Josh Beecroft Recovery Updates

September 30, 2017 What a nice day for our small family. We rolled into the hospital at about 8:00 am. Josh was in the middle of breakfast. We asked him if he wanted to get out of the hospital for a few hours. He readily agreed. So we packed up, checked out, loaded Josh in the car (sans wheelchair), and took off for Red Rocks and Boulder. It was a beautiful day here in Denver this morning -- blue skies and about 70 degrees. We rolled into Red Rocks about 20 minutes after we left Craig Hospital, parked at the top circle parking lot, and walked down the slope to the famous amphitheater. We pointed out all the large rocks to Josh and he seemed duly impressed. Here's a photo of Josh in front of Creation Rock. After a little more walking around and a failed attempt at souvenir shopping, we headed on to Boulder. We enjoyed the drive along the front of the Rocky Mountains. Boulder is a beautiful city, sitting at the foot of the "Flatirons." The Flatirons are striking,...

September 29, 2017 10:20 pm Yesterday morning Mary was told she had to choose: Josh could go either on the fishing trip on Thursday afternoon or on a tour of the Mile High Stadium on Friday morning. After discussing the options with Josh's therapists, Friday morning's tour was selected. In the 10 weeks we have been here, Josh hasn't gone on a single outing. Either he's been moved to Swedish, or the one time we were here, there wasn't enough room for him. Today followed the same pattern. Because Josh wasn't acting well yesterday, Dr. Makley decided it was best if Josh didn't go on today's outing. Mary was upset ... REALLY upset. Josh was doing GREAT this morning, and the tour was only a few hours. AND this was Josh's last chance to do something fun here. Nonetheless, we were relegated to the hospital. Since there was nothing to do all morning, Mary set up her computer for Josh and asked him to type her a letter. He typed: Dear Mom, Today I w...

September 28, 2017 10:00 pm The night before last Craig Hospital had a fire drill. The alarms went off the lights blinked. It was loud, and for Josh it was scary. Before I left for the night, he said, "Don't lock my shoe." What he meant was, "Don't lock me in my bed because if there is a fire, I won't be able to get out." I was sad that he was scared, but happy that he figured that out. Anyway, since then Josh has been afraid of being zipped up in his bed. (And I don't blame him.) Josh woke up at 4:30 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. When I got to his room at 7:40, the blinds were closed, the lights were off, and he was wide awake, locked up in his bed. I opened his bed, sat on the side, and rubbed his arm. He was asleep almost immediately. Because his first class was at 8:00, the nurse came in and woke him up after maybe 2-3 minutes. I helped the nurse get him dressed, and by the time we were done dressing him, it was 8:07. So Jos...

September 27, 2017 9:10 pm Rough day ... but I'm tired of saying it's a rough day. I want to say, "GREAT DAY! Josh is rockin' it! He can feed himself, he can go to the bathroom by himself, he can walk without help!" Maybe someday, but that day is not today. Josh was wide awake when I got to the hospital this morning. I asked if he'd been awake for a long time. He said yes, but he probably doesn't even know what 'a long time' is, or means. The BA and I got him out of bed. We got him dressed and ready for the day. We got him breakfast, but he wasn't eating. I kept encouraging him to eat, but he wouldn't. After at least 45 minutes, I sat at the table with him. He was holding two cubed potatoes on a fork, and they were soggy from the ketchup that had been on them. He'd been holding those potatoes for a long time. I said, "Can you put that in your mouth?" He said, "I don't think so." Then I realized that it wasn...

September 26, 2017 9:45 pm Another day at Craig. Josh had a few of his normal classes but lost some time today due to medical issues. Here's a video and a photo of Josh cooking cookies during OT. They were YUMMY. On the medical side, Dr. Rubin came by to give us the results from the MRI yesterday. The fluid in the front of Josh's brain has drained substantially but his ventricles are still the same size. So Dr. Rubin dialed down the frontal lobe shunt to one (its lowest setting and where it should remain for the foreseeable future) and the ventricle shunt to five (the lowest its been in weeks). We are expecting this to decrease the size of the ventricles over time. We're anxious to see how it impacts Josh's memory and learning abilities. Josh was also fitted with a set of wires on his head to measure brain activity, specifically seizure activity. Josh has to wear these wires for the next 48 hours. Finally, our nurse removed most of Josh's stap...

September 25, 2017 10:25 pm The nurse this morning was WAY late with Josh's morning medications, causing him to be 20 minutes late to Speech. He was shown a drawing of a kitchen, and he told the pathologist everything in the picture (except he got cupboards/cabinets wrong). Then he was shown a drawing of a bedroom and he was supposed to tell the pathologist the items in the bedroom (lamp, nightstand, bed, blanket, pillow, etc.). He didn't get any of them right. The same thing happened when she showed him a drawing of a closet. PT was the same as always: walking and stretching. In OT, the therapist had a box. (Imagine 10" tall, 20" side, and 4" deep, with a center divider that is 2 1/2" taller than the box.) One side of the box was filled with 1" blocks. She asked him to move the blocks from the full side to the empty side, one block at a time. She did this once with his right hand and once with his left hand. When she tried this activity abou...

September 24, 2017 10:06 pm It was a chilly Sunday here in Denver. Autumn is definitely here. The rain reminds us of the weather we'll soon be facing as we head back to Portland soon. We're both sad to see summer go. We Portlanders cherish our summers. This year we feel like we lost most of ours because we've mostly been sitting in hospital rooms for the past three months. It was also a relaxed day for us today. Josh had breakfast and then a nap. He didn't get out of his room to do anything until after lunch. Mary and Josh worked on a couple of puzzles that we bought when we were out shopping yesterday. Josh 1.0 hated puzzles but Josh 2.0 seems to enjoy them quite a bit. He stays focused until it's finished. Very interesting to see some of the personality changes. Another change in Josh 2.0: We asked Josh if he wanted to go out shopping with us, and he said yes. Josh 1.0 wouldn't go shopping unless his very life depended on it (and maybe not even then)! ...

September 23, 2017 10:30 pm Today marks three months since Josh drove his friend's dirt bike off of a cliff in rural Oregon, landing on his head. We're told he received CPR twice from his friend while lying in the ravine waiting for help to arrive and one more time on the Life Flight helicopter ride to OHSU hospital in Portland. When we first saw him at the hospital, in room 21, he was going immediately into surgery to remove part of his skull in order to alleviate the deadly pressure inside his brain. We were told, carefully, to say goodbye as it was likely he wouldn't survive surgery. We've put a photo of what Josh looked like three months ago when we first saw him at the very end of this post. Warning: It is very graphic. View at your own risk. A few days later, while Josh lay in a coma in room 12, we sat in a conference with a handful of professionals from OHSU who told us, again, very carefully, that we might want to "pull the plug" on Josh as his p...

September 22, 2017 9:45 pm We would have arrived in Cape Town, South Africa by now. Just saying ... Since today was our discharge date and we're still here, we were given a new discharge date of Oct 6. We really aren't sure that this date means any more than the others we've had, but our insurance benefits are ending soon, so either the hospital will need to convince our insurance company to keep paying (and the insurance company has already said no to that), Craig will have to pay for our stay, or we will leave. We have mixed feelings about what to hope for. Sitting in the speech pathologist's office this morning, Josh looked at a drawing and reviewed things that can be found in a kitchen. After he tried to name them all, we went to an actual kitchen in the gym and he tried to identify the things there (sink, cabinet, dishes, coffee pot, microwave, refrigerator, stove, oven, etc.). It was really hard for him and took the entire hour. Sunday night a rash show...

September 21, 2017 11:30 pm The day started pretty well. In ST, Josh was able to name more items in a kitchen than ever before. He even got oven and stove, but he still missed quite a few. Faucet was flowers, for example. For the most part, he got the first letter right of all the words his missed. Then Josh had an EEG. We haven't been told the results of it, so we assume he had no seizures during that 15-minute test. Then he had OT where they worked him mostly on eye strengthening exercises. While Josh was in OT, Mary moved his stuff from the West wing to the East wing. He's all set up in the East wing now! It's partitioned into two rooms. Overall there is more space, but Josh's area is smaller. Then Josh had PT where they worked on his leg strength and balance. For dinner Josh chose roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, cooked carrots, cheese-stuffed bread sticks, pineapple, strawberries, chocolate Ensure, and vanilla Ensure. He ate 55% of his meal...

September 20, 2017 10:00 pm Josh started the day with PT. He walked around a lot, showed that he knows his way around this floor of the hospital (which is perquisite to being set free from the wheelchair), and then did stretching exercises. We were supposed to have a family conference at 11:00, but it was canceled so his other two therapists doubled up for the session. He was asked to put together a map (OT), and with each state say where it is located (ST). So, for example, "Oregon is in the Northwest." After lunch Josh rode the stationary bike for half hour then went down for a nap. Neuro adjusted Josh's shunt. We included a 14-second video for anyone who might be interested in how the shunt is adjusted. Claire is changing it from 7 to 6. When Josh awoke from his nap, his whole body was shaking and he said his head felt "weird." He answered questions with nonsequitors. Mary got concerned and called the nurse, but by the time the nurse arrived, Jo...

September 19, 2017 9:30 pm Josh started the day with Speech. His job was to describe a kitchen - what it looks like, what appliances are in it, what is done in a kitchen, etc. It took him 30 minutes (with a lot of help) to come up with three sentences about a kitchen. Then he had to describe a bathroom. After 30 minutes, he had devised only 2 sentences. Speech is REALLY hard for Josh. Nearly asleep, Mary took Josh to PT where he walked and did strengthening exercises. His therapist said he walked better today than he has in the past. Next was OT. The first 30 minutes was spent doing eye-strengthening exercises. Josh's right eye is doing remarkably well ... considering we expected it to be blind. After grabbing a quick lunch (pork loin, asparagus, sweet potatoes, strawberries, peanut butter cookies, vanilla cupcake, milkshake), Josh had another MRI. The results were good. The extra-axial fluid has drained from his frontal lobe, and the neurosurgeon will turn down the vent...

September 18, 2017 9:00 pm We had to say goodbye to Eden early this morning. We miss her already. Josh's first class today was PT. He had a substitute who started class with a Functional Gait Assessment. The maximum score is 30; Josh scored 9. Here is the test: Turn your head while you walk. Josh's score: 0 - Severe impairment. Loses balance, stops, or reaches for wall. Walk heel to toe. Josh's score: 0 - Severe impairment. Cannot perform without assistance. Walk with eyes closed. Josh's score: 0 - Severe impairment. Cannot perform without assistance. Walk backwards. Josh's score: 0 - Severe impairment. Cannot perform without assistance. Walk at a normal speed. Josh's score: 1 - Moderate impairment. Walks slow with an abnormal gait pattern. When I tell you to, walk as fast as you can then as slow as you can. Josh's score: 1 - Moderate impairment. Makes only minor adjustments to walking speed. Look up and down while you walk. Josh's sco...

September 17, 2107 10:00 pm [Mary and Paul want to thank Eden for flying all the way to Denver to watch Josh for a couple of days so we could continue our quest to visit all 50 states together. Four more down (NE, KS, OK, & NM)! And thanks to RJ for handling things at home so Eden could make it.] Happy Sabbath to you all!  This is Eden again.  Today was a very slow day at the hospital, which is pretty typical for the weekend.  Josh got dressed and brushed his teeth.  Instead of me going to get his breakfast, he wanted to go to the cafeteria himself.  So we headed on down there around 8:30 AM.  Since it was just me and Josh on our own, I let Josh order his own meal, mostly out of curiosity to see if he could do it on his own.  He wanted peaches, and asked for eggs, 2 pieces of bacon and hash browns.  He even told the cashier his room number.  I was super impressed he remembered.  Then, he led me over to the ketchup and we went bac...

September 16, 2107 10:30 pm Hi Friends. It's Eden, guest posting again.  My parents are taking a much needed break from hospital life and doing a little road trip.  While they are off on a fun adventure, I get the privilege of hanging out with my little brother. We got to the hospital around 10:00 AM and his tech for the day, Emma, was helping him eat breakfast.  He was taking a long time in between bites, and Emma finally asked him if he liked his food.  Josh said no and decided to pack up his hardly touched tray and put it away in the cafeteria. We thought we were headed back to the room, but Josh wanted to go to the gym.  He promptly sat down on his bike and got to work.  He even increased resistance at one point!  After 33 minutes, I noticed he was slowing down.  I asked him if he was tired.  He said he was.  Since it was around 11:00 AM, and he didn't eat much breakfast, I asked him if he wanted to take a nap or eat some lunch...

September 15, 2107 10:00 pm When Paul got to Swedish this morning to see Josh, he was very surprised to see how well Josh was doing. He seemed to be slightly more alert and connected than ever before. We don't know if this is a glimpse into the future or not, but it was nice to see that Josh was recovering so well from yesterday's surgery. After some breakfast, Josh fell asleep for a couple of hours. We had to wake him up when the transport people showed up to move him back to Craig. We were back at Craig in our usual room by noon, and Josh was still doing very well. After resting in the apartment for a few hours this morning and catching up on some much-needed sleep, Mary joined the party at Craig at lunchtime. After lunch, Josh got back to his regular classes for an hour and then took a nap. Paul and Mary took the opportunity for a nap of their own. We are so exhausted after this long and difficult week. After dinner, Mary and Josh played some Junior Monopoly (...

September 14, 2017 10:00 pm Today's big news was Josh's surgery. The neurosurgeon put a second shunt in Josh's head. Both of us noticed quickly and independently that the shunts are not evenly aligned -- the first shunt is toward the back on his right side and the second shunt is toward the right on his first side. We were both surprised by that and we sure hope hair will make everything look normal. We are learning that looks come in second to medical requirements in situations like this! The doctor said everything went well. Josh came out of the anesthesia pretty well and wasn't in much pain. He was alert and interactive all afternoon and evening and in pretty good spirits too. He atea good dinner and enjoyed flipping channels on the TV in the evening. Several people today saw Josh again for the first time in a couple of weeks, including medical personnel and Josh's cousin AJ (by videophone). All were quite surprised and impressed by the improvements he has ma...

September 13, 2017 10:45 pm Lucky 13? We're not so sure. We'll lead with the big news.  First, Josh goes in for surgery at Swedish at 6:30 tomorrow morning. They are going to install a SECOND permanent shunt to drain the brain fluid in Josh's frontal lobe area. Second, Mary went into the ER for the THIRD time and FINALLY got diagnosed with something that makes sense: bronchitis. More below. Last night was terrible. Mary's coughing was the worst is has been, and it was ALL NIGHT LONG! The neighbors gotta hate us. Josh started with ST this morning. He was asked to identify 9 different body parts. He was told the answers in advance, and he scored 75%. His next task was to describe the different body parts. He chose to start with eyes. Allison said, "Write 'eyes' at the top of the page." Josh copied the picture of the eyes instead. He was supposed to come up with three statements about eyes; like, eyes see, eyes can be different colors,...

September 12, 2017 10:05 pm Mary and Paul both made it down to the hospital today, but not for very long. We are both still under the weather but hoping we've turned the corner. The coughing is bad, especially Mary who not only coughs nonstop but also sounds like she might hack up a lung at times. Very painful. We're a little worried about our neighbors here in the apartments. Good thing they are all elderly. Maybe they are hard of hearing too. In OT this morning, Josh was given short phrases to read, such as "raise your arms" or "wiggle your fingers." He could read the phrases easily but when asked to do what they say, he couldn't. He has a hard time connecting the words to the actions. Josh had an MRI today to check out the fluid level in his brain. The results were not good. His ventricles were about the same size as the last MRI a couple of weeks ago. This was expected since his shunt setting is still at a seven -- not much fluid is being drain...

September 11, 2017 9:30 pm While we were hanging out at the hospital today, they brought in a herd of elephants so all the patients could ride them. Just kidding. But we feel like if we don't start posting more interesting things, we are letting down our faithful readers! We really have almost nothing to report today. Mary was still sick and stayed in the apartment again all day. But she did manage to fall asleep this afternoon for a couple of hours, so that was good. Paul was feeling a little bit better today but was busy most of the day with work. He did get down to the hospital to see Josh twice, the first time during lunch and the second time during dinner. After dinner, Paul and Josh played air hockey for about an hour and then enjoyed a couple of episodes of The Office back in Josh's room. Other than that, we know that Josh had a full slate of classes today and that they all went well. Josh was in good spirits all day, ate a lot of his meals, and otherwise did well....