03 February 2010

Day 79 – Grayson’s Condition

Dear family and friends

This is now the longest we have been away from Grayson since his incident on November 16th. I spoke with his case manager at length today, and the conversation ranged from such mundane things as dental care, to issues regarding proper supervision and stages of recovery. Grayson is doing very well, but he has a long way to go.

When Grayson becomes over stimulated, or the environment has too many diverse things going on, he generally withdraws. With lots of people around, he stops using his voice and starts to whisper. In a quieter environment, or when just a few people are around, Grayson becomes a lot more verbal. This is why we were so surprised and pleased that we have found him singing in areas where there are lots of people around. Granted they are safe, singing hymns in church and singing and playing drums in music therapy, but nevertheless he is singing out in situation where he won't speak. Way cool!

Next Monday we will have our first conference with his caregivers. It will be an opportunity to see Grayson in his new environment again, as well as having a lengthy conversation with his physicians and therapists about his current state, and his treatment plan.

God has led us once again to a wonderful place where the staff is truly caring and their knowledge and experience with this type of injury is world class. We are so grateful that all of the pieces fell into place to allow us to be here. The positive power of prayer and the hand of the Great Physician are clearly at work.

Pax!

Brant

3 comments:

  1. Hi Brant:

    What an encouraging post! There is a sense of excitement, joy and seriousness that is very real. And an aknowledgement of our Lord's provision through out this time. We are praying for Grayson's continued improvement, and thank the Lord for this great environment of theropy.

    In Him,

    Doug

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  2. It seems better and better that Grayson was placed at his current facility. I remember Regina saying that an alternate location you checked out had time each day where the patients were milling around in a room together. It was said this was for "socialization." I don't think that would have been as good a fit for Grayson.

    Thanks for the updates on his progress. It helps us know how to pray for you all.

    Love,
    Robin G.

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  3. Sounds like Grayson is in the perfect place.

    Unless his caregivers tell you otherwise, I would not rush to be too concerned about withdrawal from very activity-rich environments. My own neurological experience is that complexity can often be perfectly OK, but chaos is not always welcome, and withdrawal can be simply a protection against unwelcome input. Good days are good, less good days are less good; that's true for everyone, but being on the "neurological road" often means that we just can't fool ourselves as well as we used to, to think that less good days are better than they are.

    Signs point to this being a story with a wonderfully happy ending! (The storybook just may have a few more pages than we'd like between where we are now and the hoped-for happy ending.) But this is already turning out well!

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