Tonight, Rocky, Jamie and I visited Dad at 8:30p. This is the most awake and aware we have seen him all day. He is trying to talk more. He was very insistent on the "suck" machine which assists the fact that he cannot swallow. He arm wrestled me twice to try to steal it away from me and fought Jamie for it earlier. He has become better at using the device himself over the course of today but the staff really wants us to do this for him to prevent gagging.
He had a feeding tube put in today and the nurse gave him his first "meal". It is pretty much like an Ensure. They will start him off slow on food and work him up to once every 8 hours.
He was able to communicate that he wanted the tv on by pointing at it with is right arm. Then he started to wink at me. I asked if he was winking and he shook his head no. I asked if he was checking his vision and he shook his head yes, so then I was able to figure out he wanted his glasses. We were a little scared to put his glasses on because he is missing part of his skull so the nurse did it for us. Dad was not pleased with how the glasses were situated so he reached up and positioned them himself. Then he started to move his fingers in his right hand like he was playing an instrument. I was able to figure out that he was actually asking for the remote control. REALLY! I positioned it in his hand, showed him where the channel buttons were and he was off.
Tomorrow he will get an echo-cardiogram. The cardiologist wants to see if the source of the blood clot that made its way to his brain was from the heart. If there are other clots or that was the source, they will not be able to treat it until his brain is done with swelling and back to a normal- whatever normal may be at that point. This process could take between 2-3 months.
The goal right now is to heal the brain and wait for the swelling to subside. Then we will deal with his heart.
He continues to amaze us and every visit with him today has been encouraging. Please keep those prayers up!
