Sunday, November 4, 2007

10:30 pm D.C. time

Sleepyhead David was pretty boring all day. He slept most of the day until 6 p.m. When we arrived in the am the nurse had just given him his meds and he was out cold. We left and went hiking and came back about 1 pm and he was awake for just a short time. We played with the punch ball, squishy football and round ball, plus all the fruit (minus the banana). He threw the football a couple times to Steve (he's not ready to be a quarterback quite yet!) Actually he acted bugged that we were playing with him. He didn't stay awake very long, so we went to the cafeteria for some great :-( food! David was still asleep when we arrived back so we mozzied on over to the waiting room and visited with another family. About 6 o'clock, sleeping beauty awoke. He seemed restless and uncomfortable. We shaved him, washed his hair with a shower cap that you just put on and massage, then voila, your hair is instantly clean! He kicked the punching ball several times with his right leg while it was raised in the air! He definitely knew what he was doing too! He threw the squishy football to Steve several times (maybe 6", but he threw it!) We gave him a paper and pen, then found a marker and clipboard, and asked David if he wanted to write. He scribbled back and forth on it. We tried writing YES and NO and drawing :-) and :-(, to see if he could point. That wasn't very successful today. He did hold the pen and clipboard and looked seriously like he wanted to tell us something. After that, I put some shaving cream on the clipboard to see if he could write with his finger. Well, lets just say that it got all over everything. Boy, the room smelled so much better though! I wish I could remember the medical word for sweating, but David was doing that profusely. That is one part of the brain that isn't regulating itself yet. However, he was able to wipe his head with a towel, sheet, pillow, my hand, etc.! When he had his hand full of shaving cream, he tried to wipe his face too! Oops! The nurse thought I was crazy. Humph, I don't even care any more! The best part of the day was when I was sitting next to him, and said, " I wish I could get a David hug again." He reached over and put his arm around my head, kinda got me in a head lock, but still.... it was a hug! The nurses even saw it! (Our camera battery and phone battery were both dead, so we didn't get a picture or a video.) I guess I'll have to ask for another one tomorrow. :-) :-) :-) He continued to reach for some things in our hands, and put them back. He also took his hand and felt Steve's face, head, beard, and glasses. He continues to feel my wedding ring and today he rubbed/felt my arm where my sweater was, then reached up and messed up my hair like he used to do. :-)
I bought a toy gun that shoots foam wafers, thinking that would entertain all of us, but it didn't work when we opened it! Cheap toys!
As far as Palo Alto, we checked downstairs at the Aerovac Office and they don't have us on the flight schedule yet. So we won't be leaving tomorrow. Maybe Tuesday or Wednesday. David seems to be doing better with the med. to thin out his mucus and I'm feeling much safer about his trachea and him moving.
Thank you all for your prayers. Pray that we get to Palo Alto soon to start more aggressive therapy. Praise God for continued signs of progress and encouragement everyday. Pray for the other men who are in the hospital and in rehabilitation here. Let's continue to pray that David's left side will begin to have more mobility. Also, pray for Daniel Wooten and the guys in the car accident with David for peace and healing. Thank you to all the vets who continue to serve our country. Patty