Pulling Through
Updated: Sep 6
Day 3:
What an inspirational day. Roger is such a fighter and hard worker as everyone who knows him will attest. He has made sooooo much progress in the last 12 hours.
He had a routine CT scan this morning and no further bleeding. The brain swelling seems to have stabilized.
Today, he has been easier to rouse. When he is awake, he is lucid and alert. He knows who we all are and where he is. What a relief to have him coming back to us. He clearly wanted to know what was happening all around him. Most in character, he wanted to know when physical therapy would start.
He is still very sleepy between activities and falls asleep as soon as we finish a session (sometimes he even tries to sleep during “class” but I pinch him). His brain is clearly working very hard. He rests much more peacefully now without all the restlessness.
He is able to see out of his right eye now which is awesome.
He is trying to talk more and I am able to understand him about half the time. He is still quite mumbly but we are finding our way. His smile is coming back as well which brings such joy to all of us.
He is able to start a liquid diet today. He passed the first stage of the swallowing studies. He will continue to be on a NG tube feed for much of his nutrition.
He was able to transfer to a chair with lots of support from the therapists. In the chair, he brushed his teeth and combed his hair (working on the "cheds") with his left hand. He did try to put the comb in his non-functional, right hand first. I was not sure if he was doing that out of habit or trying to make a joke.
His right side is still paralyzed, but he has such a strong core that he is doing a great job compensating. He is now able to move himself around the bed more. Good thing he has been working out lately - it has paid off.
Amazing progress from yesterday. We thank everyone for all the love, support, and well wishes. Roger's eyes light up when I share all the messages. Roger is one stubborn, stoic, and gritty guy. I know he will work so hard to regain as much as he can. His sense of humor and love shine through!!
Day 4:
The therapists helped him stand up and take a few steps with the PT moving his right leg for him. He is able to bear weight on the right leg despite the paralysis which is promising for building mobility.
He is really working on his communication and we are able to understand him much better. He asked to call his brother Andrew today and then launched into a whole stream of sentences telling him that he was “doing good”. Not sure we could understand all the nuances of his speech, but he sure did have a lot to say and mumble. Any one who has worked with Roger, knows he often has a lot to say.
Despite being sleepy most of the morning (again sleeping during class), he woke up more in the afternoon and was firing on all cylinders. Roger's humor and stubbornness was on display.
We ordered pureed eggs and sweet potato for him to try eating. He refused to let me help in any way. He kept giving me the stink eye when I tried to mother him (he is stubborn and hates when I mother anybody). First, he picked up the bowl with the spoon in it and had to figure out how to use the spoon and hold the bowl in one hand. You could see the neurons reconnecting as he tried many options such as trying to drink his eggs, using the spoon backwards and attempting to use the spoon as a straw. He finally figured it out and the spoon of pureed eggs went into his mouth. Upon tasting the powdered egg slop, he looked me in the eye, made a face of disgust, gave me the finger, and spat out the egg. That is my Roger. We are bickering like the old married couple that we are.
He then proceeded to feed himself a chocolate milkshake which he got everywhere. Once we cleaned him up - new sheets and pillows, I reached over to give him a big hug. During the hug I accidentally detached his feeding tube, getting Ensure all over him, me and the bed. Nothing like a poignant moment of intimacy slathered in vanilla Ensure.
I know we still have a long way to go and there are so many unknowns about his future abilities. But I am absolutely astounded by Roger's determination. Now that we are out of the initial crisis, I am ready to share that we almost lost him. Now, 4 days later, he is giving me "the bird”. We will see what we can get him to eat tomorrow - maybe the pureed peppered beef (it is really on the menu)!
Fight on Roger!