Today was a quiet day, but David still worked hard. When I arrived he was beginning Physical Therapy and was using his right arm to support himself on the bed, he then was able to help more than I had seen so far to transfer from the bed to the wheelchair. Joy came to visit, and the highlight of the afternoon was the meatball that Joy had brought with her – he certainly hasn’t lost his appetite!! We then did some reading exercises. He did very well with recognizing words and matching them to the pictures, but still has trouble speaking the words. We left at about 1pm, and I did some shopping for our big meal. I made pasta for dinner for David and me to eat tonight. While at home cooking, Richard Olderman had a short visit, but David was tired from his morning.
When I got back to the hospital, he was complaining of a headache, and the nurse had just given him some dilaudid, but it hadn’t helped. She had to wait until 5pm to give him something else, and while he didn’t like it, he waited, and was distracted by visits from Jackie and then by Sheila. He really enjoyed talking about UNIS business with Jackie, and it took his mind off the headache. We then had words of encouragement from Sheila, who suggested that we go on a short vacation as soon as possible. David loved that idea, and I also thought it was a great, and as soon as possible, we will head somewhere that is green. By the time we began eating the pasta, his headache was gone and he started to doze off.
Dear Scott,
Lucy has been with me in my country house in France and we have been following David’s progress via your wonderful posts. I don’t know if you and David knew that my son Matthieu had a traumatic brain injury on the left side of his brain and that he went through much the same recovery process as David (after waking from a two week coma). I know that you are asking yourself a lot of questions and think I may help with a few of them.
The biggest gift and help you can give David is being there and he is very lucky to have you at his side. Also, speech therapy is paramount and triggers not only words but helps encourage brain cells to take over new tasks (important for speech and short term memory). He must continue to have this therapy every day for as long as possible, even after he moves to another facility or goes home. I also found that Matthieu needed several naps during the day, the therapy was exhausting.
Physical therapy will probably yield faster results and once he can walk he will continue to make progress just through daily living. But for speech you have to be very patient! It took Matthieu a couple of months to be able to make sentences and even then there were some words in them that I couldn’t understand. We discovered that it was easier for him to come up with English, not his maternal language. Apparently a second language is treated by the right side of the brain. Have you tried French with David? Matthieu’s first phrase was “where is my mind” (in English). And the singing therapy sounds interesting.
For later, as choices are hard to make or frustrating, narrowing them down is a good idea (less clothes in closet or preparing outfit, suggesting a favorite dish in a restaurant rather than going through the whole menu, etc).
From the progress David has already made I am very optimistic about the futur. His support group of friends and family and you of course will be very important for him. Please give him a big kiss from me and don’t hesitate to get in touch if there is anything I can do.
Love,
Mitty
Hi Scott – I am a former student of David’s from the ‘early days..’ in the 70s when he started at UNIS –
I would like to thank you so much taking the time to post these updates on David’s progress – it’s meant a lot – I bet he is just loving being the hospital celebrity… I can see that grin as clear as day
I will be in NYC this weekend and would love to visit – can you tell me when would be a good time (Sat. or Sun.) and where it is that I should call ahead to? Do you know if he will he still be at the Bone & Joint Center this weekend?
Thank you so much – Keep hanging in there; it’s clear that he is coming back to you closer and closer with each passing day.
I will also check with some folks at the Dept. of Health about the info you asked about speech therapists (sorry have to go back to that post for the particulars)
Stay well and look forward to meeting you
Lots of love & laughter being sent your way- Syd