Spencer is now tube free!

I just talked with my parents and after we talked extensively about our respective Easter programs that we were in charge of at church, my mom and dad had mostly positive things to report on Spencer.

It sounds like his levels of alertness are increasing each day. A week ago when the Speech Pathologist did his bedside feeding evaluation, she determined that once he was awake enough, it would be safe for him to eat on his own. So, the feeding tube has now come out and Spencer was apparently ravenous! It sounds like he enjoyed his chicken, plenty of juice, as well as every last little bit of that pudding (I always wish I could lick out those last little smudges of pudding myself!). So the fact that he's now able to eat real food is great and is another milestone that will speed up his recovery. Another good bit of news is that they have also taken out the catheter. I'm sure Spencer appreciates this tremendously.

The therapists have had Spencer sitting up and transferring into a wheelchair. He also took several steps today, though they were slow and I'm sure very painful. My mom reported that Spencer is in a LOT of pain. They have cut back on the narcotic medication significantly and are giving him Tylenol and something one step above that. Yikes. I'm sorry, but Tylenol doesn't do diddly-squat for serious pain. I understand, however, the importance of not keeping him doped up all the time. But I feel very bad for the guy. He shifts around in bed a lot, changing up the pressure on his hips and pelvis. He also rubs his head frequently.

Jen asked Spencer today if he could see her through his bad eye. He said he couldn't see her, but when asked what he could see, he said, "light." I'm amazed at this. The eye surgeon said the most we could hope for in his left eye was that he could distinguish between light and dark, and maybe color. The fact that he CAN see light is good. Another eye surgeon will be coming in tomorrow to check things out for Spence.

A different orthopedic surgeon will also be coming in tomorrow. Spencer will NOT leave his cast alone. In fact, he often pulls it completely off. My mom said that she had him repeat after her, "the cast must stay on" and he said, "cast must stay on" as he continued to pull it off. So, clearly, he's still a bit confused and agitated. He just can't be trusted. I guess once he pulled the pin out last Thursday, he's been more calm. Hopefully the orthopedic guy will figure out something for that wrist. But rather than restraining him, a nurse will likely sit by his side all night and hold his hand.

For those wanting to know what to pray for, we're hoping that Spencer will be able to manage the pain and get some much needed sleep. Once his sleeping cycles are appropriate for awake in the day and sleeping at night, they can move him up a level. This is important so that he can see his girls. In his current "quiet isolation" visitors are very restricted and Spencer's three daughters have not yet been able to visit him. I'm sure they and he will benefit from seeing each other. So add your prayers and healing thoughts to mine and hopefully he'll cruise on to that next phase.