June 25, 2017 10:00 pm

As noted in our earlier blog from today, Josh was taken off of all sedatives this morning. At about 1:00 pm he suddenly became very agitated, pulling at the various wires and tubes connected to his body and kicking with his feet. It took Mary, Becca, and the nurse to hold him down so that he couldn't hurt himself. The nurse called for medication and eventually Josh calmed down after about 10 or 15 minutes. During this time he really worked himself into a frenzy, breaking into a sweat and causing his heart rate and blood pressure to go up.

After the incident, we were told by the medical staff that this sort of event is normal and even positive, even though it was frightening from our perspective. The positive is that his physical actions made it abundantly clear that he has function in his body and that he recognized that he was in an uncomfortable if not painful situation and wanted to do something about it. This is what the medical staff call "purposeful activity," which is much better than just random or accidental activity. The negative is that Josh did not respond to any input from those of us in the room who were trying to calm him down by explaining the situation. So, at this point in time, he is able to cause his body to move, which is good, but it seems that he is not able to use his brain to understand and act according to that understanding.

Josh remained sedated throughout the rest of the day and will continue to be sedated through the night tonight. The plan appears to be to try to cut back on the sedatives again tomorrow morning.

We also learned today that although most of the other initial concerns about other parts of his body have been dismissed (spine, legs, etc.), he does have two major concerns. The first is that his right eye still does not respond to external stimuli. The second is that his carotid arteries were stretched violently at the time of the accident, apparently by the strap on his helmet. (It does appear that Josh had secured his helmet strap, contrary to what was suspected initially.) this creates a serious risk of blood clots. Given Josh's overall medical situation, normal symptoms of a clot would be difficult to catch. The normal treatment for this problem is blood-thinning aspirin, but Josh can't handle any blood thinning at this point. So the medical team is watching this closely as a clot would be very serious and potentially fatal.

We did want to thank everyone who has reached out to our family in love and support. The response has been overwhelming -- in a good way. Family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues have shared their love and concern with us, and we're sure there are many more who have held back so as not to overwhelm. We want everyone to know that your love, concern, thoughts, and prayers mean a great deal to us. They help to buoy us during this difficult time. We're especially grateful to Becca & John Hunt for taking a few days out of their busy lives to drive all the way to Portland to help us. They provided both emotional and physical support. They're gone now but we are grateful to have Mom Beecroft here for a few days now. It has also been nice to have several of Josh's friends come to the hospital to check in on him.