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.