THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2009 9:12 PM, WST
Andrew is getting stronger again in his spirits as the days go by. He had speech, physical, and occupational therapy today. They worked on making noises again, which he hasn’t done yet. They also had him tracing shapes, letters, etc. on paper (with help from the therapist). The speech therapist gave him some ice chips to chew on today as well.
Andrew’s breathing has really improved, so they reduced his trache tube size and stitched up his neck a little bit to fit the smaller tube. My Dad said that they will do this a couple of times before they completely seal up his throat where the trache tube is located. They covered his trache tube with the cap again and had him breathing in with the air from the trache tube or the environment (whichever he prefers). He does have to exhale on his own either through his nose or mouth.
Sometime today, my Dad said he took off his vibrating blanket on his leg (to help with the blood clots) and somehow got both legs and feet off the side of the bed. My Mom told my Dad he looked like he was trying to escape. They had to find someone to put him back on his bed correctly. Pretty funny, I think!
Andrew has lost a lot of weight due to lying around for 40 some days. My parents say he looks like skin and bones. The nurses changed his food bag today. It was described as a milk carton upside down (with yellow whitish liquid). We are hoping it has more calories to fatten him up a little bit.
Two rehabilitation facilities are now interested in Andrew. They will be looking at them tomorrow. My Dad said neither one is their or the hospital’s top choice, but they haven’t heard anything from that one yet. So they are going to see what the other two facilities are like.
Other than that, they are all doing well. Andrew’s in a little bit of better spirits, my Aunt Becky and Uncle Tom are there visiting, and my Uncle Frank was cooking them dinner tonight.
Andrew has been pretty stable the last few days, so there hasn’t been too much to update. Thanks for the continued words, thoughts, and prayers each day. We are encouraged with everyone’s positive thoughts!
