MRC stay continues...

Ben continued to make slow but steady progress. By the end of June Ben only required the ventilator occasionally at night. During the day a passe' muir valve was placed over his tracheostomy tube to encourage him to speak. So far, we had only heard garbled whisper sounds that he made with an occasional yes or no. His tube feedings continued throughout the day. Ben began to really respond to his trips outside. Ever since he was little (see picture) he loved spending a lot of time outdoors.

Returning to the lobby of the hospital after spending some time outside around a fountain, we all told Ben how much we enjoyed our visits with him. We told him that a lot of people were praying for him to get better. Ben looked up at me and faintly whispered, "Tell God I love him." Evelyn and his sister, Nina were standing nearby and were as shocked as I was at hearing Ben respond. Ben began saying more and more whispered responses.

Ben's intensive therapy continued. He had difficulty in PT while in the standing chair and could only tolerate it for short periods. It was noted in OT that Ben's right arm was contracting at the elbow. A decision was made to begin serial casting his arm. It was straightened slightly while a plaster cast was put on. After 7-10 days the cast was removed and the process started again, straightening the arm a little more each time before another cast was put on. This was painfully repeated several times until his arm was nearly straight again.

more to come...