August 9, 2017 10:20 pm
After we posted late last night, something very interesting happened. Josh returned to his room at Swedish after surgery at about 10:00 pm. He was still mostly out of it from the anesthesia. Paul decided to stick around in his hospital room until he came out of the anesthesia, as that can be a painful process. (Paul knows.) Josh finally started waking up at about 11:00 pm. When Paul and his nurse started asking questions to see if Josh was OK, they were VERY surprised when Josh answered the questions verbally rather than through gestures. Until now, Josh has mostly used head nods, pointing, shrugs, thumbs up or down, and other gestures to answer questions and communicate his thoughts. But immediately after waking up from his cranioplasty, he was using his voice rather than his body. This has continued somewhat throughout the day today too, so we feel like this is a small step in the right direction. (Mind you, dear reader, this doesn't mean the CONTENT of Josh's communications has improved in reliability or helpfulness. After giving Josh a couple of Junior Mints to eat, Mary asked Josh what her two sisters' names are, to which Josh responded, "Junior Mints.")
Other than that, there weren't a lot of changes today. Josh spent most of the day sleeping, which is understandable given the fact that he is recovering from last night's surgery and is on a fair amount of pain medication. He tried to walk around the ICU floor with the physical therapist but literally fell asleep standing up while he was holding on to the desk at the nurse's station! We tried playing some games with him, including his favorite apps on the iPad, but he wasn't motivated. (He's trying to assemble a four-piece kid's puzzle as I type this.)
Because of the trauma sustained during surgery last night, Josh's face is swollen and a little bruised, especially under his left eye. His right eyes isn't closing completely anymore.
Dr. Rubin checked in with us just a few minutes ago. We mutually decided that although Josh COULD be discharged to Craig as early as tomorrow, but more likely Friday, we'll keep him here in Swedish until Monday since Craig doesn't have any therapy activities over the weekend. So the plan is to move us out of the ICU and into the regular hospital floor tomorrow and then back to Craig on Monday. We are excited to get Josh back into his therapies at Craig and see what kind of progress we can make now that his head is back in one piece.
After we posted late last night, something very interesting happened. Josh returned to his room at Swedish after surgery at about 10:00 pm. He was still mostly out of it from the anesthesia. Paul decided to stick around in his hospital room until he came out of the anesthesia, as that can be a painful process. (Paul knows.) Josh finally started waking up at about 11:00 pm. When Paul and his nurse started asking questions to see if Josh was OK, they were VERY surprised when Josh answered the questions verbally rather than through gestures. Until now, Josh has mostly used head nods, pointing, shrugs, thumbs up or down, and other gestures to answer questions and communicate his thoughts. But immediately after waking up from his cranioplasty, he was using his voice rather than his body. This has continued somewhat throughout the day today too, so we feel like this is a small step in the right direction. (Mind you, dear reader, this doesn't mean the CONTENT of Josh's communications has improved in reliability or helpfulness. After giving Josh a couple of Junior Mints to eat, Mary asked Josh what her two sisters' names are, to which Josh responded, "Junior Mints.")
Other than that, there weren't a lot of changes today. Josh spent most of the day sleeping, which is understandable given the fact that he is recovering from last night's surgery and is on a fair amount of pain medication. He tried to walk around the ICU floor with the physical therapist but literally fell asleep standing up while he was holding on to the desk at the nurse's station! We tried playing some games with him, including his favorite apps on the iPad, but he wasn't motivated. (He's trying to assemble a four-piece kid's puzzle as I type this.)
Because of the trauma sustained during surgery last night, Josh's face is swollen and a little bruised, especially under his left eye. His right eyes isn't closing completely anymore.
Dr. Rubin checked in with us just a few minutes ago. We mutually decided that although Josh COULD be discharged to Craig as early as tomorrow, but more likely Friday, we'll keep him here in Swedish until Monday since Craig doesn't have any therapy activities over the weekend. So the plan is to move us out of the ICU and into the regular hospital floor tomorrow and then back to Craig on Monday. We are excited to get Josh back into his therapies at Craig and see what kind of progress we can make now that his head is back in one piece.
Wow, what a road! I' m so glac to see the progress!
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