Week 8 -- Progress & Regression

Overall, Jeff made some significant physical progress during the week (9/3-9/9):

• His trach collar was removed, so he's breathing on his own.
• His feeding tube was removed because he was eating the pureed food so well. Jeff began eating 'real' food, but has to be spoon-fed, because he still wears mitts on hands, though he does sit up to eat.
• He began wearing the processor for his new cochlear implant, albeit for short periods, and then only when family or therapist is present. (Jeff still tosses & turns, and tries to pull things off, so we cannot risk losing the processor.)
• Jeff continues to recognize more visitors, though not necessarily while they are present.

On the other hand, Jeff still exhibits some disquieting problems. One of them is that he appears to be paralyzed on the right side of his face. We are hoping that this will eventually improve, but nothing is certain in brain damage cases.

Jeff continues to show signs of pain & irratibility, so he still needs medication to calm him. He also has started trying to get out of bed, so these meds have become a necessity. The downside is that one never knows whether or not Jeff will be focused during visitation.

Week 7 - More 'Baby Steps' Forward

Jeff continues to speak and has become very vocal, but with generally one-way conversations. He is going through a phase common to brain injury patients, known as perseverating -- that means Jeff focuses on a single thought or topic and stays with it. He is still concentrating on his favorites of cooking, fishing, and family.

Some wonderful bits of progress this past week (8/27 - 9/2):

• Jeff was fitted with a smaller trach collar. The next step will mostly likely be removal of the trach collar.
• He wears the Passy-Muir Valve for very long periods and tolerates it incredibly well. (Not all trach patients adapt so quickly to the valve.)
• Jeff is doing remarkably well with face-recognition of family & close friends.
• He is eating small amounts of "solid" food...actually, pureed food, but the key factor is that he is taking it in through his mouth. (Bimmie actually filled out a "menu" for him.)
• His audiologist, Mary Lynn McDonald, tested his cochlear implant & it is working. The next step is to actually hook up the processor, perhaps as early as next week. (See the Bionic Man link, Journal - Day 4, part 2, for more about Mary Lynn and processors.)
• Jeff has smiled, or attempted smiles, on several ocassions!

Notwithstanding all of the above forward steps, Jeff is still in a serious condition. All we can do is let time go by and hope that additional recoveries continue to happen.