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.