Week Five: Eating Mush!

It's been five week's since Thomas' accident, and two weeks since our last update. This time last week, Thomas was in the middle of his second surgery, and this week, though hard, has been very good as well.

TREATMENT OF THE INJURY
The surgery was successful, as you all know. What you may not know is that, incredibly, the injury in his neck is completely fixed! It's rather extraordinary that a surgery can just fix things entirely. Don't get us wrong: he has a lot of work to do: he has to strengthen his neck and shoulder so he can hold his head up better, but he can turn slightly, looking to the left and the right, and mobility will improve as the weeks go on, and his neck pain will diminish. The neurosurgeon even cancelled Thomas' post-surgery MRI, deeming it unnecessary. He is in a neck brace, and will continue to be so for at least six weeks.

RESPIRATORY CONCERNS
Thomas continues to work towards being entirely off the ventilator. Though he had the breathing tube for the two days of surgery, this didn't really slow him down, and every day he spends longer and longer off the ventilator. Monday he was off the ventilator for 19 hours; Tuesday off for 18.5 hours; today's goal is 24 hours. To be released into rehab, he needs to be off the ventilator for several days without assistance.

EATING + SWALLOWING
As we reported yesterday, his swallowing test was positive, and Thomas was cleared for eating soft soft foods / thickened liquids (like applesauce).  Yesterday was his first try, and he ate a few bites of food at lunch, dinner, and dessert.  Just for yesterday, blue food coloring was put in everything he ate -- a precautionary measure -- if no blue showed up when he was suctioned, they knew all was well. Pretty clever.

Thomas did better at dinnertime than lunch, and will continue to improve with practice. They are definitely taking baby steps with eating as he relearns how to swallow and works on those muscles. They are exploring different textures of foods provided by the hospital; some textures are more challenging than others.

PAIN + FEVER
His pain medications seem to be at a much happier balance now, which is great! He continues to have fevers starting around 2/3pm and lasting through the night. They have been watching these closely, giving him Tylenol, and looking into causes. They're 95% sure he has no infection causing them, so it's most likely because of his injury which they said is not uncommon.

MOBILITY + PHYSICAL THERAPY
Thomas is browsing and reading on his kindle now, which is awesome! He and Natalie devised a way to prop it up and he can use his right pinky knuckle to scroll pages, return to his home library, and select a different text! So cool!

Every other day Thomas has a visit from either physical therapy or occupational therapy. These teams alternate exercises to stretch and strengthen his upper and lower body. They have also taught him exercises for his hands, wrists, arms, and shoulders that he can do on his own, and some exercises that Natalie can help him do as well.

REQUEST: TRAVEL
Most of Thomas and Natalie's family has been able to visit while Thomas is in the hospital, thanks to the generosity of family and friends. Natalie's sister and brother-in-law are still hoping to come out and visit sometime in the next couple weeks. If anyone has airline miles they can spare to help purchase a plane ticket, please email us at the blog address. (A lot of companies let you donate miles, but there is a pretty high charge for this. What we're looking for specifically is having someone redeem their miles for two flights.)

As always, thank you for all your generosity and prayers!

The Novena of Thanksgiving continues. Join us in prayer!