Sunday 1/7

Steve is taking a new medication intended to mitigate some of the control problems that are part of the process, such as tantrums,profanity, and (but not limited to ) undressing in the hallway. I objected, as these are some of the core qualities of the early-20s American male, but was overruled. He improves steadily in all areas-readin', 'ritin', and 'rithmetic, conversing with visitors, eating, walking, eating, remembering, sequencing, eating, sleeping. There's a long way to go yet. Please continue to pray.

Saturday 1/6/07

Steve continues to improve. However, the more he advances, he is that much more difficult to attend to. It is just like raising a child, but on an accelerated basis. A newborn baby is easy. A 2- or 3-year old is very difficult. Any parent can testify how exhausting-physically, mentally, and emotionally- an experience it is to tend to an individual who is mobile but is not really attuned to what is good or bad for him. Now imagine doing that for 6 weeks, 12-14 hours a day, and this is Georgina's life. Many fine people in Colorado Springs are visiting faithfully and making their support felt, but in practical terms, they can't do what needs to be done. So, while you're praying, please include my wife.
She needs it. PS-Beth went back to school. Tom is now Blogmiester.

Thurs. 1/4/07

Today two interesting things happened. Steve asked his favorite physical therapist, "How long have I been like this?" When Troy told him, and explained what had happened, Steve grew very pensive. He's starting to put it together. Later in the day, a representative of the court visited as part of the process for making Georgina his legal guardian. She was there to confirm that Steve was not capable of making his own decisions. Steve picked that exact moment to pull out the base plate for the stomach feeding tube, which was stitched to his skin. She needed no further evidence. Part of the current stage is a loss of inhibition, which often manifests itself in profane speech. Tonight G put him on the phone to talk to me. Our conversation follows: Me:"Hi Steve!" Him: "Hi Dad." Me: "What are you doing?" Him: " I'm watching Brian Urlacher and the f------- ref!!!" Then he hung up. It's great to hear his voice again.

Tuesday 1/2/07

All you atheists out there better take cover!! Agnostics-stop what you are doing and listen up and pay attention, because something big is happening! Since the beginning of this ordeal, prayer has been a major player here. I am certain that many dozens of people are praying hundreds of prayers for Steven-prayers of pleading, reasoning, demanding. I've always felt, as I pray my reasoning prayer, that the Lord would bring Steve back all the way because he has developed, in a couple of years, an intense, mature faith and a strong desire to do God's work here, and so it would be in His best interest to heal Steve. Much of what makes Steve the person he is has not returned fully yet at this early stage in the recovery, but his spiritual self has always shown itself to be-dare I say it?-intact. When he was unresponsive, he squeezed the hand of those praying at the appropriate moments. When he couldn't talk, he still said "Amen" at the end of prayer. When his speaking was coming around, much of it was random and non-sensical, but he prays intelligently and coherently, in complete sentences. Yesterday, though, he said something that tops everything else. After Georgina prayed with him, he got still for a while, then said "God gave me this so I could be a minister to broken people."

Sunday 12-31

today was another one of steady progress in speech and general responsiveness. steve is progressing also in reading and reciting (months of the year), but it has been a rough one on mom. steve is receiving a brain stimulant as part of the normal course of action, and dosage is tricky. he has been hyper-active all day. all of the staff and the docs say that this is just a regular part of the process, but some things are very difficult for a parent to watch. more tomorrow-tom

Friday

Greetings. Before I get into Steve's lastest improvements, I just wanted to clarify something. Lately we've had several people asking us when Steve is getting out of the hospital, and if we think it will be soon. Even though he is making vast improvements at a rapid pace, he is going to be on the rehab floor of the hospital for atleast 2 and 1/2 more months. After that things are really up in the air. So, even though he is doing so well, he has a lot more to go. Two days ago Steve started using his voice for the first time. He's able to do this now because the hole where his trach was is almost healed and so are his vocal cords. It's awesome to be able to hear him talk instead of trying to lip read or catch what it is he's whispering. Because his brain is still in the healing process, about half of what he says are just random words or phrases that don't make sense. At this point he's just working out memories and information swirling around in his head and trying to make sense of them through talking about them out loud. He still responds to questions and is more sociable, but it's when nobody is speaking directly to him that he tends to do this random muttering to himself. Of course he continues to be very active, walking on the treadmill and stationary bicycyle now and participating in wheelchair races with his friends down the hall. The eye doctor came by a few days ago and discovered that Steve's field of vision is only 50% in each eye. He thinks this is something that will heal itself, so we pray that when he comes back to check on his eyes next week, they will have started to heal on their own.

Tuesday

Merry late Christmas! Steve continues to do well, of course. He has totally stopped getting tube feedings and is eating real food now, feeding himself, and he loves it. Although today it seems he has the stomach virus, so anyone who was thinking of visiting might want to hold off til tomorrow. Pray for his healing! Anyways, he continues to be very active-walking lots and walking well, climbing stairs, scooting himself around in the wheelchair, all with minimal assistance. He's also mouthing a lot, but as his trach hole is still in the process of healing and so are his vocal cords, it's mostly just whispering. Yesterday mom showed him flash cards of his first and last name and numbers 1-10 and he recognized and said all of them. He has lots of dexterity in his left hand now that he has to use it for almost everything, but he also uses his right hand every now and then for fine motor actions such as pulling off his sock with his pointer finger and thumb, which is amazing considering the condition that wrist is in and the fact that he's barely used that hand in the past month. We are starting to see more emotions from him. Yesterday when he was trying to say something and dad couldn't hear him and kept asking him to repeat it, he finally got ticked off and yelled whatever he was trying to say (a whisper yell, although you could hear a little bit of his voice). His natural self reliance is going to work in his favor because he insists on doing most things by himself without help. As I write this blog I look back on the previous one to make sure I don't repeat anything, then I realize that that is not possible, seeing as how the things he was doing 3 days ago are old news now. He is making tremendous progress, but still has a long road ahead of him. Keep the prayers coming! Steve really responds well and even participates a bit when we pray for him, and they are most definitely working!