2nd Family Consultation

Cavit's experts reported to Mike and his family today on his progress in the last 8 weeks, and on what lies ahead. The bottom line is that they expect him to be able to live again in due course as an independent adult and to hold down paid employment. I think the literature on brain injuries describes such outcomes as a 'good recovery'. This is amazing in the light of the severity of his injury -- eg 54 days in a state of post-trauma amnesia when 6 hours is regarded as serious. The cognitive testing shows up a few things that need working on, but it would be a miracle if it were otherwise and none of them can be expected to be intractable. Perhaps the best news of all is that they report that he has a high level of awareness of things that need to be worked on. Apparently it is common for people with these injuries to fail to perceive areas where things are not yet what they were. Obviously it is much harder to put something right when you do not know that it is wrong.
The immediate target is to see him walking solo in the next 6 weeks. He gets into the swimming pool for the first time this Friday, now that the site of his P.E.G is sufficiently healed. That should increase his range of therapeutic activities. There is no doubt that Mike is keen to see what he is capable of in the water, given his difficulties with walking.
In the light of all this, fatigue management appears to be the biggest issue Mike faces for the foreseeable future. The physio reports that whereas a few weeks ago he could handle a few minutes physio max, now he can handle 20 minutes. Then he must rest.
One conclusion to come out of this is the desirability of scheduling visits to Mike so that he has rest periods between visits. To achieve this he almost needs an appointment book so that he knows the time at which you will be visiting so that he can rest up before you arrive. So please contact his social secretary (Lee) and book in a time for visiting, and try to arrive on that time if you can so that Mike can plan his energy levels accordingly. This is not the normal casual Kiwi way, we know, but this fatigue problem is not normal either.
Finally, Mike was naturally chuffed by all the responses to his blog.
The positive energy you are all giving him undoubtedly boosts his impressively positive spirit.
Yours appreciatively
Bryce