August 27, 2005

Tom and the boys came down this morning and after visiting with Samuel for a bit, the boys and I headed off to the Salt Lake Childrens Museum. Tom is great to be willing to sit with Samuel all day while we go off to have some fun together. We spent most of the late morning and early afternoon at the museum. It was fun and there was quite a bit for the kids to do. We painted their faces and made “magic wands” after watching the magic show there. We even made one for Samuel. We figured it definitely couldn’t hurt.

Tom said Samuel had a good day. Saturdays are pretty relaxing around here since all the doctors and residents are off duty. Dr. Gooch did stop by for a few minutes, but there were no pokes or prodings or even physical therapy today. It was just a nice relaxing day for Samuel.

He did take a nap for about 1 1/2 hours today and then he actually fell asleep at about 5:30 pm and hasn’t been awake since. Hopefully, he will still sleep OK tonight.

The little bit of time that I did see him this morning, he was wide awake and really looking around. He has seemed so much better to me the last few days and it is very encouraging. He does have a cute little trick he does. I figured out that the little hat on his highway patrol bear comes off. So I will have him watch me take it off and then I will put it on my head. After a few moments, I take it off my head and put it on his head. His eyes look up as far as they possibly can every time I do that like he’s trying desperately to see that little hat on his head. It’s really cute! He did it for the first time yesterday and I let out a loud laugh. All the nurses looked in the room like I’d gone wacko and was entertaining myself. But it was so unexpected that I couldn’t contain the laugh. It made my day!

This next week will be filled with lots of work as we try to figure out all the equipment he will need at home and how to get it there. There are even basic things such as what kinds of car seats do they have for us to get him home in because I don’t think he’ll tolerate his regular one. We also need to get some nursing care set up for nights. And there is going to be a lot of training involved for his g-tube. I also want to take the CPR class they offer here along with learning how to “bag” him and suction out his throat if he needs it. In addition, he is still scheduled for surgery on Tuesday.

But, once we get home, I really want to start working him and stimulating him as much as possible. We have to be careful because too much going on at once is very difficult for a brain injured person to handle. The rest of us can tune out background noise. But everything a brain injured person hears attracts the same amount of their attention. So they always feel overwhelmed. That means he needs lot of attention, but one thing at a time. I know it will work, though, because I already see a lot more awareness just from spending a little time each day reading books and letting him hold things in his hands.

Thanks for all the prayers! Don’t stop them coming!

Love,
Teresa, Tom, Samuel, Tanner, Wesley & Ben