April 22nd: Mike rejoins the cafe society

A really great milestone today. I got to wheel Mike in his wheelchair down to the Zoom Cafe in the Hutt Hospital and we bought a great coffee. A superb feeling. On the way we met one of the physios from the medical ward who was amazed to see us out and about. It wasn't till later that I realised that the Post Traumatic Amnesia meant that Mike couldn't remember any of the time in the medical ward, or any of the people - physios or otherwise. He had been awake, laughing, semi-communicating etc, but couldn't actually remember any of it.


Now Mike can eat, he is starting to put on weight and is now back up in the 40kg class having added nearly two kilos. Still quite a way to go.

21 April - Cards & more cards

Just realised that no one had put up a post last night.

Mike is still working on memorising all the cards in his room, including the ones we've put up behind his head. He wants us to bring in all the cards he has received - I'm not sure if he realises how many those are. He can now read the messages in the cards himself and he is very good at recognising the postcards sent in daily by Mary and John from Japan.

He's eating pasta for lunch now, a big step towards a civilised diet. We're getting closer to a steak and chips, or what I think is Mike's most important goal: a Coke.

April 20th:Family birthday

Today was TJ's birthday. After quite a lot of figuring out, we held a small birthday celebration around Mike's bedside so he wouldn't feel left out of family events. It was a challenge getting a birthday cake Mike could handle, plus a few birthday people, all without tiring him too much. So the cake was a rather runny panna cotta with candles leaning at alarming angles. The people were Gran and Uncle Jack who got shunted in and out in about 15 minutes, including the time it took to unwrap presents, light candles and sing happy birthday. TJ and I decided it was quite a memorable birthday in its own way.

Today I discovered that one of Mike's efforts at occupying himself involves memorising who has sent each cards that we have displayed on the walls. It's a bit like a remote form of that old kids card game, Memory. I don't think he has taken on board that we're rotating about 150 cards through his wall display!

Lee

19th April:Quiet day

Mike seems in good spirits at present. His friend Kylie visited to say goodbye as she is off to the UK shortly. We keep expecting Mike to find it difficult seeing so many friends heading off on their OEs, but he seems okay about it. I presume sadness at what he has lost and is missing out on will kick in some time, but not yet, it seems.

His main achievement today was to eat a small pottle of yoghurt managing the spoon and the pottle. It was great to have independent eating. You never think what a complicated process that is. Mike needs to really concentrate and can't manage if any distractions occur, even just someone talking. The art of slow eating. The yoghurt took about half an hour. Makes me realise how much we shove food down, usually while yacking away. Mike did a little bit of walking today. Whilst his feet don't work well at all yet, he's getting better control over his torso and head. He has to really concentrate on each element to manage it though.

Regards

Lee

18th April:Where are we at now Mike's out of PTA

Today Mike is officially out of Post Traumatic Amnesia. While this is good news, this PTA stage has taken a long time (over 7 weeks). The length fits the pattern of a serious brain injury and means that Mike is very unlikely to make a 100% recovery. On the other hand, his progress so far has been considerably better expected, so there is a lot of reason to think that he will do far better than the average.

This all means that there is a really long way to go - we don't know how long, or where the journey is leading us. Because Mike has been so fragile, he has not been able to manage any active rehab, but this can start now. Such are his fatigue levels, that rehab will start with 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes in the afternoon and initially even that small amount will exhaust him.

Still, onward and upward. Mike had a PBB today - Personal Banana Best. His banana eating speed has increased! Those of you who know Mike's banana eating prowess will be relieved by his progress in this area.

Regards

Lee

17th April: Quiet normality

A quiet weekend, but very satisfying for Mike. Tracy went to visit him this afternoon and there he was on his own (no longer needing someone constantly with him during the day), sitting in bed, CD player on (under his control by a remote), and reading a book. It must feel great for Mike to get a sense of his own space back and some control over what he is doing. I must ask him that tomorrow.

The next major steps I presume will be on the action side. They have stayed away from that waiting for the trachy wound to heal. Apparently any major movement puts the stitches under too much pressure. Mike, meanwhile is eying his speedos!

Regards

Lee