More Progress Every Day

This morning when Jen and my parents got to the hospital, they had already extubated him! I'm glad they did it early because Jen didn't want to be anywhere nearby when they did it! He is now just wearing an oxygen mask, which he'll fiddle around with, but he knows he needs to keep it on. My dad was asking him questions and a heavily drugged up Spencer was trying to talk, but was really only moving his lips. No sound is coming out, but his throat is very sore. Being intubated 8 days does a number on your vocal folds. I'm sure they are swollen and very dry. :(

They keep talking to Spencer, helping him understand what has happened, where he is, and what is going on. This morning, Jen said that when she told him this information again, he had a look of shock in his eye. I can't imagine just what he is going through right now and how scary it must be for him as he begins to wake up more and more and understand the reality of his situation. I'm praying that the Lord will bless his spirits as much as he has blessed his body.

They've taken him off the sedatives and now the trick is managing his pain levels. From what Jen can tell (since she knows his body language better than anyone), he is hurting. He was rubbing his head really hard... I'm sure he has a killer headache that won't be going away anytime too soon. Dad was touching the fingers on Spencer's broken hand and he was wincing and furrowing his eyebrows. But he is still pretty responsive when he can see through the fog of the pain medication. He has a hard time focusing and holding an eye gaze, but was able to track Jen's finger side to side. He doesn't have his contact in, so I'm guessing what he can see is fuzzy. He was also able to lift, stretch, and move his legs well this morning. After a short while though, he gets fatigued and irritable. So far, they've given him intravenous pain killers which wear off pretty fast (45 min). Yesterday they were able to crush up some vicadin and send it down the feeding tube. I didn't realize this will keep the pain at bay for much longer (4 hours or so) since it will absorb over time through the digestive track. My biggest hope for today is that the doctors and nurses will be able to help Spencer manage his pain. If all he's focusing on is how bad he hurts, it will be more difficult to work on other things.

I didn't get much of an update from yesterday. Apparently, the surgery went well, but he was sedated throughout the day. Having so little alert time, those visiting didn't have much of a chance to talk to him or get much from him all day. But thankfully, there was much more to report this morning. Because Spencer has been awake more and she's been able to communicate with him more, Jen will likely be going home tomorrow with my parents so she can see her girls and help them through their fears for their dad. We're feeling pretty optimistic that he'll be stable enough to be transferred to a Denver area hospital by the end of the week. I'm sure it will be good for the girls to see Spencer, especially now that he is not hooked up to so many cords and tubes. Hopefully his ability to speak will improve soon so they can talk to him. For as difficult this has been for all of us close to Spencer, I'm sure it doesn't hold a candle to what Jen and those little girls are feeling. Please continue to pray for some comfort for them.

That's all I got for now. Thanks for tuning in!