Day 53 – Grayson’s Condition

Dear family and friends

Today was a great day!

Regina and I spent Thursday on the road visiting a post-acute neurological residential facility in the lower San Joaquin Valley. Wow – what a place! It is a wonderful therapeutic facility with areas for physical, occupational and speech therapy. They also have a wonderful residential program focused on the skills required to reintegrate back into society. Each apartment houses 2 to 4 residents in private bedrooms with a common living, dining and kitchen area. One or more staff members are in the apartment whenever a resident is home. Some apartments are for wheel chair users, the rest are for the ambulatory. Each has been completely remodeled for the specific purpose of housing individuals recovering from various brain injuries. But most importantly, the facility has a philosophy that is aligned with ours – to get as much capability as possible back to the individuals suffering with brain injury.

We are still a week or more away from a move, but the work being done now is to assure that there is insurance coverage available for this. I hope and pray that there is, as Grayson can really benefit from a program such as this one.

As a result of being away most of the day, we missed all of Grayson's therapy today. He was very happy to see us when we arrived at the hospital tonight, and had big hugs and smiles for us both. He also looked us in the eye and started telling us a story, but we were unable to understand him. At one point he was actually laughing and telling us something. I sure wish I knew what it was!

So as we turn in to bed for the night, we are hopeful that this new facility will be as good a fit for Grayson as we think, and that it will be covered by our insurance. It is still a week or so away, but it is almost like moving him back to college – without the beer, of course! God keeps leading us to such wonderful places. While we check out His recommendations, He is pretty good at making a good match for us – our personal health yenta but without the gossip!

Shalom! ("Pax" in Hebrew)

Brant and Regina

Day 52 – Grayson’s Condition

Dear family and friends

Today was a full and busy day.

And, unfortunately, Grayson seems to be back in the grips of some bug. His temperature is on the rise again, he has a lot of gunk in his lungs, and he remains pretty listless between periods of activity. He is sleeping a lot these days, and we are sleeping a lot more than we were as a result!

For Regina, most of today was spent talking with an evaluator and a liaison for a world class neurological residential rehab facility. It was quite an education for her, and they seemed to enjoy getting to know us as well. Tomorrow Regina and I will pile in the car for a 2 hour road trip to the San Joaquin Valley to see if this facility is as wonderful as it seems. Tune in tomorrow for a report!

Today, in spite of his bug, Grayson continued to impress his evaluator and us with his ability to follow directions, his walking and balance, his ability to recognize and match shapes, colors, objects, to point to things on command – an entire range of cognitive ability. While these may seem simple, they are huge in his eventual ability to regain capability. And gaining maximum capability before the insurance gives up is paramount. The greater the capability he regains, the better his overall quality of life in the future.

Today is January 6^th, the Western Christian Feast of the Epiphany – the celebration of the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus. We live in Glendale, and there is a significant Orthodox Christian population living here. Today is the day that they celebrate Christmas with the exchange of gifts. (Rather appropriate, don't you think?) We celebrate today in grateful thanks for all the gifts we have been given, for the gift of Grayson returned to us bit by bit, and for all of your love and support.

Pax!

Brant and Regina

Day 51 – Grayson’s Condition

Dear family and friends

Today was another lethargic day, but still good!

Grayson was drowsy all day, and by evening his fever was starting to return. People get sick in hospitals! His infection had all but cleared up, but something else was starting to chew on him by evening. In spite of his non-neurological illness, he continues to improve.

Today, Grayson was picking up cones by color as directed off of the floor from a standing position. This requires good balance control, the ability to distinguish color, and follow direction. For the most part, he was too pooped to do too much, but he has impressed the staff as to his improvement and his abilities.

Because Grayson has improved so quickly, he is rapidly moving beyond acute rehab. After only two weeks in acute rehab, we will be touring all of the Southern California Residential Neurological Rehab facilities within two hours of our home – both of them. There is another one outside of San Diego, but it appears that we have wonderful choices closer – just not that close! The facility we are considering as the front runner has had patients from 44 states and 10 countries. I truly appreciate just how lucky we are to have such wonderful facilities so close as compared to many who need to fly just to visit a loved one.

I was rereading some of my blog posts from just two weeks ago, and I am amazed how far Grayson has come. I am also amazed by all of the wonderful comments that you all have left on the site. I apologize that I have not responded to your offers of help or your words of kindness and encouragement. You are all amazing – even those of you who remain anonymous. Please remember that if you want us to know who you are, you need to put your name in the posting, and remember that there are a lot of "Bob's" out there! In spite of all of that, I am raised up by your prayers, my burden is lightened, and you help to put a bit more spring in my step. I know that Regina feels the same also. God bless you all for staying with us through all of this.

Pax!

Brant and Regina

Day 50 – Grayson’s Condition

Dear family and friends

Today was another low energy day.

Grayson was hard to rouse this morning, and we spoke with the physicians again. Another med was dropped from his list. It is a fine line, but we may cross back over to sleepless nights again! Later in the afternoon, Grayson appeared confused for a bit, sort of bouncing every minute or so from sitting in the chair, laying down and getting up again to head somewhere. Later he walked for a bit, then rode around in a chair until he fell asleep around 8:30 PM. Stay tuned tomorrow to see how he did overnight.

Today Grayson was able to demonstrate pointing to several objects when asked where they were. He was able to see words on a paper (ladder, belt, ear hammer, etc.) and was then able to point to a picture of that object. (Yes he can read words!) The big thing today when he was able to write his name in both cursive and print – not very neatly, but his penmanship wasn't that good before!

Grayson's tracheostomy was capped today to see if he could tolerate the change. He didn't even flinch. With luck, we should be able to have this annoying item removed this week. Once we can prove that he doesn't aspirate it, he will finally be able to take solid food and water.

It has now been seven weeks since the incident. Every day this past two weeks we have seen a little awakening. As Regina so aptly put, God is giving us Grayson back a little bit at a time. He is a kind and loving God. How much of Grayson can we dare to hope to get back? We'll just have to let the Great Physician write that chapter as he sees that we are ready for it.

Pax!

Brant and Regina

Day 49 – Grayson’s Condition

Dear family and friends

Today was yet another low energy day.

Regina spoke with the physicians and a decision was made to cut back on some of his meds. We'll see how that goes over the next few days.

It's Sunday, but they still have a reduced PT staff here on duty at the hospital. Today he rode the stationary bike for the first time. He also spent a lot of time batting a balloon around. He also practiced sitting and standing from a low bench, and he also walked a bunch.

Grayson's ability to get up and get around is, as I said yesterday, scaring the daylights out of us. He goes from bed to out the door in about 2 seconds, like you would expect of a 24 year old. If you blink, you will find yourself chasing him down the hall to "help" him, or keep him out of someone else's room. He also now goes to bed head first, to the chagrin of his PT folks. They are used to working with folks of more advanced age, and think that the way to go to bed is sit on the edge, then lay down. Grayson thinks like it is more of a landing of a fighter jet.

This is all making me smile. God is blessing us daily, and we can hardly wait to see what tomorrow will bring.

Pax!

Brant and Regina

Day 48 – Grayson’s Condition

Dear family and friends

Today was another low energy day.

Grayson had physical and occupational therapy today, and did well, but he was tired all day – that after sleeping all night. Perhaps he needs a bit of adjustment in his meds. Things are changing so fast in him now that I always feel that we are playing catch-up. This is a good thing!

Today he did some new things. The first was to play a few hands of "Uno". He got most parts of the game right away, but had some difficulty holding the cards. (His therapist held them for him.) We also did a simple puzzle, and he was doing quite well. Unfortunately he loses interest very quickly in most of these "sitting" activities. He also reached for and picked up cones by color as instructed, and was also following commands to do so using his right or left hand. He continues to walk like a champ, and now wants to get up and go right from the bed whenever he wants, scaring the daylights out of us and the staff. Independence is good, but safety is paramount!

Today Grayson received a visit from a respiratory therapist that cared for him in the ICU when he first was admitted to the hospital. He was thrilled that Grayson was up and walking, and got to witness some of his PT. Grayson has come so far from where he was in the ICU, it is almost not believable. I forgot to mention in my blog posting on New Year's Eve that Regina had visited the ICU where Grayson spent his first 22 days after his incident and much of the team was there to see her. She left them a gift of sweets, and they were thrilled to hear of Grayson's progress. The love that they have for him was evident.

God continues to reveal his plan to us – and not so slowly anymore. As I posted in my Facebook status yesterday, I am "at the hospital watching miracles occur daily!"

Pax!

Brant and Regina

Day 47 – Grayson’s Condition

Dear family and friends

Happy New Year!

The first day of 2010 was a calm one.

Grayson was subdued and quiet all day. He did some walking, but for the most part he was very low energy all day. This was a good day to be low energy, as all of the therapy staff is off for New Year's Day. Tomorrow a partial crew will be back in, and he will need to work!

Regina and I spent most of the day with him today. Next week I'll be back to work, and will try to come by during lunchtime to participate in some of his therapy. The closeness of the hospital makes this possible, and I am so grateful we are not in Pomona where we originally thought that we would be.

Blessings from our family to yours on this New Year's Day!

Pax!

Brant and Regina