Wednesday, July 18th An Amazing Day

When we arrived at the hospital Tyler's left hand and arm were very swollen. This is the same arm that his shoulder injury occurred. The nurse was concerned that a blood clot had developed in his arm. An ultra sound was ordered.

The nurse told us that they would start rehab today. They needed to get Tyler out of bed, try to keep him awake as much as possible and also for him to eat on his own. Sounded great to all of us!!

After much reluctance from Ty, the nurses were able to get him out of bed and into a chair. Tyler was not very happy about that. All he wanted to do was stay in bed and sleep. He was still very lethargic. He slept in his chair most of the day. He awoke several times for 10 or 15 minutes which was enough time for the nurse to feel comfortable taking out his catheter. It was another big step for Ty!!

The speech therapist examined Tyler and had him eat some crackers and water. Tyler has some trouble swallowing so they will need to work with him to help him learn how to swallow again. He will meet with the physical and occupational therapist later today.

When I left for lunch, I kissed Tyler good by and told him how much I loved him. He opened his eyes and said "I love you too Mom." What a perfect day for me!! I had my son back.

An ultrasound was performed in the afternoon and came back negative. Concerned that the swelling was due to a possible fracture the doctor ordered x-rays. They had to put him back into bed to take the x-rays which was just fine by Ty. The X-rays also came back negative. We found out later on that the IV was not put in correctly and the fluids had flowed to his arm and hand....mystery solved.

Dinner time was not good for Tyler. The nurse tried getting Tyler out of bed but he would have nothing to do with it. Ty was very irritable and did not cooperate at all. The nurse finally went and requested assistance from a male nurse who came in and took charge. After much resistance from Tyler, they were able to get him in his chair for dinner. All he kept talking about was going home. He was tired of the hospital and wanted to go home.

When dinner arrived, Ty took one look at it and said, "You have got to be kidding me." It did look horrible. Shredded turkey, fake mashed potatoes, mushed up green beans and cold rice. YUCK!! Tyler looked at the nurse and asked her if she would eat this stuff. Of course the nurse said she would. Tyler told the nurse that he wouldn't eat this stuff even if he was healthy. The nurse told him if he wanted to go home he had to eat. After much hesitation, Tyler finally ate some food. Not much but some and complained about it the whole time.

We were warned that when patients with head injuries start coming to they act very irritable. We were definately witnessing that with Ty.

We had to leave for the shift change at 6:30 and got back at 8:30. Tyler was back in his bed but awake. He kept his eyes closed but was able to carry on a good conversation. His friends were all out in the lobby so we took turns bringing Amanda (Ty's girlfriend), Wes, Kale, Sean, Andrea, and Nick back to see him. Believe it or not Ty was up talking to his friends until 10:15 when they finally kicked us out.

Another day full of progress!! We thank all of our friends and families for their love and prayers. It is certainly working...