty! The dog jumped up on David’s bed and he petted him for a while until they both fell asleep. I think the dog was fakin’ it.

Tonight we took David to play BINGO in a large room at the hospital. A veteran's group puts it on with the help of sponsors. Tonight it was a local Starbucks. They supplied drinks and desserts, paid for the gifts, and brought a bunch of volunteers from the shop to help. Some called numbers, others checked when BINGO was called, others helped the patients who needed it. Some of the patients, like David, had family with them. David won $6 in coupons for the VA hospital store and two blankets. Not bad for free. Not being BINGO regulars, it took all of us, Patty, David, a nurse and me to watch his four cards.

We heard about the death of one of David’s best friend’s Dad. The family was devastated of course, and we mentioned this to David tonight. He called his friend, got his machine, and told Chris that he had heard about his Dad, and was very sorry, and asked for Chris to call him back. I was touched that even in David’s state he still wanted to comfort a friend.

Then David called Kelli and invited her to his going away party. We didn’t know he was going away, and we definitely know that he is not having a party. Whatever!

After David fell asleep tonight (BINGO can wear a guy out) Patty saw the young mom with two kids who lives in our Fisher House in the rec. room. She started to play a game with the kids (they speak mostly Spanish) so that the mom could finish the conversation she was having on her cell phone. I think that Patty was playing teacher (she admitted that preschool teachers have a special calling) with these two, ages 4 and 2 and they won.

We are looking forward to another great day tomorrow and excited for what the Lord has in store for us!

Thanks for your prayers,

Steve

Tuesday, December 11th, 2007

I had been away from Patty and David for 10 days, as I worked back in Riverside, so I was really excited about seeing David this morning. Yesterday afternoon he was sort of quiet, so I wanted to see him rested. Well, he almost slept through speech therapy, where he has been practicing 'eating'. After three bites of apple sauce he just fell asleep. Bruce said he would try again around lunch time.

PT rolled in and got David into a wheel chair and rolling toward the gym, but not before he called the physical therapist, Se, some really bad things. She is so nice, friendly, and professional, and we were horrified, but she took it in stride, and asked David if he could let her know if something was bothering him and she would try her best to help him. So after this 'incident' she had David 'walk' in a walker about 30 feet down a hall. She helped him move his left foot, and he sort of did the rest. It took a long time!

OT had David matching picture cards, and lining them up in sequence. He aced the first one quickly, but had some trouble with the next few. They then moved on to cards, where the cards are face down and you have to pick two of a kind from your memory. Well, even David will admit that his memory is not so good, and he did not do well at all. We spent some time trying to get him to remember some of his passwords, e-mail, Vonage, MySpace, but can't quite get them right. I think he gets that from me.

Bruce, the speech therapist, came back about lunch time and had me feed David pudding, while I ate applesauce. Kind of like a family sitting around eating lunch together. It went well and David had a good appetite, finishing his pudding and then my apple sauce. Bruce takes notes the whole time on how long it took him to swallow, whether he swallowed a second or third time, whether he was aware of and wiped food from his lips, etc. We asked Bruce if David could have an 'In N Out' shake for his birthday lunch on Friday and he said maybe. Bruce commented that David's language is so good. I was impressed several times today by the questions and comment that David made. He is expressing a very high level of thought sometimes.

I introduced David to a guy (Chris) that I had met earlier, who had similar symptoms as David. He was on leave from the army, and riding a quad when he had an accident. He had traumatic brain injury, and left side neglect like David. He seems normal, though he is currently walking with a cane. David wanted to talk to him, and it was a very cool conversation. Chris told him to be patient, that David would be walking again also. David asked if Chris had problems with his memory, and he said yes, that he is still working on that, but it is getting better. They talked a bit longer, then David said that he would like to talk to Chris again. I think that it might help a lot if David can talk to more guys who are a little farther along in their recovery.

Then a different therapist asked David if he wanted to help them test a new 'walker', and he said yes. So we walked down the hall again, this time to the end (maybe 60 yards) with a new fancy walker that supports the patients weight with a harness type of thingy. He did well, and it is as much of a workout for the therapists as David, as they are down low moving his left leg the whole way.

Patty talked to the doctor about how drugged and sleepy he seems, and they will be decreasing the Trazadone that he gets at night by a third.

As always, we rely on your prayers, and truly appreciate your comments and support.

Thanks, Steve

December 10, 2007

10:18 pm

This am Laura and Brea left (not easily) for Dallas, TX. Steve came in around 4:30 pm and was excited to visit his son. Well, he was asleep! We got a call later on saying he was awake and went over to visit. He talked some, but Steve was shocked at how slow to answer and quiet he was. When Steve asked if his throat hurt because of the trachea, he answered that his molars were hurting from clenching his teeth. Then I noticed that one foot was on the floor without a sock on. I asked if his foot was cold and he said it gets so cold that it gets numb and then it doesn't bother him anymore! We put socks on him. Then he wanted out of his wheelchair and in bed again. He watched tv some and then fell asleep with Aunt Annette's AirForce blanket that she made.
Back to this am.and what David worked on today. At 8 AM, David had a specialist come in with Se (P.T.) and check his new leg brace to see why it was rubbing and making David's foot sore. David's feet are very dry and cracked with callouses. His right foot he said is hurting. The Doctors came in and requested for Podiatry to come look at his feet. The specialist made another boot type thing to help protect that foot too. Next, the CNA and I shaved David and cut his hair. He gave the thumbs up to take a shower afterwards, but when all was said and done, he said he wanted to go to bed for a "love nap". OK, sure! While we were transfering David to bed, he wanted to take his pajama pants off. Thinking he was just going to bed and could wear them in bed, we left them on. When he got in bed, he hit the CNA, and said why didn't you help me take my pajamas off? Mike (CNA) told David in a stern voice that hitting was not ok, and that he, and everyone around, are just trying to help him get better. With some prompting from me, David apologized and said thanks after he got help to take his pajama pants off.
At 9:30 AM, Bruce, Speech Therapist, came in and after trying to awaken David for quite awhile, was able to give him some pudding and juice from a straw. David swallowed well for the pudding, the juice took quite awhile getting all the way up the straw to his mouth the first time. The next time was easier, then David bit the straw and wouldn't/couldn't release it for a couple of minutes.
At 10:00 the specialist and PT came back to see if there was any redness from the brace. None! but, Se was concerned that sometimes it is red, and other times it isn't red after wearing it. She seems to know what she is doing, and is pretty sure of what she is saying. She is great with David. So patient and kind to him. Praise God for these great people. During PT, David had to wheel himself down to the gym by himself. He was still sort of out of it, but made good progress. When he got to the gym, he balanced on a big ball, trying to keep his back straight and shoulders down. He had a hard time, but was successful. Next, he squatted and picked up/moved cones on the steps up and down. This too was very hard for him. He did find a short cut, the last time they asked him to pick up the two cones and put them down a step, he picked them both up with 2 fingers in the holes at the top and brought them down.
He also had OT, Neuropsych, more speech, and recreational therapy today. I didn't go to those, so......I'll let you know tomorrow what they are working on with him.
Tonight at the Fisher House, when I was looking for AirForce guys to give blankets to, Steve and I talked to 2 guys that are in the transitional rehab program. They were where David is now, but have progressed. It was very encouraging to talk to them. 2 awesome guys in the Army. They are wanting blankets like David's! If anyone else likes to sew, Wal Mart has military panels that you just sew a plain colored flannel back on it, and they are beautiful. There are many guys in the TBI and Spinal Cord Unit/Ward that were in the Marines and Army.
Thanks again for your prayers and thoughts and comments on the guestbook. They keep me going and help me keep in contact with you all. Love, Patty

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Today was not very exciting... David slept ALL day! He had OT/PT for two hours, but mom, Brea and I were at church. I know he needs his rest, and it sounded like he didn't sleep much last night. Course he probably won't sleep through tonight either... He FINALLY woke up around 7 pm, and I went to hang out with him. He was pretty quiet, and would only talk if he had to use the bathroom or he wanted me to scratch his back or side. REALLY? I finally asked if he wanted to call Christa, dad, or Kelli, and he said "text Kelli for me." So I did (on my phone). He started talking and telling me what to text her, and I'd read back what she said. I'm a little jealous that it took Kelli to get him to talk :o). Anyway, he seemed to enjoy that. I told him dad was coming tomorrow and he had a little tear in his eye, and said he was excited. I'd like to think the tear was because I'm leaving tomorrow, but that wasn't the case :o(. I did get a big hug though and he rubbed my back for awhile. Then I read him more of your guestbook comments until he fell asleep at about 9. He had said that he had a good day, and that he was feeling good, so I was glad for that.

It's hard to leave hime, especially when he's making so much progress! God is faithful and I know that David will surprise me with his progress when I get to see him next!

As always, thanks for your prayers, and your comments!

Laura

P.S. Oh, and as we're printing out comments for David to read, we realize that it would be easier if you could post all your comments in the guestbook on the left side of the blog. Otherwise we have to cut and paste from each day, and that gets hard. You can still post comments to us in the comment section, but any for David specifically would be nice in the guestbook so we can print them out. Thanks! Y'all are awesome!

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Today David was able to relax a bit more! He had PT/OT this morning and he was stretched. He'd tell her where it hurt, and she'd stretch it there for a few seconds. Then he put his weight on his left foot and tapped cones that were in front and back. He rode the bike some. Then Mom sat at a table with him and she hid a small cone under one of the 3 large cones and she'd move it around so he could track it and find it. He found it about 50% of the time.

This afternoon David was chillin' in bed, and a bit out of sorts. He started writing letters on a paper, but they'd end up on top of each other. Mom put a ruler on top of the paper to try and keep the writing straight, but David said it was hard because the pen kept hitting the top of the ruler. Anyway, he wrote a note to dad saying: Dear dad, everyone is annoying me. Mom clarified the last 2 words and he said "ANNOYING." Mom suggested a break, and he said, "a break is good." He had also been flipping through the limited amount of channels on his TV. Mom and I asked him if he'd want a portable DVD player so he could watch movies, and he said yes. So this evening we went out to get him one for his birthday. Does anyone know some of his favorite movies? Since I'm asking questions, what cologne did he wear? I know it's a silly question, but we thought it might help him feel more normal.

Tonight I went back and talked with him. He was very thoughtful, thinking about "everything." He talked about how it was hard to remember certain things, and I tried to reassure him that it won't always be this hard, and how some of the medicine he's on can make him feel out of sorts too. He nodded. I asked if he was hopeful, and he nodded again. He said that he was praying, and I was glad. I also told him again how proud we all are of him, how much progress he's made and talked about the blog again. I asked him if he wanted me to read the comments from the blog, and after some time he said "you can read me the comments if you don't have anything else to do." I told him there was nothing I'd rather do, and started reading to him. I loved seeing him close his eyes as I read each of them, and then open his eyes when I paused to see if he was asleep. Nope, he was just visualizing. Eventually though, he did fall asleep to the words of his friends and family and Bible verses that you have been so gracious to find and use to encourage us. I love that he can now get that same encouragement!! So keep on writing folks!! Tonight was precious for me, he looked so peaceful and he said that today was mostly good. God is working such miracles in my brother, and I am hopeful too!

Love you all,

Laura

Friday, December 7, 2007

Hi again! Today was another good day for David, but also quiet one. He worked hard in PT- walking slowly with a walker and help from the trainers, and also balancing on his left foot while he tapped his right one forward and backward. It wasn't very graceful, but definitely showed how much stronger he is getting! During OT his left arm was strecthed and Georgette said that his range of motion is getting better, and he's able to stretch a couple degrees more than he used to be able to. All good things there! His left ankle has more flex too, the goal is to get it to 90 degrees, and I think Se said he was down to around 120 degrees (??). I noticed his foot was really dry, so I asked him if he wanted some lotion, and he said "sister will you put it on?" I was thrilled that he called me sister again! Christa got a call from David the other day and he said, "Hey sister..." and kept talking just like the old David would. I stinkin' love it!

After those sessions, Bruce came back in (speech) and gave him some pudding. This time David fed himself, Bruce just held the cup for him. He said it tasted good! Bruce also came back in the afternoon to let him try some cranberry juice. David liked it as well and even held the cup a few times for himself. Sometimes it seems frustrating that they won't just give him some real food, but then I watch David eat slowly and carefully and realize that he's learning to swallow and eat again, and it's okay that he takes his time. A funny thing I have to tell is that David was scratching his nose (he gets no privacy folks) and we asked if he needed a kleenex. Bruce laughed and told David just to flick it. And David listened. There wasn't anything on his finger, but he did the flicking motion which was hillarious! My brother's still in there and still freaking funny, facial expressions or not! He did give a couple smiles today, but it's still only the right side that actually smiles.

I missed his session with the recreational therapist, but lately David's been playing Dominoes with him, so maybe they did the same today. I did see him with the neuropsychologist again, and he was a little more talkative with her than any other time today. His responses were appropriate and often accurate, but he told one story that he thought happened today but actually happened before his accident. He had a hard time remembering things again, and I was really amazed at how much response time he needed (and used) before answering a question. It was a pause that went passed the normal time, then into uncomfortable waiting, then a little bit more silence and David would answer. He wasn't looking at her either, which made me think he was off and daydreaming, but he was actually just thinking. I realized again that I need to be more patient talking to him. Not that I'm impatient, it's just that when it gets to the uncomfortable silence I usually give him another option or question, which probably sets him back even further. Anyway the NP did really well at listening and probing appropriately.

I mentioned that David was really quiet today, and I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that the trache is out. He mentioned that it hurts to talk and I've noticed that air still comes out through the bandage in his neck. When he did talk, it wasn't a quiet voice, it was very understandable. And part of the reason I felt like he didn't talk much was because his days are packed full of therapies (which is great!) and during his breaks he really wants and needs his sleep. I guess I got to observe more the last two days than I'm used to. This weekend he only has PT/OT, so hopefully we'll get to talk with him when he's more alert, and maybe he'll want to make a few phone calls.

I was really excited today to hear that some of David's nurses and therapists are reading David's blogs too. It's great because then they get to see the David that we all love and are praying to get back, and ALL the support he has through all of you. They really do work so hard for him, and he's not always the patientest patient (did you get that?). We're grateful for all they do!! Oh, and I just thought I'd mention some more of the amazing people here- there have been a bunch of people who donate items to the Fisher House and to the patients in the hospital, and also to their families. Today they gave us some toys for Brea and gifts for David, and there are so many cards that come too! I can't believe I didn't know that places like this existed, and I can't express my gratitude for how they are selflessly serving the patients. Praise God for them!

Thanks for your prayers! We still need them and are soo thankful! Thank you also for your comments. We were finally able to check out a computer from the fisher house, so the blogs should be consistent again (unless Grey's Anatomy comes on again J/K). And we can feel like humans and check our emails and stuff again too.

Have a super night! God Bless!

Laura

Thursday, December 6, 2006

8:30 AM Friday- (writing about Thursday)

Hey everyone! Sorry we missed the blog last night. David went to bed around 9 and mom and I HAD to watch Grey's Anatomy! We sort of fell asleep afterwards... Sorry!

Well, David had a really great day yesterday! He didn't have any hitting episodes and didn't seem paranoid or worried that people were plotting to attack him. We're obviously thankful for that, because it's really hard to comfort him when he's irrational, and also of course for his sake, how scary it must be to be out of sorts and confused.

During PT/OT he told us that he used the bike, maybe even the stationary bike?? Mom, Brea and I went to Mervyns to get him some comfy "workout" pants so we missed a bit of the morning. I visited him when we came back and we talked a bit, but he was tired and fell asleep for awhile. When I came back, I noticed he had his trache out!!! YAY! He has a large bandage on his neck, and he said it hurts a bit to talk as air kinda comes out through his neck still. What progress he's making! I can't wait til he gets his feeding tube out so there won't be anything for him to pull at and make him uncomfortable (and so he'll get to eat of course!). Speaking of that, David had another swallow session with Bruce, the speech therapist, and fed himself some pudding. I videotaped the whole thing, so once we get Dad's computer back we can start putting up some of the videos we've aquired. It'll be fun to look back on when he's better and see how far he's come. David was sound asleep when Bruce came in, but quickly woke up when he felt a spoon on his mouth. He started off slow, opening his mouth and Bruce would feed him, then he became more impatient and was motioning with his hand to speed it up. Finally he held the spoon and fed himself. He said it was "yummy."

He also had a session with the neuropsychologist, and he was talking a lot to her. He was remembering working in the movie theater and described his job, described his soccer position from high school, and and talked about his family...which is where he began to embellish a bit. Now he has a brother and a sister, who both have two kids, 2 step-brothers (maybe he meant brother-in-laws?), and 2 cousins. Cousins, you can fight over which one's he's claiming! But after those comments he mentioned Christa and me, and seemed to be back with it. Who knows?? Then the doctor's came and needed to talk with mom, so I was forced to relieve mom of her grandma role at the house. The docs discussed the medicine changes, which seemed to work well today as far as aggression and the confusion go, and also explained some of David's left sided eye weakness. When David writes, he always starts in the middle and writes toward the right. I guess with his eyes, he's probably seeing from about the middle to the right, and needs to remember to turn his head to see things on his left (which he can do). I'm not sure I understand this all, but just another thing to pray for healing from.

After the doctors talked with mom, she went back to him and read the blog comments to him. He REALLY enjoyed it and kept telling her to continue. He also asked for his phone, so mom called and got service (no texts or pics though) on it and charged it, so it's ready for him to make some calls. Here's the thing with the phone though, we don't want people to call or text him yet, but we want you to know that he may be calling you! If you do get a call from him, realize that he may be quiet for awhile as he gets his thoughts and words together, and be patient. It's hard not to fill in the awkward space with talking, but if you ask him a question, you might need to wait 30 sec- 1 min. for him to answer. And sometimes he hangs up without warning, and sometimes he calls back... Just be prepared!! One more thing, he got a brace for his foot, that should help keep it flat and straight so that he'll be able to put all his weight on it when he walks.

I think that's about it for yesterday, but if I forgot anything we'll add it tonight!

Have a great day! Thanks for your continued prayers and comments! God is GREAT!!
Laura

December 5, 2007

8:00 pm
Hello again! We had a pretty good day today. During PT, I learned how to transfer David from the wheelchair. It didn't seem too hard but tonight when I practiced he was too tired and had trouble moving his right leg. He made it though! The Recreational Therapist was there to help.

Another swallow test today, and good results. We weren't there, but David said he did exceptional. You can't always believe everything he says, but some things you have to....Like after I transfered David from the wheelchair to a bench, I asked him, "Who is your favorite mom?" He answered correctly, "You!" Then I asked if he loved me and he said, "YES". Finally I made him tell me, "I love you." and he said sincerely, truthfully, and lovingly, "I love you." Now that we know he always tells the truth, later in the day Ryan and Kelli Manning were talking to him on the phone and he told them that he would be 15 on his birthday, and that he had TWO brain surgeries! Earlier he told me that he thinks he had some brain damage after a couple of falls snowboarding. That was probably true too, but he thinks that that is what the accident was. At this stage it is common for them to fabricate some information. (FUN STAGES!) He also hit another Aide and sent him to the ER! Pray for this stage and his mental state.

The Recreational Therapists came and asked David if he wanted to go to a Craft Fair in the main hospital. He wanted to go to get out of the building, so we (2 RTs, Nurse, David, and I) did. They took a picture of the two of us by a small, metal, Christmas tree, and I made a bookmarker. He made a candle by scooping lots of beads into a candle holder and then putting a candle in it, helped by some boy scouts who were really patient. The auditorium was packed full of people and activities, so we didn't stay long. David did all right being in a public place for about 15 minutes. Many moms at the Fischer House talk about how with brain trauma, their sons get very nervous and need to leave a store after a short time. The RTs said that this afternoon, David played Dominoes with them, told them that his dad was a "Great" Photographer", that he was stationed in Turkey and had done communications networking. They were really impressed with all the talking he was doing.

David told me tonight that the Respiratory Therapist told him that if he doesn't pull out his trachea anymore, that he might be able to get it out the end of the week. Oh yes, he did pull it out today in front of Laura! Yesterday, he coughed while the therapist was putting it back on him, and it shot out across the room in front of me! WOW! The therapist, Joe, just continued talking and asked me to look at the hole in his neck! I did!!!!!!
Continue praying for this "stage" of the game, that no one else gets hurt. Pray for David's mental state, he is saying somethings to make me feel he is unhappy! DUH! I know, but..... We read lots of scriptures today that Laura and Christa posted on the walls. He said he is having problems with his eyes and reading. He also recognizes his memory problems. I have reassured him that God isn't finished with him yet. He has come a long way this week, walking and talking! His brain is healing and will repair itself. Pray again for patience for all of us. Praise God that the nurses getting hit are understanding! They say they know that this can happen..... Patty

Tuesday, December 4 2007

9:23 pm

I just got off the phone with Laura and she asked me to write the blog tonight as they are still without a computer. This won't be as good coming from a third party... but here goes!

David got his first shower today since the accident!!!! He seemed to love it!! He was sound asleep and no one could get him up, but as soon as they asked him if he wanted to take a shower, he woke up and started to try to get out of bed by himself!

David did really good in PT today. He rode the bike thingy from his wheelchair again and got his left leg to do up to 35% of the work, where as yesterday, the most he could get it up to was 17%! His overall average after 10 minutes total was 18% on his left leg. He walked in the modified walker with Chris helping him move his left leg. Everytime Chris moved David's left leg, David would say, "Good job!". David also showed his PT's what good bargaining skills he has. They asked David to move his left leg 60% of the way. David came back with 40%. The PT's finally settled with 50%! Everytime they sat David back down he would say, "Now we're good." David asked Georgette, another PT, if she would be his nurse. She said she can't. He asked why. She said she'd have to go back to school. David said he wouldn't mind waiting! (Apparently, his brain injury hasn't affected the flirting! In fact, I think he's milking this whole thing for more attention!!) Laura said he seemed to be more forgetful today about some things, and David even told Mitch (PT) that he needs to work on his memory. But then again, he kept reminding Mitch when he forgot his belt that they put around him to help hold him up by and would also remind Mitch what they were going to do next.

He played the Nintendo Wii bowling game with Laura again and did even better today, but didn't play for very long before he wanted to go to bed. They tried to play dice and cards while he was in bed without much success. His trache was capped all day today (so Laura thought) and she said they talked alot. She said he was pretty funny today which is even more funny since he has no real facial expressions to go with his humor. She said on several occasions, he tried to get her to help him escape. He kept asking for the car keys and where the car was. He said that Laura could drive... he didn't care... he just wanted to get out of there.

He passed the first part of his swallow test and even wanted to call Dad and tell him. He was pretty proud of himself and told Laura that Dad would be proud of him too! Dad was, of course, and even called me after David's phone call to tell me the good news! David did reassure Laura that he would hold off his escape until after tomorrow, because he needs to pass his swallow test!!! He got to eat pudding and applesauce today because he did so good! He didn't seem to like it right away, but later admitted that it was good. However, this is just the beginning of a process that could last up to 2 weeks of eating and monitoring before they take out the trache and give him REAL food.

They felt that today was a good day over all. There were less periods of confusion and hallucinations, although they're still there periodically. (At one point he was telling people he had 3 sisters.) Still no telling what's causing this. The doctors say that it is just a stage that all TBI patients go through, which is somewhat comforting, but doesn't make it any easier to watch him go through. Pray for his mind and for my mom and Laura's patience and understanding as they help him through his episodes. It is not an easy job for them or the people who work with him on a daily basis.

-Christa

Monday, December 3, 2007

8:30 pm
Wow, today was heart breaking! It was good and bad.
Good news: David was sleepy this morning. I tried at 9 am to wake him up with shaving, wet cloths, getting him dressed, and more! He was a zombie. Bruce, the Speech Therapist was coming at 9:30 to assess his swallowing. I really wanted him awake. When David was still sleepy at 10 am, the Respiratory Therapist came in and checked his airway out. He decided again not to cap the trachea as David wasn't getting enough air flow. He tried to take more air out of the cuff inside the trachea, but decided to just change it to a smaller one in the afternoon. David still could talk, somewhat and was awake after all. Bruce, Speech Therapist, came back at 11 and did his preliminary assessment for the swallowing test. He passed without much problem. Tomorrow they will do another swallow test where they watch him swallow some applesauce. They will make sure it goes down into the stomache instead of the lungs. If so.... they will start supplementing his feeding tube "food" with real "stuff".
Bad news: David is acting unlike himself. He punched a male nurse in the face, then kicked him in the balls. He pulled another nurse's hair, and tried to grab her glasses. This was all right after the Respiratory Therapist came back to check his new trachea. I was in the room with him and a LVN, while he was trying to finish attatching the trachea collar. The dr. came in an asked how it was going. He observed for awhile and asked if I had any questions. I said "YES!" A new nurse came in at sometime, and tried to help by having David take deep breathes. That seemed to help. After it was attatched, the dr said everyone stand back, remember to only have one person talking at a time, and stay calm. We stood back for a minute and let him calm down. It helped, but....... then he did a couple more things that were inappropriate. The dr. thanked the nurses and expressed what a hard job they have. No kidding! I left with the dr. and asked what was going on with this aggressive behavior that my sweet son was showing. He assured me this is normal to go through. No one takes it personnally and it is expected as TBI patients are coming out of the coma. He asked if I could to meet with him, the Neuropsychologist, and a couple more important people tomorrow at 1 pm to discuss David. "Of course!".... I walked with David as he wheeled around the halls after the chaos calmed down. He grabbed another nurse in the hallway and tried to take her badge. He went to the nurses' desk and demanded a piece of paper, snapping his fingers. He wrote a note telling them that someone was trying to kill him! As I was trying to tell him that he was safe, he punched me in the cheek. Luckily it was soft, and we had words about he can't hit people. We played football for awhile and finally he asked to go back to his room. Mitchell came by to say hi, 2 hours after he was off, and helped transfer him back to bed. I tell you these guys are so dedicated! And, they put up with a lot of crap.
So, continue to pray, pray, pray, and then pray somemore! David is obviously aggitated, and will be more when he finds out I've told everyone! Pray for his 20 different medications that he is on! I am going to look them up and discuss with the dr. what could be causing this reaction from the meds that we can eliminate. One of the nurses told me that this was the easy part, that it will get much worse!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pray, pray, pray!!!!!!!!!!!!This is insane! Thanks! and Goodnight!

PS I am hearing about many great friends who want to come visit. I know David would love to see you, but I'm not sure if he should be stimulated anymore with people coming up to visit right now. This is an ugly time he is going through and I think he would be embarrassed. Plus, he is aggitated by stimuli and with all the therapies, doctor appointments, nursing staff that is busy with him, etc., it is overwhelming for him. The staff has mentioned this to us, and I keep ignoring them because I love the visits. But, I do see that too many people (just on staff), is too much for him right now. It is a long way to come to just visit for a short time. So, I'm asking you to put those visiting plans off for the moment. I know it is almost his 21st birthday, but he needs to get lots of rest to heal too. What do you think? I hope you understand! It truly is killing me not to have visitors for awhile too. Love, Patty

Sunday, December 2, 2007

David was sleepy this am again. When I went to his room, his throat was aggitated from popping/breaking the cuff on the trachea. The Respiratory Therapist decided not to cap the trachea but to keep moisture flowing over his throat/trachea. Despite him not being capped, David still was able to talk some. Physical Therapy was great. Mitchell is amazing! He stood at a table and reached for objects on his left side with Kelli and me. Next he rode a bike from the wheelchair that told him how much work his legs were doing, versus the machine. At one point his left leg was pushing 17%. Finally, he walked with a walker about 20 feet to Kelli. She got the biggest hug from him. We were all cheering. Now, mind you it took him quite awhile to get there, and one of the therapists was behind him helping with moving his left leg and foot. I can't wait to figure out how to get videos on here of all these events. Plus, right now, I don't have a computer. I am using the spinal cord patients' computer in their rec. hall. That's why it is taking awhile to get these blogs on, sorry. I guess we are all learning patience! Kelli had to leave at 2 pm and David was definitely depressed. :-( In the afternoon, David seemed to be hallucinating. He told Laura, "Call mom and tell her to meet me outside." He wanted to go home. Laura talked to him about how God has a plan for him and it wasn't to leave right now. After a few minutes of convincing, David nodded. He had several incidents where he hit a nurse, and was out of control. Please pray for these incidents, and also that the nurses would continue to have patience with him.

Saturday December 1, 2007

First things first, this is Kelli, I was told to write the blog as a result of having Brea put frosting all over her face and hair so Laura has to clean her(haha woops). This morning my mom and I went to David's room at 10am to go with him to PT. However, he was already in there so we went to meet up with him. We got in there and the PT's asked me to help them. They did this thing with them where they moved cones around and one cone had a small cone underneath it. They moved the cones and David had to pick the right one, I was super surprised that he was able to pick the right one because I couldn't even do it ha. He was super tired after PT, so he went to sleep for about an hour and a half. In the mean time my mom, Patty, Laura, Grandpa and I stayed in the room and watched David sleep. I tried to do homework haha, I tried for about 2 minutes. Eventually David woke up and we asked him if he wanted to go outside and he said that he did "Now." After getting him in the wheelchair & being connected to his G-tube feeding we walked around with everyone and the nurses. We stopped to listen to some Christmas Carolers. When they were finished we made our way outside. On our way outside, David told Patty and I that he wanted to "go to the car and go far away fast." We went to some benches instead, the nurses helped us to get him out of the wheelchair so he could sit on a bench. When we got him settled I sat with him and he had his arm around me and was rubbing my arm. So Patty, Laura, and my mom decided it was picture/video time (kinda embarrassing and awkward but whatever). Patty & my mom said that they would give us some "alone time." At this point everyone went about ten steps behind a small bush and watched and called it privacy. We did some arm stretches with David, I actually almost completely straightened his left arm, which no one was able to do thus far.  We played some bowling on Wii, and we sat on the couch for a little while. He had a slight stomach ache after lunch and slept for the rest of the night after that. He would open his eyes briefly but close them real quick after. Until next time...

Kelli and everybody!!!

Friday, November 30, 2007

Midnight PST

There is so much to write about...

Yesterday morning David did really well during PT/OT time in the gym. He walked 3 laps on the parallel bars, and was really determined to get out of his chair and go. Se, PT, told him to be patient, and count to 3 before he got up so they would be ready, and David kept counting really fast- determined to get up.

The respiratory therapist came to talk to David yesterday about his trache, and the anatomy of the throat- trying to alleviate the fears he has about suffocating and aspirating. The RT also gave an inservice to staff about traches, so that there would be no more incidences of not deflating the balloon before capping his trache.

Mom and I talked to the doctor yesterday about all her questions, specifically about rearranging his medicine schedule to give him more sleep at night. David's trache was capped in the morning and then at night, sleeping most of the afternoon. When he woke up, about 4 in the afternoon, we were told that he was pretty restless and agitated, hitting a nurse or two, and the nurses needed to sedate him to calm him down. He woke up from the sedation around 8 at night, and mom and I went to see him. He didn't talk to us much, but when mom dialed Kelli's number he started talking to her with the speaker phone on. Mom had to repeat some of what David said to her since his voice is still soft and whispery. He told her that she wouldn't believe the day he had, that "some crap" happened, and that he was hurt so much worse today. Of course our blood pressure was rising as we listened for the rest of the story. He said that a guy nurse grabbed his wrists and twisted them. Though we were fuming inside, we explained that sometimes the nurses worry that he's going to pull his trache or his peg tube out when really he just wants to scratch under the elastic band on his stomach that protects the peg tube, or rub his neck around his trache. But that's why they try to pull his arms away. David responded that he was so frustrated and that he tried to tell them... He didn't have his trache plugged, so we think that the way he would "tell them" would have been to keep trying to do what he needed- which would have worried the nurses even more. As furious and curious as we felt, we told David the part of the story that the doctors told us, about him hitting the nurses, and he felt really bad. He asked if they were okay, and we told him they were. We assured him that we would figure out what happened, and told him that he could have the nurses call us at anytime if he needed us. They're supposed to be calling us right when he wakes up from naps, but it seems like they wait until he gets settled into a wheelchair before they call us (which we're trying to change). David was pretty tired and started to fall asleep again, so we said a prayer and left him to sleep.

Today, we woke up and went to be with David while he got up and ready for the day-watched him shave and prep for Kelli's visit :o). The speech therapist, Bruce, had changed his appointment time from the afternoon to the morning to hopefully catch David awake, but for some reason David slept through most of the session. He woke up right after Bruce walked away, and we wonder if he's faking it... J/K, I know David likes Bruce. Then it was time for PT/OT, and David again did great standing and walking. He isn't a fan of them when they try to stretch and range his left arm, but when we tell him to push through it and remind him that's it's worth it, he lets them keep going. Kelli and Rose came during his session and were able to see David walking.

After a nap, Kelli went to hang out with David while mom and I had a meeting with the Neuropsychologist. Kelli showed David the video she made, and David watched intently and told a couple stories about the messages you all included. They took him outside and he got to hang out with his aunt, uncle, grandpa, Brea and the Mannings. During the meeting mom and I were in, we were able to problem solve a few problems about overstimulation, getting the nurses/therapists to be more attentive and patient when David talks in his soft voice- listening to what he needs and not filling in the blanks as he talks, trusting his movements a bit more when he seems to be aggitated or uncomfortable, watching some visual cues that he gives when he needs something, and to have them explain what they're doing and why so that David will understand their concerns and not just that they're "restraining" him. We talked to her (as well as the doctor earlier) about David's complaint yesterday about the nurse twisting his wrist, and she said that the nurse did have to hold his wrists down because David's movements were endangering others as well as himself. As hard as it was to hear that complaint from David, we also realize how David CAN and has hurt people when he gets frustrated. Hopefully our ideas that we brainstormed will help out in this area, informing the nurses of David's intentions and working with David's communication. It will only get easier when David is able to talk all day, so we need to be patient too. The neuropsychologist is sort of a liason between the doctors, staff, and us, and she was very open to our ideas and tried to explain some of the future issues we might have with David as he recovers more. When we finished the meeting and went to see David, he was ready to take another nap, so we let him.

At about 4 Kelli called (she was sitting with David for a bit) and said that the doctor wanted to meet with us, so mom, Annette and I went up. He tries to meet with us each day, and this time wanted to include David in the discussion. David had some things on his mind that he was trying to express by writing, but that was too hard. We asked him to be capped, and they allowed it. The nurse had problems doing it, this time in front of the doctor, and I was livid again! She didn't deflate the balloon, and she plugged the trache- so David couldn't breathe for a sec until another nurse took the cap off. When we told her to deflate it, she did and put the cap back on but David still had a hard time getting air, so the doctor asked her to check and make sure it was deflated all the way. Without checking she said yes, but the doctor told her to try again to get all the air out. She squeezed it with her fingers- while my brother's trying to breathe- and the doctor had to tell her to use the syringe and suck all the air out. She finally managed to get all the air out of the balloon and David could breathe easily again. The doctor addressed the situation again with the nurses at the station, and hopefully only the nurses or RTs who are trained with David's type of trache will be working with him. With David being able to talk, he asked the doctor about being able to swallow, and he wanted to talk to Bruce, the Speech guy. Luckily, Bruce was walking down the hallway and I flagged him down. He hadn't heard David talk, since David sleeps through his sessions, and was quite surprised and pleased. David asked what the swallow test was, and Bruce explained that its a 3 day test to see how well David swallows a certain drink. Bruce didn't know that the doctor had put in a request for it to start on Monday, and told mom that he didn't think that David would pass. But again, he hasn't seen David much outside of sleep, so hopefully David will pass with flying colors. Well, that just started the long night, as David was becoming more confused in his thoughts and expressions. He was pushing himself in the halls trying to find his "real" room and wasn't content in any place or area. It was really hard as I was walking next to him in his wheelchair, trying to explain where his room was and show him the pictures of his friends and family on his walls, but David was not content and seemed so frustrated. After an hour of that, mom and I both asked if they could give him some medicine to sedate him a bit. Never thought we'd ask that, but it had to be so hard on David to be in that state. David finally wanted to go to bed, and the nurses were able to feed him since he wasn't in one spot long enough to do that most of the evening. Once he was settled, we prayed again for him and we let him rest.

Thanks for the prayers and your patience as we skipped yesterday's blog! We know God is working miracles in David, and that each of David's new "states" is a step closer to full consciousness and healing. We ask that you continue to pray for David's healing, and for a peace and understanding that can only come from God. We also want to pray hard for his swallowing test, so that he can begin to enjoy food! That would be such a boost to his spirit!!!

-Laura
(I wasn't ready to go home, so I extended my trip 'til the 10th of December!)

P.S. I posted a few more pictures on David's recovery slideshow the other day, so check them out!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

11:30 PM
David is continuing to improve. The dr. gave me a questionaire to fill out and score on David called The Orientation Log (O-Log). If he answers 25/30 points correctly for 3 days then we know he is past the "post trauma stage"(?). The sooner he comes through this stage, the better his prognosis will be. He has to answer questions about the date, time, city, kind of place that he is in, name of hospital, month, date, year, day of the week, clock time, etiology of his accident, and what is wrong with him. I will ask him the questions tomorrow. However, tonight he was worried about his trachea and if he would be able to talk when they take it out. He has heard us and the nurses discussing inflating and deflating the tube in the trachea and why it has to be there: keep from aspirating fluid into his lungs, being able to talk when it is capped, etc. Well, he is hearing parts of the conversations, and is scared that he might suffocate, aspirate, or get pneumonia. He asked to talk to the dr. We promised that tomorrow he could. He said to tell Kelly he was sorry if he suffocated before she got here! Pray for peace for him. We have tried to explain and think that he is understanding enough to get him through the night hopefully. But what a miracle that he is questioning his treatment! He also this morning was unscrewing the bolt in his arm brace to stretch out his arm more. We laughed that he would become his own physical/occupational therapist or take over their jobs. During therapy today, he stood for 23 minutes at the standing table. Then again this afternoon for a shorter period. He walked the parallel bars a tad bit quicker today. We got a SMILE out of David today. PT was working on his legs and getting him to kick. Christa was sitting close enough by that he would kick her sometimes. She got back at him by tickling his feet. That is when he smiled! :-) He would imitate Christa by putting a "half-sphere, foam, shaped thing" on his head and trying to balance it. We were having fun with him again! The therapists are very good with David and the other guys here. They laugh and joke with them, but treat them very respectful. We are soooo thankful for them. Plus, they let us get involved helping too.
David communicated by writing quite a bit today. It is very hard to read. He looks straight ahead and writes down low. I don't know why he isn't looking at the paper or board that he is writing on. But, when we gave him a phone to text on, it appeared that he was looking straight at the phone. So.... I don't know what type of vision deficits he may have. He did nod yes when we asked if his vision was blurry. Please pray for that issue too.
The family is all leaving tomorrow. Steve, Christa and the kids will drive home early in the morning. I will take Laura and Brea to the airport. Some good "old" friends arrived tonight and are staying till Sat., Randy and Violet Rugh. David hugged Violet tonight and shook Randy's hand. He wrote "Rugh" on the board to let us know that he remembered them! Steve's brother, sister, and dad are coming up tomorrow for a few days. Then Kelli and Rose Manning are coming on Friday. Pray for a safe journey for all of them.
Thanks for all your prayers again. Patty

Tuesday pm (Wednesday), November 27-(28), 2007

11 PM P.S.T.

Today, during physical therapy in the gym, David stood for 15 minutes (with assistance) at a table while a recreational therapist worked with David. He was testing David with different objects, and David responded appropriately most of the time, but not all. It was a little hectic at the time, and they say that TBI patients can have trouble concentrating when there is a lot going on around them.

He did not have his trachea ‘capped’ so he could not talk today. The doctor told us that perhaps by Saturday his feeding would be under control and he could be ‘capped’ again. Persistent Patty wasn’t content, and made the doctor add to the nursing orders that, with supervision, David could be ‘capped’ briefly between feedings to allow him to talk.

After we left the gym David wheeled (with some steering help) into a multipurpose room where they have computers and video games. They have a ‘Wii’ video game system that has a one handed controller and a bowling game (among others) that seemed perfect for David to try. The coordination required was tricky for him, but he sort of got the hang of it after a few tries. It might turn out to be a favorite. As we were leaving we asked David “where to next” and we tried to get him to write on paper what he felt like doing. He can write legibly sometimes, but often it is a chore to decipher what he has scribbled. He finally wrote “my room”, “relax”. He was pooped.

Tonight they got David into a wheel chair again and took him into the hallway for a ‘walk’. Patty “talked” to the nurses for a long time before they agreed to ‘cap’ his tracea. Back in his room she asked if he wanted to call Kelli Manning and he nodded. David listened for a long, long time to Kelli talking before he said (so quietly that we had to strain to hear him and interpret to Kelli some of what he was saying) “I’m in the hospital”. “I can’t talk or walk”, “I can’t do anything”. He said “I want to go to Riverside” and “I have to stay a while”. (Steve's narration ends here and Patty's romance novel begins). He told Kelli that she was what got him through the day. We asked Kelli to tell David when she was coming up, she said, “Thursday! Then we asked David, “Can you wait three days to see Kelli?” He replied, “I’ll try to wait.” When we told Kelli to hurry up, but drive safe, David nodded yes and said, “Drive safe!” That’s another miracle if you know David’s driving history!!!!!
PS from Patty: It was like straight from a romantic movie, maybe better than Officer and a Gentleman! The nurse, nurse’s aide, Christa and I were all in tears! On the other end of the private conversation, Kelli and (her mom) Rose were in tears at the new library by their house waiting for a meeting to start! It was GREAT! OK, so we’re off to see the romanticist for another exciting day. PRAISE GOD! Thanks again for your prayers and don’t stop! This is AMAZING! How great is our God!

Monday, November 26,2007

This morning David went to the gym with OT and PT, and he had his trache plugged so he was able to talk. We reminded him of that, because it's got to be a little confusing having his trache plugged one hour and not the next. When we told him to let us know if he was in pain or needed anything, he said "I want my mom" a couple times before we heard him enough to understand. Mom was in the room, but watching him from behind. Of course she quickly went to him, I'm sure just elated!! He stood for 15 min. with support behind his knees so they wouldn't buckle. Mom held a ball in different places for David to grab and throw back to her, trying to get his elbows off the table in front of him and aslo to get him looking more to his left. He had a harder time when the ball was on his left side, and would sort of feel his way up mom's hand in order to find it. We're not sure how well he's seeing out of that eye, or if it was just out of his scope of vision right now. Either way, he found the ball each time and continued to stand. An Occupational Therapist came in to assist. While stretching David's left arm, wrist, David said, "My arm is broken." They explained that it wasn't and they were going to help him be able to use it. After a bit of rest, they took him to the parallel bars and helped him walk the 6 feet down and back. He still needed help moving his left leg, the PT said David did about 25% of the work on that side. David was really tired after the session and went to bed. It was a great morning!!

This afternoon we had "the meeting," where we discussed where David is in his recovery and addressed our concerns with the whole team of specialists working with him. The doctors and therapists are so good at updating us daily, that there were no surprises. They told us about their plan to get David to eat three or four bigger "meals" through his feeding tube rather that the constant feeding that he's been getting. They need to make sure that he can handle the meals and digest them before they take out his trache. There's a balloon ring in the trache that actually protects his lungs in case he were to vomit and then aspirate (food going into the lungs, leading to pneumonia). The bummer is that they will not be able to cap the trache much for the next couple weeks and therefore he won't be able to talk much. It is another step in the process for David to get to eat real food though, so we'll be patient.

After the meeting we checked on David again and he was agitated a bit while PT was working with him again. I asked David if he had to use the bathroom, and he gave me the bathroom signal (crossing 2 fingers), so I left the room and he used the urinal (in bed). Sorry for the details, I'm sure he'd be embarrassed with me posting his bathroom info, but it's so exciting that he's gaining control of that stuff, able to communicate it, and also that he's aware the alternatives and chooses the urinal. He kicked mom out yesterday- actually he said "I want my mom to leave"- when he had to go, and again, that shows that David is becoming more aware and wanting to be more discrete. He fell asleep after he used the bathroom, so we left.

David was asleep each time we tried to visit this afternoon and evening, and so we let him, even though we're sooo anxious to be with him! He did tell Christa that he had to use the RR tonight, but again fell asleep right after that. Mom stayed in the room while David slept and stretched out his left arm, wrist and fingers. He extended his arm about 135 degrees and let her leave it that way for the hour she was with him.

We're excited for tomorrow, and have so much hope in David's recovery! Thanks for all your prayers and support! God is so good!!

Laura