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